Looking good Brian. seems like i can separate my pair to a tank and they would go at it, i think they are big enought??

how big are they? my first pair breed when the male was 3"tl and the female was only 2.25"tl. so if they are atleast this big should be no prob.

Male is about 5inches, maybe alittle be less. female around 3 inches.

oh yeah, they should breed no prob! this male is just under 4"tl, and the female i only about 2.5"tl.

ohh ok whats the minimun tank size for them to breed on?

for just 1 male and 1 female, i would say a minimum of a 29g, but ideally a 30g long would be great.

alright bro. so what u planning to do with the extra male Australis?

i will prob give him to a friend of mine who has a gymno tank. sorry man, if you lived in state, i would totally send him to u via ground freight, but next day air is $68 bucks!! and for 1 fish i dont think u would want spend that, i say a group of six of these on aquabid.com for like $30 bucks for the group, that would be a better deal, cause your almost guarenteed to get a pair or 2:)

i 'saw' a group of these:) freaking jager meister=]

yeah too bad but it will be alright,

oh to funny brian on the meister hey .. headache material for sure lol..

nice, i have one now :), begin loving this guy...

He has a cute face.

I agree with Bip.
BTW, Brian, my male @ 2.25" is courting the females around 1.75-2" and they are doing the dances, but nothing is holding, I am thinking practice is going to make perfect!! ( was completely suprised about this, I was laying in bed sick yesterday and noticed it going on, and then again this morning(and I am still sick))

One more thing, would Cichlasoma Portalagrensis get along with these, or should I just stick to geos/gymnos and other fish of the sort. Was also considering pictus cats (pimno. angelicus i think is the scientific name), would they fair well with the balzanii's?

the ports might nip fins, but the pictus would be fine, they just might eat alot of the food before the geos get to it.

well then I will just watch them feed and make sure they get enough? lol.. What are your recommendations for my 33 gal L ( # of balzanii's and then other inhabitants to keep it clean)??

honestly, u dont need many cleaners in geo tanks. in my 145g, i just have 4 cories, my plecos dont really clean, the geos pulverize poop, and any food left on the bottom with their sifting until it is dust, and then the filter picks it up. which is why they need extremly heavy filtration.

this is what i would do with your 33gL:

Filtration - use the whisper 60 and aquaclear 60, but add an Eheim Classic 2213 Canister, this way you can keep all 6 geos in this tank long term. hob filter just arent enough with 6 geos and other fish in a 3ft tank.

Lighting - 36" CoralLife T5 twin Tube Fixturewith daylight bulbs. for that added kick for the plants. plus the astetics are nice.

Substrate - Upgrade to Pool Filter Sand From Leslies Pool Supplies, they have a larger grade than most other places.

fish List -
6x G. Balzanii(1m5f)
3x Corydoras Sterbai
2x Bristle Nose Plecos(1m1f)
6x Orange Von Rio Tetras

Plants List -
the plants you have +
Frill
Cabomba
Green Windii
Bronze Windii
Floating pieces of wisteria

decor, keep what you have, but add a couple small pieces of slate layed ontop of the sand as a breeding area. u need several because the male will breed with several females in a day, also you dont want them out in the open, they are rather secretive when breeding. hope this helps, these are the conditions in which i first bred my first pair of balzaniis.