Yellow labs for 29 gal?

CatsFishes

CatsFishes

Large Fish
#1
Jun 29, 2004
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#1
Well, it looks like I am soon to have an empty 29 gal, and I would like to put some yellow labs (labidochomis caeruleus) in it. Two questions:

1)How many can I put in a 29 gal and what mix of males and females (although I understand they're kinda hard to sex) and

2)Is there anything else I can put in there with them? I was thinking about some tiger barbs. If yes how many would you suggest.

Thanks!!
 

Jan

Jan

Medium Fish
#3
Jun 27, 2004
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#3
If you are gonna go with a trio like blueturq suggested it's probably best to get 2 females to 1 male. Males are very territorial as compared to females, and if you did get this mix it would be easier for spawning if that's what you wanted to do. They really arn't that hard to sex. The females tend to have a slight "bump" on their head as the males are smooth. But with the younger cichlids it'd be hard to sex.
 

blueturq

blueturq

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#8
Mar 17, 2004
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I've read that people have kept yellow labs with community fish and had VERY disastrous results (the yellow lab would would be extremley nippy and aggressive)

So I wouldn't get any dithers for the yellow labs;)
 

K

Kyle

Large Fish
#11
Aug 5, 2004
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#11
I agree with c-man. I think you could go for more than 3 in a 29 gallon. I'd say around 5. It'll keep the aggression down also if you overcrowd a bit(or so I've heard).
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#12
Oct 22, 2002
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Frankly I found them impossible to sex. Mine were all equally yellow, had no fin decoration at all and the 'dead cert' males turned out to be females. Short of having a breeding group I don't think I could sex them.
 

CS_sg

CS_sg

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#13
May 2, 2004
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#13
Originally posted by fishdude07
theyre pretty easy to sex when mature. the male's anal fin will be much more decorative and he will have a brighter yellow color than the females
Click to expand...
How old is 'mature' ?
I bought my yellow labs at slightly over 1inch, and they are on an average of 3.5inches each now after 6 months.
Are they matured enough to sex?

How long does it take for the yellow lab to grow to an inch? That way I can roughly calculate the age of my yellow labs.

Cheers.
 

Somonas

Somonas

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#15
Oct 22, 2002
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#15
4-5" is about as big as I've ever seen them and you certainly wouldn't want to have 4 of these in a 29.
you could have a colony of 6 - (2M/4F) and some dither maybe Tiger barbs when the labs are still small. they will breed as small as 2" but then they get big please put them in a larger tank! min 55. is a good R.O.T. for 1 colony of mbuna
 

CatsFishes

CatsFishes

Large Fish
#16
Jun 29, 2004
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Somonas- The 29 will have to be their home from now on, I am already maxed out on space for tanks (in fact this one is going in my tiny little dining room because there is nowhere else for it). So I guess that means that I should only get 3 and hope that they are a male and 2 females. I think my LFS will let me trade them if the sexes end up wrong.
 

Somonas

Somonas

Superstar Fish
#19
Oct 22, 2002
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#19
CatsFishes you can always get the LFS to sex your labs and give you 1M and 2 F's. but it is hard to sex labs when they are small.
(under 2")
in my opinion a colony of mbuna is anything that breeds properly and doesn't stress out the female (overbreed her) so 2M/5F would be a nice start
you can exchange the males and the females wont get worn out. and you can let her recover in a separate tank and still have the other4 breeding

doctawife you have lots of options look for something "zebra" or something "elongatus" or something "afra" you should have an easy time. tip - dont match colours across different species or your asking for problems (aggression & xbreeding)
 

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