Say Hello to the Yellow!

[Koikid88]

Just feed the treats like brine shrimp, blood or tubifex worms now and then to get a little protein in there. Generally, tropical flakes have decent amounts of protein in them.

And I'm not worried about missing tetras just yet! They are half the size of the labs lol

A school of Red eye tetras will be fine with full grown yellows though.

Although I'm unsure of;

Has anyone kept rainbow fish with cichlids?
Looking into getting a school of 6-10 boesmanis or something to occupy the middle of the tank with some movement.

If not rainbow fish, would surface dwellers such as hatchetfish be ok with yellows?

Or even an Archer fish

Keep in mind, My kribs are the most aggressive thing in the tank lol So that's saying something.
I'm willing to take some risks, but do a lot of research beforehand.
Anyone had luck with this combination of tank mates?

 

[derail]

Wow thanks everyone, the information helps a ton! Now I know not to use feeders. No research I did indicated they were primarily herbivores/invertebrate esters primarily, and had no idea high protein gave them malawi bloat

 

[Malawi Freak]

Don't feed them guppies. You're going to mostly just cause a lot of ammonia to build up in tank from the guppies being stressed and way too high of a protein diet.

 

[derail]

Yeah, thanks. I'm headed to the lfs tomorrow for some different food. Was informed that I should feed then food with less than 40% protein

 

[stone1269]

Good to know. If I put any other types of fish with then, it will be young guppies I've bred for live good. Is that acceptable? I don't want to do anything that will make them sick

I wouldn't feed them live fish cause n my experience once u start they will b hooked lol and u really need to start lookin for a new home for the lil tetras or ur labs will "rehome" them straight to their stomachs!

 

[derail]

I wouldn't feed them live fish cause n my experience once u start they will b hooked lol and u really need to start lookin for a new home for the lil tetras or ur labs will "rehome" them straight to their stomachs!

Haha, I haven't purchased any shoaling fish for the tank. On a budget, thank goodness I couldn't afford any impulse purchases! Plus, my wife is too afraid they'd die. Might try to put some acei with them. Read they're quite even tempered. Or maybe that was jewel cichlids

 

[stone1269]

IMO they r both pretty mild tempered but u can expect a certain level of aggression in the future tho its just a cichlid thing lol

 

[derail]

Again everyone, I really, REALLY, appreciate the advice helping me understand these bad boys better. I did have a question, as I've been considering dither fish...can I use zebra danios as dither fish? I've had them before...worked well until one decided to take after stallone when I watched rambo and kill his buddies...not too proud to say I let my friend use him as a feeder for his jaguar cichlid...anyway.

Would I be able to use danios for this purpose? I've been able to keep them in my crunchy water and do not want to attempt tetras again until I've got a RO system (which is a ways in the future).

 

[stone1269]

Sure idk bout zebras tho cause I believe they stay pretty small but the larger giant danios would b perfect I once used tiger barbs as dither fish but it didn't turn out too good cause apparently they were still too small to serve the purpose lol granted they keep the cichlids attention off each other but only for bout 30 mins! smh

 

[Labenator65000]

I wouldnt and i dont feed mine foods that look like fish. After all they are herbivores (primarily eat veggie stuff)

Agreed. Too much protein and they will get Malawi Bloat. My Yellow Labs labs love NLS Cichlid.