s. crimsom behavior?

[NancyD]

I recently got 4 schistura crimson & decided they were 3 male & 1 female so I got 1 more of each sex ( I think) last week. The first 4 decided hand feeding bloodworms was fun, the newest are still shy.

But I noticed some interesting behavior today. There is 1 female & a colorful male that defend one end of the 20g long Q tank. Today he came up from underneath a 6x2x2 inch cobblestone, more digging than ever before. He's not the largest fish, only ~1.75 inch but almost always the most colorful/darkest. I've read that digging is a prespawning behavior for some hillstreams could this be true for schistura too? These are my first schistura, I'm finding them very interesting.

Should I think about getting 1 (or 2 ) more "female" while they still have some? They'll eventually have a 4 ft, 55g tank but the 30 inch Q tank is all for the moment.

[mickthefish]

it can't hurt Nancy, i've found them to be a very communal type of loach.
the digging behavior could be a pre spawning thing but could just be a way of securing their territorial right.

mick