My cpo just hatched her eggs a couple of days ago. The babies are TINY, so if you have any fish in there that are larger than a small neon, I would remove her. I have some swordtail fry in there that are less than a month old and I was even worried about them eating the babies. They are good at hiding though, so if you have enough hiding places some might survive. I think my next batch I will remove her when I see eyes on the eggs and give her her own tank till she hatches, then back in the 20L. Hatching can take place at around 3 weeks after mating. Females sometimes drop their first couple of batches of eggs, so dont be too heartbroken if this happens (my female lost her first and I was so sad lol).
A 5 gallon would be fine provided it is filtered and kept at a stable temp. Eyes come right before hatching, so its a good time to remove her. You also want to take her out away from the babies in a tank as small as that, they have been known to be cannibalistic. Also, she can get berried again within a week of hatching, so putting her back with a male will increase your overall numbers. Moving her can be stressful though. I have hollow bamboo tubes and hollow small pieces of cholla wood that she hides in when she's berried. Easy to remove her without stressing her too badly.
Good luck and keep us posted! I love these little guys!
