How many electric yellow/yellow labs in a 50 gallong long?

[sobersteve323]

How many electric yellow/yellow labs can fit in a species only tank that's 50 gallons (48"x12.5"x19.5")?

Would they allow for any type of bottom feeder to coexist in the tank with them?

Edit: Filter is a Fluval 405.

 

[steez]

I'm no expert, but labs are more of a relaxed cichlid, you could probably put 8-10 in there and still add a school of Tiger Barbs or Rainbows. Pleco's a great bottom feeder for them too. As long as you have great filtration.

 

[sobersteve323]

I'm no expert, but labs are more of a relaxed cichlid, you could probably put 8-10 in there and still add a school of Tiger Barbs or Rainbows. Pleco's a great bottom feeder for them too. As long as you have great filtration.

Thanks, I wasn't sure if a pleco would be ok. Also, I have a Fluval 405 on there. I'll add that to the original post!

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

agreed - id put more in there tho to reduce aggression, but that means loads more water changes and better filtration.
the ratios are 1m/3f, so the 2 males 6 (min) females is ideal.
pretty much any type, dont go for anything with very fancy fins. plecos are fine, anything fantail-ey or extravagent may attract the fishes attention and get chewed. but thats totally dependant on the individual fish!
the filter is fine, but u need to keep on top of pwc, especially with a bottom feeder. they poop alot

 

[steez]

Yeah i'd recommend getting more than you plan on keeping, and weeding out extra males / troublemakers. If you get them young, sometimes you can't sex them very well.

 

[sobersteve323]

agreed - id put more in there tho to reduce aggression, but that means loads more water changes and better filtration.
the ratios are 1m/3f, so the 2 males 6 (min) females is ideal.
pretty much any type, dont go for anything with very fancy fins. plecos are fine, anything fantail-ey or extravagent may attract the fishes attention and get chewed. but thats totally dependant on the individual fish!
the filter is fine, but u need to keep on top of pwc, especially with a bottom feeder. they poop alot

What if I skip a bottom feeder all together? Is it really necessary to have one if I do PWC and vacuum every week?

 

[sobersteve323]

Yeah i'd recommend getting more than you plan on keeping, and weeding out extra males / troublemakers. If you get them young, sometimes you can't sex them very well.

How about 14-16? Too many? Not enough?

 

[steez]

Well...pleco's are awesome! I have an albino bristlenose in my 40g breed demasoni/lab tank and they totally leave him alone.. I'm keeping that high of numbers in mine for aggression control, with two powerful filters.

I don't see anything wrong with 14-16 of them, then you can pick out the meanies and extra males. Maybe you'd end up with 12 or so? Also remember, Tiger Barbs and Rainbows work with them too. You could totally start with 16, end up taking out 5 of them and later adding a school of barbs or something for some color.

The trick to the smaller tanks (like yours and mine) is overstocking to reduce the aggression, but not going too overboard on it because you still have to control the bioload. Your filter is plenty.

You're going to get a lot of opinions, some ranging from "No mbunas in less than 75g" to "overstock it and enjoy".

It's going to be more work for you with that tank, just like my tank. IMO I think it's worth it.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

im getting one, only cos i like the thought of one and seeing how big it'l get. u dont need one if u vacuum. especially not when they get to a certain size, they dont eat any waste and dont touch algae. they like zuccini and blanched peas and algae wafers etc. but dont clean up like they are supposed to.... lol.
thats alot of fish and pwc will be big and frequent but should work. why not get different mbuna so theres colour variation? steez got some johanni if im not mistaken? x

 

[steez]

Demasoni actually. The Johanni / Yellow Lab's won't do very well in that small of a tank. Johanni become too aggressive. But you have to get 12 Demasoni at least, it's the magic number

A fantastic species to look at is Saulosi. They are a beautiful mix of blues and yellows, and they are a dwarf species much better fit for our smaller tanks. I would of gotten them but the availability is about none up here.

 

[sobersteve323]

Thanks guys for all the help. Doing frequent massive PWCs are no biggie to me; I know my fruit trees love my nasty aquarium habit.

I went to the LFS last night ONLY for some danios for our community tank... But then the wife saw the yellow labs and was talking about them all night.! Figured I'd do research before even considering it lol

 

[sobersteve323]

Demasoni actually. The Johanni / Yellow Lab's won't do very well in that small of a tank. Johanni become too aggressive. But you have to get 12 Demasoni at least, it's the magic number

A fantastic species to look at is Saulosi. They are a beautiful mix of blues and yellows, and they are a dwarf species much better fit for our smaller tanks. I would of gotten them but the availability is about none up here.

I'll have to take a look at those! I think I'm in the same boat here since there's only one LFS I really like buying from.

 

[steez]

Mine couldn't even order them from their supplier lol.

I ended up doing Demasoni/Labs because of the blue/yellow. Demasoni are little buggers though, I'll have to really weed out the mean ones. Starting with 15 of them, with a 3 fish buffer. I have to keep 12+ or they will bloat/kill when they are adults.

 

[WendiDell]

The Yellow Labs are pretty mellow compared to a lot of other Mbuna. And as far as sexing them they are fairly easy to do. The males have a much thicker black stripe on their dorsal fin and have more Black on their other fins as well. As you can see in the photos, the one one the top is a male and the one under it is the female.
You will rarely get a mean one, but they are still Mbunas and I wouldn't put another breed in with them. Mbunas are meant to be with Mbunas. Except Plecos, I have 2 very cool Green Dragon BN Plecos in with my Mbunas and they are doing great. They don't even bother to hide or be shy. This is our little female Green Dragon, she will get to be about 4-4.5" long and she and the male BN keep my tank Algae free.
Whether you add Plecos or not, the vacuuming & PWC 1-2 times a week are still necessary. It's just that with the Plecos I've never had to clean any of the decorations or scrape any algae off the tank walls, ever. Every now and then I have to clean algae off the lid, because the Pleco can't reach it. So it gives me an idea of how much algae I would have if I didn't have Plecos in every tank.
Besides, they are very nice fish. Just make sure you get the Pleco that is appropriate for your size tank. It's all to common for FS to sell any Pleco, no matter your tank size. This is where a lot of research is required.
Also, there is one Pleco called a Gold Nugget, it's really beautiful, but it comes in 3 different sizes. Until they get their scientific names they are given a L number. The 3 Gold Nugget Plecos are L-18, L-81, L-85. Make sure your FS knows the difference.

 

[kay-bee19]

...And as far as sexing them they are fairly easy to do. The males have a much thicker black stripe on their dorsal fin and have more Black on their other fins as well...

Females can have comparable black fin markings on the dorsal, pelvic and anal fins as the males (here are three mouthbrooding females):

Also, among males, sub-dominants can potentially have less vibrant markings compared to dominant males:

From top to bottom, young sub-dominant male, matured dominant male, female lacking some black fin pigmentation:

Among a group of yellow labs containing dominant males, sub-dominant males, females with distinct black fin markings, and females with diminished black fin markings, gender determination can challenging at times when going only by fin markings.

 

[mfdrookie516]

^Hence why venting is the ONLY way to know on monomorphic fish

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

i found in venting, males had much thinner smaller vent while females had rounder brown vent. with the exception of never spawned females who resemble males a bit in the vent.

 

[Niki]

agreed - id put more in there tho to reduce aggression, but that means loads more water changes and better filtration.
the ratios are 1m/3f, so the 2 males 6 (min) females is ideal.
pretty much any type, dont go for anything with very fancy fins. plecos are fine, anything fantail-ey or extravagent may attract the fishes attention and get chewed. but thats totally dependant on the individual fish!
the filter is fine, but u need to keep on top of pwc, especially with a bottom feeder. they poop alot

Agreeded, I didn't know how much Plecos pooped until I got one.....

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

hehe i got one today, an orange spotted sailfin pleco. anyone know the number or the max size?? xxx

 

[WendiDell]

hehe i got one today, an orange spotted sailfin pleco. anyone know the number or the max size?? xxx

The max size is 20" but the average is 16-18". The minimum tank size is 125g . They are a great algae eaters but they do create a very large amount of waste . His L listing is L-83.
There are several variations of the Sailfin Pleco, so yours may not look exactly like the photo.