danny
Senior Member
Posts: 239
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Post by danny on Jun 19, 2009 8:37:52 GMT -5
last month i bought 2 yellow labs(although,they were not "pure" yellow labs,they don't have the black on any of the fins) to gain experience in breeding mouth brooders.they were only about an inch when i bought them,using the "egg spot" basis i bought 1 with 2 egg spot and the other with 1 tiny tiny egg spot.then mr. jon about the right sex ratio,i tried to buy another one with one small egg spot too,but the "male" killed it.then yellow labs were sold out so i was stuck to raise only 2 yellow labs.after a month,the "male" grew into 2inch now,the "female" barely 1 and a half inch.last week ,there were yellow labs again so i bought 2 new ones,slightly bigger than my "female",but again the "male" killed them again.bought another one andd ended up being killed again.all of 'em have tiny egg spot like my "female". my question is why is it that the "male" keeps killing the new ones but keeps the "female" alive?could all the ones that were killed males?
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Post by brenda on Jun 19, 2009 8:43:34 GMT -5
That is a possibility Danny, that they have all been male. What size tank/container are you putting them in? Is there decor? If so you could try rearranging all the decor and then introducing the fish.
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Post by murdock6701 on Jun 19, 2009 11:56:31 GMT -5
yellow labs are hard to sex - egg spots are NOT a sure sign of male or female - more han 3 should be in a minimum 30 gallon or larger w/ tons of rock caves and various size hiding places where the smaller can escape - they are territorial - rearranging the rocks helps, but hiding places and lots of room are key factors - I am in no way an authority on labs by any means - I just told you what I have learned and no matter what you read, they are/can be as aggressive as any cichlid - it is mu guess that the ones that were likked were young males that the larger male deemed as competition for his female... ?
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danny
Senior Member
Posts: 239
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Post by danny on Jun 21, 2009 8:11:36 GMT -5
That is a possibility Danny, that they have all been male. What size tank/container are you putting them in? Is there decor? If so you could try rearranging all the decor and then introducing the fish. roughly about 20 gallons ma'am.yes there are a lot of rocks and some dead corals and a driftwood plus some bushy plants.i keep the 2 with 3 jewel cichlids which helps to minimize the concentration of the "male" aggression to the small "female".but i have been observing them lately swimming together chasing the jewels together!are they establishing a spawning territory? i will try again to buy some yellow labs again.but i'll observe the 2 for now and wait what'll happen. ;D
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danny
Senior Member
Posts: 239
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Post by danny on Jun 21, 2009 8:20:28 GMT -5
yellow labs are hard to sex - egg spots are NOT a sure sign of male or female - more han 3 should be in a minimum 30 gallon or larger w/ tons of rock caves and various size hiding places where the smaller can escape - they are territorial - rearranging the rocks helps, but hiding places and lots of room are key factors - I am in no way an authority on labs by any means - I just told you what I have learned and no matter what you read, they are/can be as aggressive as any cichlid - it is mu guess that the ones that were likked were young males that the larger male deemed as competition for his female... ? i know too that the egg spot basis is not really accurate.i have kept mbunas before and i agree they really are aggressive and hiding spots is really needed.well i am planning to make some glass tanks(i finally learned how ;D) to house pure african mouthbrooders. have you bred your yellow labs sir?
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Post by corycatwoman on Jun 21, 2009 13:59:59 GMT -5
danny i think you should read up on your jewels a little bit. in a 20 gallon tank im very very suprised they arent the dominant cichlid unless they werent your original purchase, did you happen to have the yellow labs in the tank before you introduced the jewels?
you should always add new decor or rearange all of your decor before entering a new fish into an aggressive tank. it might not help but it doesnt hurt the survival of your newly added fish. your probably not going to be able to successfully mix those 2 specific species of africans together. but you never know i know a few people that have mixed zebras with peacocks and bumblebees and made it work.
just make sure you keep an eye on your dominant of each species from what ive read about jewels is if you do have a male jewel you and every fish in your tank will know it!
good luck, James
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Post by murdock6701 on Jun 21, 2009 16:08:28 GMT -5
yellow labs are hard to sex - egg spots are NOT a sure sign of male or female - more han 3 should be in a minimum 30 gallon or larger w/ tons of rock caves and various size hiding places where the smaller can escape - they are territorial - rearranging the rocks helps, but hiding places and lots of room are key factors - I am in no way an authority on labs by any means - I just told you what I have learned and no matter what you read, they are/can be as aggressive as any cichlid - it is mu guess that the ones that were likked were young males that the larger male deemed as competition for his female... ? i know too that the egg spot basis is not really accurate.i have kept mbunas before and i agree they really are aggressive and hiding spots is really needed.well i am planning to make some glass tanks(i finally learned how ;D) to house pure african mouthbrooders. have you bred your yellow labs sir? no Danny, I have not bred them - I had problems w/ aggression and dominance no matter what I tried - finally isolated the large beautiful male in another tank - the sub-dominant male which I thought ot be a female started killing the other fish in the tank so I gave him away - I still have 2 together in another tank and that seems to be working out - they are smaller in comparison to the lone male so may very well be females, but at this time I am not willing to take the risk and find out the "hard way"
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danny
Senior Member
Posts: 239
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Post by danny on Jun 22, 2009 9:16:09 GMT -5
danny i think you should read up on your jewels a little bit. in a 20 gallon tank im very very suprised they arent the dominant cichlid unless they werent your original purchase, did you happen to have the yellow labs in the tank before you introduced the jewels? you should always add new decor or rearange all of your decor before entering a new fish into an aggressive tank. it might not help but it doesnt hurt the survival of your newly added fish. your probably not going to be able to successfully mix those 2 specific species of africans together. but you never know i know a few people that have mixed zebras with peacocks and bumblebees and made it work. just make sure you keep an eye on your dominant of each species from what ive read about jewels is if you do have a male jewel you and every fish in your tank will know it! good luck, James i put all of 'em at the same time in the tank.yes the yellow labs is the dominant.i always observe that tank more than the others coz of their aggression level. so far it seems i do not have a male jewel cos the gravid female dominates the other jewels.
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danny
Senior Member
Posts: 239
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Post by danny on Jun 22, 2009 9:18:23 GMT -5
i know too that the egg spot basis is not really accurate.i have kept mbunas before and i agree they really are aggressive and hiding spots is really needed.well i am planning to make some glass tanks(i finally learned how ;D) to house pure african mouthbrooders. have you bred your yellow labs sir? no Danny, I have not bred them - I had problems w/ aggression and dominance no matter what I tried - finally isolated the large beautiful male in another tank - the sub-dominant male which I thought ot be a female started killing the other fish in the tank so I gave him away - I still have 2 together in another tank and that seems to be working out - they are smaller in comparison to the lone male so may very well be females, but at this time I am not willing to take the risk and find out the "hard way" hopefully we will able to breed them someday ;D
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