I'm adopting a cichlid!

[zachjohnson65]

My co-worker has a cichlid that he is going to give me. He has found out he is not a fish person like me! From his description i think it is a Yellow lab. He states that the fish tears his tank apart and has tortured the other fish that were in the tank. I know that cichlids are diggers and like to chase others but i thought yellow labs were a little more mellow.


I have to put the adoptee in a 10 gallon for now till i get my 30 gallon in one month. I hope his descruction does not continue for me. I hope that this fish does not become of one fish tank.

[Weezer]

Congrats...we have 5 and they are mellow, they do have a tendency to uproot plants....:)

[zachjohnson65]

I know that i would not do rooted plants. I might try some java fern to rocks, or some floating java moss

[mee-mee]

They will definitely love the Java Moss...and great on the adoption...hope to see pix soon...:)

[kay-bee]

...but i thought yellow labs were a little more mellow....

Yellow lab aggression (usually catergorized as 'peaceful' to 'mildly aggressive') is in relation to the levels normally exhibited by other types of mbuna.

If they were kept with other types of less aggressive fish (i.e., tropicals), I wouldn't be surprised that the yellow lab was dominating it's previous tank. Additionally, even when maintained in an african cichlid tank male yellow lab aggression toward other male labidochromis species can be considerable: (some of mine) http://youtube.com/watch?v=tGJpHdCmSDM

[zachjohnson65]

So is that a suggestion to not kept Yellow Lab male together. I thought it was common for cichlid keepers to have all males due to high aggression during breeding and pairing off? How about a female friend?

[kay-bee]

Multiple yellow lab males can be kept together, especially in larger tanks (55gal+). I wouldn't recommend keeping more than one in a small tank (not saying it wouldn't work, though).

I guess some people keep all male cichlid tanks (i.e. peacock tanks) , but I'm not sure how common it is.

African cichlids such as mbuna, peacocks (and others) are harem breeders and don't necessarily pair up. 1 male per 3+ females is probably ideal.

[zachjohnson65]

So i will post pics of the new guy tomarrow when i pick him up. I hope he is indeed a Yellow Lab!

Quick question I know that the females have a smaller black line on the doral fin but is this just when they are adults? Do they look different as juvies? My local LFS has a 50% off sale and i was looking at a friends for my adpotee.

[kay-bee]

In my opinion gender determination with yellow labs isn't an exact science, especially when dealing with sub-adults. While some females may have smaller or less bold fin markings on the dorsal, many males do too and a high quality female will appear more brilliantly than a lower quality male.

Juvies are very similar/identical, although dominant males may develop faster. I reared a batch of dozen yellow labs and the dominant (and presumably male) grew faster and significantly larger than all the rest and it had bold black fin markings on its fins while all the others had faint fin markings. If fainter fin markings=females then it would have appeared that all the others were female. It was like this for a number of months. I eventually sold that yellow lab and a few of the others and soon afterwards some of the others became dominant growing faster than the others and developed bold fin markings equal to the first; they're the one's in the video link I posted.

I have noticed that as they mature a lot of (probable) females have less black markings on their pelvic fins but I'm not sure if that's universal. Eventually overal behavior will offer additional clues as to gender.

With that said, there are probably members on this site that can easily differentiate the genders on sight.

[zachjohnson65]

So got my free cichlid. From what i have learned here I'm assuming he is a large male. I did not think he would be so large. The past owner had him for 1 year. I was told he was very aggressive toward other fish. I have noticed that he does "tank thump". Now i'm wondering what I can put with him. Suggestions welcome. I'm currently used tank shopping.

[Coler]

you mentioned the 30 gall - in that size tank, depending on foot print, maybe some more yellow labs (1 male with 3 females but you will need a plan for the fry and they would still prefer a bigger tank)

That or one male iodotropheus sperengae (rusty cichlid - very small and peaceful mbuna), one male pseudotropheus acei (I prefer the white fin ngara/tanzania type myself, also a small relatively peaceful mbuna) and maybe one male pseudotropheus socolofi (nice blue mbuna, quite peaceful)

A bigger (especially longer) tank would give you loads more options. The 30 gall does not lend itself to overstocking in the manner which tends to keep mbuna peaceful, especially with all males.

edit : btw very nice lab you have there.

[jm1212]

:iagree:

in a bigger tank you can put him other species of africans along with three females

[zachjohnson65]

I can never find the rusty cichlids in any local LFS. I always like the werid no one stocks fish!!!

[zachjohnson65]

Well i think i may set him up in a 30 gall for now. I do not want to run out and buy a large tank and not be able to put anyone else in with him. I'm really afraid that i will not be able to find a suitable adult cichlid tank mate for him in this area (central VA). I was thinking i could put in some cats like, porthole or raphel. What do you think?

[Rbishop]

Get a 55 and overstock it with 3 -4 groups of 1M/3F...lots of rock work.

[Visualeyes2]

put more lemons in there with him, and a sentadontis catfish.

[zachjohnson65]

i don't want to have fry. I fear that aggression will result with only male yellows.