Okay to separate my percs?

[swordfish]

Okay I will admit I made a faux paus by thinking I could get away with keeping two small percs together in my 7 bow. I goofed. The nitrates are just a tad too high and they were fine when I had just one blue damsel in there. Someone had to try this and I guess that someone was me. So from now on, let it be written in stone that keeping two percs together in a 7 bow is to risk high nitrate levels. So it looks as though one of the percs is probably going to be moved to my ten gallon tank as son as it's done cycling.

 

The guys(?) I have in there are sort of a pair I guess, they hang out together but they don't really host anything and they are do not look like they're lovebirds. They are not constantly together. At their age I doubt they have even made "adjustments" to become a mated pair. I know there are plenty of percs out there who live alone or at least without other percs. I just want to make sure I can move one out of there and not have one or both stop eating due to a change in lifestyle or get depressed on me. I could return both to the LFS but I'd be out the good money I spent on them.

 

One side benefit of separation, I guess, would be that they would not be able to nip at each others fins anymore. They do get into momentary shoving matches once in a while and there is some casual nipping going on then. Their fins are not in perfect shape and I see no reason aside from that why they shouldn't be, especially since the black-lined fins of your average perc clown are among their most colorful features. Plus I could finally name them and tell them apart.

 

I doubt the extra two gallons of water or so is going to make a big dif, but do you think they could both be kept in the ten gallon? Has anyone else had similar success with two fairly active 2-inch finsh in a ten?

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff