Yello lab tank with others? (sorry, long post)

[Zman]

Hello, I'm quite new to this hobby and would like to get some peoples opinions on a few things. Right now I have 2 small yellow labs, both are about an inch and a half. I have a 29 gallon tank I am about to set up that I would like to move them into, and add some more fish to the tank over time. Once the tank is up I wanted to put some danios or something hardy like that in there to get the cycling started. First question, would it be a good idea to leave the danios in there with the cichlids I want to move in? I have heard this will help the cichlids be less shy, as they will inhabit the upper water column. Also what species would be good with the labs. I have heard alot of conflicting things on this issue. I have heard that generally pseudotropheus fish are more aggressive, but that saulosi and acei are pretty good with the yellow labs. I also think alot of the peacocks are absolutely gorgeous, especially the Aulonocara lwanda. I also wouldnt mind having another lab or so and would like the labs to be a breeding group if possible. I understand that a 29 gallon tank isnt a good size for crowding, but I would at least like some other colors to contrast the yellows, especially blues or multi colored or striped fish. Beyond having a few cichlids in there besides the labs, I wonder if having the danios in there also and a pleco would be feasible. I really have read alot of conflicting things so I'm a bit confused. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. I really want to have as much information as possible before making decisions. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post.

[petes]

Hey, yellow labs are great huh. But to make them happiest its nice to have a mix of 2-3 females per one male. Its hard to sex them at an inch and a half but if you get around 6 you can always weed them out as they get larger by just bring them back to the fish store. Fish stores seem to love to take larger yellow labs.

As for tankmates, I would suggest just 1 or 2 other fish with the same ratio. Acei are great but they do grow quite larger when adults, and their color doesn't contrast as nice with labs as other darker blue fish. A nice blue fish with stripes is Pseudotropheus demasoni which go great with the labs and they only grow to about 3 inches and both males and females having the same color. Saulosi is great too, growing to about the same size.

I don't know too much about peacocks though. I keep 2 aulonacara steveni flavasomething with my yellow labs and other mbuna and I feel bad for it because all I can do is feed it spiralina and that doesn't exactly give it a balanced diet.

But what I would say in general is you can keep any mbuna with yellow labs because they are peaceful fish but can hold their own very well. But in a 29 gallon tank I would be looking for a smaller 3-4 inch when full grown.

Oh yea, don't worry about a dither fish, the yellow labs won't be shy as long as the rest of the fish in the tank are relatively the same size. The only shy fish in my malawi tank is the peacocks, and thats because they are only half the size of the rest.

[Jinks]

i keep my labs with a bunch of pseudotropheus ( which are mostly about 1/2-1" larger than the labs ) and 3 cynotalapia afra's. there are 15 fish and i havent seen more than a nip out of a tail occasionally. :) ( i havent noticed any from the labs... they get mostly left alone )

Oh yeah and I have two plecos in the tank!

3 Electric Yellow Labs 1.5-2"
5 ( some stupid hybrid Socolofi / kenyi something or other ) 2-2.5"
2 Saulosis 2-2.5"
3 Cynotalapia Afras 1-2"
1 Either Elongatus or labidorchromis something ( not sure yet! ) 2"
1 Common pleco 7"
1 Rhino Pleco 4-5"

Common pleco chases the rhino sometimes.. and sometimes he chases the other guys a bit ... kinda funny to watch ( pleco's are quick buggers when they actually move )