Lots of Activity but no pairs

[darkknight87]

Okay..so I have a 150 filled with fish ranging from 4 inches to about 6, and almost all of them demonstrate pre-mating behavior..fin flashing, dancing, ect..but none of them seem to do it as a pair, so I am not sure what is really going on here...is this typical for a while untill the fish figure out who they are attracted to?

[joanr]

Absolutely, they are flirting. How old are they? Also, did you put a cone into the tank yet? Sometimes having a good place to put down eggs will encourage them. If you do get a pair you'll have to pull them after a few trials if you want them to spawn and have the wrigglers survive.

[darkknight87]

Most of them are probably about a year old. The ones that Ive grown out from 1 1/2" inch size I know are about a year, and the other ones I purchased them at the size they are, so I am unsure about their age.
I haven't added a cone yet, but there are lots of surfaces for them to breed on " Driftwood, rock, ect. ( that is placed on a verticle angle for that purpose.)

and Yes, as soon as I have a couple pairs, I plan on moving them out into tanks with cones..which I did a few months ago when I thought I had a pair who I let spawn abotu 6 times with no luck, and they havent tried again..I think they lost interest in each other

[joanr]

With all those fish you are bound to get a pair, they are still young, but around a year they will start to show signs like you are seeing. I've had a few pairs form in a community tank only to switch mates after the first spawn, these guys are really unpredictable. As far as successfully breeding, I had to mix my tap with RO and get everything just perfect before I ever got any wrigglers. Lots of hard work but worth the effort. Good luck!