electric yellow

[Tom15]

I have a 29 gallon and was thinking about getting some electric yellows (labidochromis caeruleus). How many could I keep in the tank and should I have a male to female ratio? Should I use crushed coral or sand and does anyone have pictures of their setups for these fish?


Thanks
Tom

[valerie]

I would say you could have about 5 Yellow labs in there. Since they are hard to sex I would get a bunch of juvies and once you can tell which are the boy and which are girls i would thin them out. So get about 8-10 juvies and then down the road you can get rid of the aggresive ones or excess males. This way the group will sort itself out and anyone that causes a problem can be taken out.

Hopefully in the end you will be left with a peaceful(as peaceful as mbuna can be) tank with agood ratio of males to females.

You cold also add a Bristlenose pleco to teh mix but that is about it.

[scholar]

If you are willing to go wtith Saulosi's, that would be better. because they get only yo be three inche slong. 1m/3f, and one electric yellow. Saulosi's amles are blue with black abrs. females are tangerene color.

Otherwise yo can go with dwarves. IPlease do not get me wrong. I love and do have 6 electric yellows. 29G is a bit too small for females to be with a male, specailly after he taste the good sex. He will not take no for an answer. :(

[Tom15]

Ok, I'm not sure if I'll do the yellow labs anymore. What about shell dwellers?

Thanks

[jimbo]

I would go with Shellies instead of Y.L. That would be a better choice for a 29g. Lots of choice with these creatures. Make sure you check your tab water first. Shellies are from lake Tanganyika, they prefer hard and alkaline water, ph around 8.6 and kh/gh around 15 or 20.

Edit: read everything you want to know about them on,
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/shelldweller_corner.php

Jimmy

[scholar]

Shellies are great for hard water. If you have soft waters. then you can go with German blues. Such lovely little cichlids, full of gusto and bravado!! :)