If you want to you can rotate the females in with the males but I just leave them in. They are a big help to the females and watching them with the babies is adorable. 1.3 or 1.2 is a good set up. I use the home depo concert mixing tub for my 1.3 groups. It is a 10g size that runs 6.5 high. 20 wide and 27 deep.