A question about temporary tank size

[PAcanis]

Could two A. Cacatuoides be raised in a 5g Marineland Portrait tank (10"x8"x14H) until they could be sexed? Basically a grow out tank.
I imagine most of the replies will say no. That they need more of a footprint and less in height. That has occurred to me, also. But compared to a dozen fish in a 20g at the LFS, is a scaped 5 really so bad for a month?

So obviously I am looking at trying to get two females to go with each of the males I wound up with. Or at least one female.
I've only found one online store that guarantees pairs and I emailed them a week ago asking if my pair could be two females.
No response.
And the LFS gets them in pretty much too young to sex. And quite frankly, their prices are high on Cacatuoides. And they are undetermined. At least if I got them from the same place as the two males they might be more likely to be the same variation. I hope.

Plus I already have the Portrait tank. I imagine in 2-3 weeks the fry will be gone and I'll be looking for something to do with it.

The other option of course would be to put one of each into the main tanks (with the larger males) and hope they are females. And if not hope I can remove them. So yes, I am trying to make this easy on myself so they can easily be removed from their own tank.

Again, the key word is temporary.
What say ye?

 

[OutsideFoodBlob]

I know you’re mostly asking about tank volume, but by temporary is it more quarantine. I’d just caution putting them in your larger tanks for that reason.
If you end up putting them in 5g, maybe just have a 5g bucket as a back up if needed. Put one of the two in bucket with a sponge filter or air stone.
I’m learning myself that it’s good to have backup plans in case things don’t work out like one hoped.
Best of luck!

 

[PAcanis]

I know you’re mostly asking about tank volume, but by temporary is it more quarantine. I’d just caution putting them in your larger tanks for that reason.
If you end up putting them in 5g, maybe just have a 5g bucket as a back up if needed. Put one of the two in bucket with a sponge filter or air stone.
I’m learning myself that it’s good to have backup plans in case things don’t work out like one hoped.
Best of luck!

Thanks for the reply.
Yes, it's a quarantine of sorts. I don't want to add them to a tank it might be impossible to get them out of. So basically I am keeping them separate until they can be more positively sexed.

The just in case bucket is a good idea. I ought to pick up a small heater and I'll be good to go.