desertrefugee

Well, having had great luck with a tropical community and also having been bitten hard by MTS, I have had a 65g cycling for about 3 weeks. ammonia dropping, nitrite undercontrol with waterchanges and the beginnings of nitrate.

On Friday I picked up an Electric Yellow male (Labidochromis caeruleus) and today a Yellow Tail Acei (Pseudotropheus acei). Not sure of the sex on this one. Both are around 3", and so far seem to tolerate each other well. Most surprising is that the silver mollies that are STILL in the tank (cyclers) have, so far, been unchallenged or harassed. I guess it is true that these two species are truly less aggressive as mbuna go.

Anyway, I'm thrilled that my African tank is actually now populated by African stock! I'll check in from time to time and will definitely pose questions as they come up.

I already saw an odd behavior on the yellow when Mr. Blue was introduced. He pulled alongside several times and "quivered" his body.

Interesting and odd at the same time.

This is going to be fun.

Thanks for all the information !

(Here's the yellow lab. Some faint barring and not brilliant yellow. Not perfect, but mine!)

Darrell

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navyscuba

That means he is a Male. In the case of the Mollies you shouldn't have them there at all with the africans. The will turn on them when least expected.

btate617

(Here's the yellow lab. Some faint barring and not brilliant yellow. Not perfect, but mine!)



Don't worry about the barring, just makes a less colored fish, doesn't change the way the fish acts. remember you will need more with Africans to spread aggression. Good luck.

Brian

Charlene

The barring on the yellow is a sign of stress, due to the fact that it has been introduced to the tank. The "quivering" is one of several things. How long has your tank been cycled? What are the parameters i.e nitrite, ammonia, etc? Just because there is a drop in ammonia doesn't always mean that it will stay there but the water changes will help that. You should have more than one yellow lab in there as they are known as harem breeders, mouth brooders (need more than one female to every male, i.e 1 male 2-3 females). Is there enough hiding holes for them to retreat? The "qurvering could be that the fish might be trying to attract a female.

desertrefugee

I'm not sure a blanket statement that "barring is a sign of stress" necessarily applies here. Particularly as the barring was present at the store and he was discounted accordingly. There were several others similarly marked - along with more that were not.

As mentioned, the tank has not completed the cycle yet, but ammonia is essentially gone (<.25ppm) and nitrIte is being kept at bay with fresh water every other day.

Given this, I'll only be introducing a fish at a time, spaced by about a week until fully cycled. Trust me, I have no intention of stressing, let alone losing, any fish.

Thanks for the input. (And I now believe the quivering was, indeed, a male "display" for the new tankmate).

Shawnie

wow hes a hot ticket! although the barring as you well said, is just how he is...and the cross breeding of africans (learned from brian!!) that is how he ends up barred..but hes adorable!!!!!! first one i have seen other than just google them.......

although you are going in the right direction with water changes and such, its a catch 22 with an african tank..you need to add a bunch each time having the proper m/f ratio....1m to 3-4f is best...but at the same time, you take a chance and overload the fresh cycle...so which is better? IMO with africans, getting the 3-4 and having prime on hand with daily water changes in case of a mini cycle, is better than adding 1 fish a week ....their agression levels are just to much IMO and id rather do the changes than have a fish get hurt...but thats me

I also agree his barring is not from stress and probably wont ever go away, but hes stil la hot ticket!

Charlene

I hope I didn't offend and s/he looks good.

I also have a yellow lab and every now and then she gets "bars" through either water changes or by another tankmate chasing. It could be anything from as said from cross breeding to stress (with what ever has caused that). This tank is only 3 weeks old, so stress can't be ruled out. Shawine is right that the aggression levels are high and more numbers the better to the male and female ratio.

There are yellow labs out there that yes can have some barring (a friend of mine has 3, one is holding that has barring) but it may dissapper over time.

It just amazes me that some people are not aware about this barring. Pure yelow labs should not have these barrings and if they do it can be through the things that I have mentioned. I am only putting my imput. I wasn't aware of this until I got my lab and I too wanted to know what it was and I got told the above. I have moved her out of my main tank into a tank with my angel (odd mix but it works) and no bars are showing at all.

desertrefugee

Hi Charlene. Absolutely no offense taken. It's just that, in this case, I'm certain that the barring is not related to stress. It's good to know that coloration changes in the yellows is not always purely behavioral and could be stress-related. Since I plan on adding more of them, I will be on the lookout for such changes.

And Shawnie, you're not helping my cause. I guess the rule of stocking slowly doesn't apply to Africans. I might go out this evening and add a couple of peacocks - but no more for a week or so. That would be four and I'll crash my fragile cycle for sure if I go any further. Either way, I'll be on top of the water changes and have Prime at the ready.

Thanks all for the advice and encouragement. I have quite a few features and hidey holes, but could definitely use more rock. Probably need that BEFORE any more fish go in. There's plenty for two, but any more and civil war would probably result.

Thanks again,

Darrell

bolivianbaby

Hello, desertrefugee. I have 4 labs each in two separate tanks. Two are barred in the tank in my kitchen. I've realized by watching them they're not the dominant ones in the tank. They've also grown slower than my non-barred labs.

btate617

Like Shawnie has pointed out the barring has nothing to do with stress. It is just a poor line of breed fish. A perfect Labidochromis Caeruleus will never show barring during stress, breeding, chasing, etc. Nice fish either way!

Brian

Shawnie

in another thread we went over this remember ? LOL and i did a ton of reading after that and never knew this info until you helped me! I agree you wouldnt ever see bars in a pure lab...but its still a great looking fish as others have said....africans are always stressed..its in their nature!!

and darrell, sorry im not helping in the stocking LOL ....but again, the water changes and prime will be your bestest buds...I did my entire tank with TSS and added 3-5 species each week after...its kept the agression down but a tank that still makes me koo koo with action hahah

desertrefugee

Forgive my ignorance (although I'm learning quickly) but...


TSS

...and acronym for Africans, cichlids, mbuna, a new cell phone technology

bolivianbaby

TSS is Tetra Safe Start. It contains the necessary bacteria to cycle a tank within 7-10 days and protect the fish from the ammonia and nitrite spikes that occur during the cycling process.

Hope this helps

desertrefugee

Thanks. Looks like I won't need it. The ammonia in the 65g has gone to zero. NitrIte is now <.25ppm and I'm starting to see measurable nitrAte. I put a bunch of gravel substrate from the cycled 29g into a sock last week. It made a HUGE difference.

SOooo, based on that and Shawnie's advice, I picked up a couple more fish today. A Blue Johanni (Melanochromis johannii) and another Yellow lab - this one pure yellow, but with less black on the fins. He's also less dominant and a bit camera shy. I realize that the johanni might be a bit over the top here, but I wanted to try him. For now, he's minding his own busines...

I am truly psyched about this tank!

Here's three of them - again, the new yellow lab is sort of in hiding for now. The "barred" lab is bugging him a bit. Not violently, but just being a jerk.

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