Anyone know the Growth rate of Yellow Labs?

S

sunshine1

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Apr 15, 2005
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I just purchased a young pair of Yellow Labs (Labidochromis caeruleus) partially because they don't get that big, and their bright color. I've searched the net for days and found out all kinds of info on them, but I can't seem to find how long it takes them to grow to adult size. Currently they are just over 1" long.
My tank is a 28 gal bowfront PH 7.9 with hard water. (Rather than fighting the tank conditions I'm attempting fish who like them.)
I'm also interested in plants that might survive well. Considering Java moss or fern.
Any info on their growth rate is appreciated. I'd like to be sure they are growing as they should.
Thanks!
 
I got my initial trio (1M + 2F) at about 1.5" to 2" from the LFS.
I've had them for about 3 months now, and they are about 3" to 3.5".
The initial growth seem to be very quick.
I guess it also has to do with how much you feed them?
I used to overfeed, so that might be why they grew so quick initially.
Currently, they don't look like they are growing that quick.
The group has already spawned their first batch about a month ago.
These things are are supposed to be very easy to breed. :)

Right now (for the past two months or so), I've cut back the feeding to once per day in the morning (I work two full-time jobs, so scheduling forces me to feed them like this), and they seem to be doing fine.
They get flake food, algae wafers, and Hikari sinking wafers.
Treats are tubifex worms and frozen brine shrimp maybe once a week.
 
Thanks for the info. It's helpful to know how yours have been growing. I usually feed frozen bloodworms as treats 5 times a week for all in my tank, but I've found that high protien can cause bloat in these Ciclids, not good! I'm switching to a frozen veggie/spirulina/shrimp mix. Aparently shrimp help their electric yellow color stay bright.
I have also discovered their life span is somewhere around 10 years, with spawning first starting around 6 months. This would mean they must be mature at around 1.5 to 2 years, maybe like a cat?
Your signature only shows the two species of Ciclids, do you have it set up as a riftLake?
 
Yeah, I had to worry about Malawi bloat with too much protein, so I had to be careful with their diets.
It's good that my yellow labs LOVE (Hikari) algae wafers.
Man, they just love those things.
I also feed them (Hikari) sinking wafers, and these things also have a pretty good dose of algae (spirulina?) too.
I had sample packets of Hikari flake which has "added spirulina", which they seem to be okay with.
So I think this algae heavy diet should be okay for the yellow labs. :)

Yeah, I tried to set up a Malawi tank, but I dunno if it's really a Rift Lake set-up.
I really like planted tanks, but I dunno how successful I'll get with these cichlids.
Right now the tank only has pea gravel substrate with plastic Lok-Rocks for cover.
It has several bunches of anacharis and cabomba in it right now just to add some green.
I'm trying to get some amazon sword and drawf sags to grow in the 10G, and then eventually move them to the 60G.
Not exactly Rift Lake, but I like the added green. :)
 
With yellow labs they mature pretty fast. Like you said, they should be starting to spawn within 6 months (granted you have 1 male 1 female, these guys are hard to sex). They should be fully mature at about 9 months i expect. Thier size depends on the fish, how much you feed it, and how big of a tank it has. They dont usually get over 5" though. Feed lots of veggies and you should be good. Anubias, java fern, and vallis are plants that work well, other plants tend to get eaten ;).

-Diana
 
Thanks for the replies! My little babies are really fun to watch. I'm crossing my fingers that I really do have 1m 1f, I don't think 2 males in my 28 gal tank would be a real good thing...
I'll try the hikari wafers, I know I have some here somewhere. :hi:
 
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