yeah, i have been reading a lot on threads about dividing tanks and such for the males. only tank i have for dividing is my tall 25 gal but,that is going to be getting set up and running in about 2 months or so again. i do want to give it a go before i get my large tank set up and going at the end of the year as i will have a whole new ball park going on with that as i will be putting live plants in that tank and doing the whole shabang basically. but that is several moons from now lol i just want to enjoy my 12 gal and get my 25 gal set back up again and running. once i do that, maybe we an talk on how i can go about getting ready to breed? of course, it will end up being a different female by that point though as by what you said earlier, betty will be too old to breed. which is a shame, she really is a beautiful little girl. she and the loach are palling around actually.. and she is letting the loach into her shoe too... lol anyway.. i do appreciate the advice and knowledge.. i like to plan ahead on things.. i like to plan on plans lol sickening i know.. then i do things on a whim as well, but, know that i have more knowledge about my fishkeeping hobby, i want to plan things better. ok, off to bed i go.. hagn..