Cichlids and Cory's?

[ccross]

I would say in a 25 say you could do 2 or 3 yellow labs.

My plans are to pair a male and female to breed them. At that point, they will have a tank completely to themselves. I really do not want more than 2 of them. The Kenyi's were an impulse buy as I wasnt sure what they were and of course, none at walmart knows anything I have no problem giving them away or swapping them for something different. I wouldnt keep them and make them live in a tank too small for them. I will keep them until they are a bit more mature tho.

 

[garfy]

It is very difficult to sex yellow labs indeed.I wish you luck with that one.My advice would be watch the kenyi very carefully the males change to a yellow not dissimilar to yellow labs and could destroy them overnight.Just trying to give you the heads up

 

[ccross]

It is very difficult to sex yellow labs indeed.I wish you luck with that one.My advice would be watch the kenyi very carefully the males change to a yellow not dissimilar to yellow labs and could destroy them overnight.Just trying to give you the heads up

They (the Kenyi) are only about an inch long right now, do you really think they would attack the larger yellow labs already? If so, I will put them in a 20g of thier own tomorrow. I have one set up that I was going to add a school of tiger barbs too.

 

[garfy]

I'm just saying keep an eye on them
A good example is I put newly spat fry (pseudotrophius elongatus) of about 5 mm long in my daughters fish tank with rummy nosed and glow light tetra and even at that size they attacked the tetra.I was shocked and removed them immediately.

 

[ccross]

I'm just saying keep an eye on them
A good example is I put newly spat fry (pseudotrophius elongatus) of about 5 mm long in my daughters fish tank with rummy nosed and glow light tetra and even at that size they attacked the tetra.I was shocked and removed them immediately.

I might just separate them tomorrow just to be safe. I like my labs

 

[garfy]

Labs are very nice fish

 

[ccross]

Labs are very nice fish

I just read that males will have black on their pectoral and anal fins and the females will not. So hopefully this will make sexing them easier when the time comes.

 

[garfy]

I just read that males will have black on their pectoral and anal fins and the females will not. So hopefully this will make sexing them easier when the time comes.

Unfortunately this isn't true.I have males and females with black on these fins.The only true way to sex them is to vent them.
On the underside of the fish right next to the anal fin there are what look like 2 spots.If they are both small spots you have a male.If one spot is slightly bigger then you have a female.

 

[Discusapisto]

Yep deff take cory's out it won't work sorry and yellow labs are very nice fish!

 

[Malawi Freak]

But a single Kenyi should be more than comfortable in a 20G long tank. Plenty of swimming room for a 5in fish I'm not by any means trying to argue. Just stating my opinion.

20g long is not a big tank. It's only 30" across. It's like keeping a great Dane in a garden apartment. Sure they physically fit but they need that extra "fin" room.

 

[Malawi Freak]

My plans are to pair a male and female to breed them. At that point, they will have a tank completely to themselves. I really do not want more than 2 of them. The Kenyi's were an impulse buy as I wasnt sure what they were and of course, none at walmart knows anything I have no problem giving them away or swapping them for something different. I wouldnt keep them and make them live in a tank too small for them. I will keep them until they are a bit more mature tho.

Keeping a single pair doesn't really work. The male will stress the single female out always wanting to breed. You will need more chicks for that stud.

 

[ccross]

20g long is not a big tank. It's only 30" across. It's like keeping a great Dane in a garden apartment. Sure they physically fit but they need that extra "fin" room.

I'm only keeping the Kenyi's until I can tell what sex they are. Then I will be taking them to the LFS to exchange for something else. They will never reach full size while I own them

 

[ccross]

Keeping a single pair doesn't really work. The male will stress the single female out always wanting to breed. You will need more chicks for that stud.

So will 1 male and 2 females be an ok ratio? How early can these be sexed? Are the spots visible as juveniles or do they develop when they mature? If its after they mature, its going to be fun trying to get the correct male to female ratio

One more question. Would a long 55g or a tall 55g be better for them?

 

[Malawi Freak]

55 gallon only comes in one size unless it's custom made. 48x13x2. A 55 gallon IMHO is the bare minimum size tank for cichlids. I have times I wonder if my 125 is big enough and that's 6' long. I'm confused by your first question. Are you keeping the Kenyis or not, they are best in a 1:3 ratio. Are you talking about egg spots? That's not an accurate way to sex, the easiest for Kenyi is males are yellow. Look across the tips of the dorsal fin and look for the yellow coloration, thats where they first start changing. Another easy way is to look at the overall coloring. If its a faded blue odds are its a male, the real dark blue with very dominant stripes is usually a female.

 

[ccross]

55 gallon only comes in one size unless it's custom made. 48x13x2. A 55 gallon IMHO is the bare minimum size tank for cichlids. I have times I wonder if my 125 is big enough and that's 6' long. I'm confused by your first question. Are you keeping the Kenyis or not, they are best in a 1:3 ratio. Are you talking about egg spots? That's not an accurate way to sex, the easiest for Kenyi is males are yellow. Look across the tips of the dorsal fin and look for the yellow coloration, thats where they first start changing. Another easy way is to look at the overall coloring. If its a faded blue odds are its a male, the real dark blue with very dominant stripes is usually a female.

I was referring to the Labs. I might have misread what you had said. The Kenyi's I will not be keeping long.