Hello Jerry My advice would be to use pairs only. Seems that a pair would defend the eggs better than having an extra female in the tank to distract the male from fry guarding duties. I tend to use only pairs as breeders. I have spawned fish in harem setups but in much larger tanks. John ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@listbox.com. For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help, email apisto-request@listbox.com.