Question on yellow lab breeding

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Rjv0123

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
11
Location
Texas
I have a 40 gallon tank with the following.

Yellow lab(female)
Livingstonii
Zebra hap
Venustus
Strawberry peacock
Red German peacock
Mixed peacock
Plecostomous

460 gph filtration. The tank has been set up for a month now and Everything has been going great I have read a lot about the mouth breeding African cichlids and from what I can tell my yellow lab is holding her eggs
Three days ago she first started showing signs of hungry but not eating and staying away from the other fish. Now she has dug into the sand and below a rock and isn't moving from the spot

My main 2 questions are: is it really possible she bred with one of my other fish?(which was confusing me) and second, I can't seem to tell that she has any eggs in her mouth. I've looked for her neck to be protruding but I can't tell that it is and every time I look into her mouth I can't see any eggs Is it just to early to tell?

Thank you so much for any advice and answers!!!
 
If she is holding the culprit is the zebra. Its harder to tell with some if they are still on the small side. And not to get off topic, but you've got some pretty serious stocking issues that you really should address before you end up with major problems.

Edit- just seen you said three zebra is a hap, are you sure of that? If it is a hap then It wasnt him.
 
It is definitely a zebra obliquiden and definitely a male one too.

I am aware of the stocking issues like the size of the venustus and livingstonii. But I will have a bigger tank for them in the future. And the aggressive nature of the zebra. What other stocking issues do u think I have.

Thanks for responding
Still wondering which one of the males bred with my lab
 
Yes I plan on moving him and the livingstonii in the future
 
U would probablly need 2 more females so he doesn't just pick on one and u will need a quarantine tank to be on the safe side. Also good idea on moving the others.
 
With no other mbuna's in the tank it's also entirely possible the yellow lab is mouthbrooding her own unfertilized eggs.

If this is the case the eggs will be discarded or consumed within 3 or 4 days (from the day they were initially collected by the mother). Past that time period then fry are definitely developing.

With that said, the potential for any lake malawi cichlids of crossbreeding with another, however slight, exists (mbuna x hap, mbuna x peacock, hap x peacock). Hybridization with lake victoria haps probably is not possible.
 
Thanks for the helpful information kay-bee19!
I think your probably right about the underutilized eggs. I first started noticing signs that she was holding on the 16th. And today is the 21st now and she is starting to move around a little more and she almost wanted to eat but she spit it out. I guess there is still a chance she is holding.

Maybe I'm just wrong and it's a male and sick. She does have the egg spot in the back but I know that some females do have the spot too. I know best way to tell is by venting but I don't want to do that especially now

I set up a ten gallon breeder tank and filled with mostly water from my 40 gallon and got a fish in it now to help the cycling of the water. Hopefully I will get to use it!!!

She burrowed herself this hole underneath my moon rocks and has been there for since the 16th
 

Attachments

  • image-1660271429.jpg
    image-1660271429.jpg
    146.8 KB · Views: 48
Thanks for the helpful information kay-bee19!
I think your probably right about the underutilized eggs. I first started noticing signs that she was holding on the 16th. And today is the 21st now and she is starting to move around a little more and she almost wanted to eat but she spit it out. I guess there is still a chance she is holding.

Maybe I'm just wrong and it's a male and sick. She does have the egg spot in the back but I know that some females do have the spot too. I know best way to tell is by venting but I don't want to do that especially now

I set up a ten gallon breeder tank and filled with mostly water from my 40 gallon and got a fish in it now to help the cycling of the water. Hopefully I will get to use it!!!

She burrowed herself this hole underneath my moon rocks and has been there for since the 16th

Just fyi water holds very little to no bacteria and will do little in the way if cycling a tank. Does that 10 have a filter? If not it will never cycle since there is no media to grow the colony. You will get some in the substrate if you use any but not enough to be sufficient and keep up with bio load of your fish.
 
Yeah the tank has a filter but it's not a very good one. Although the good thing is I have been using it so there is some good bacteria already. Also the gravel has been used in the tank for 4 months now too.
I need to buy a sponge filter if the fry do come...
Hopefully I didn't set the tank up for a female that wont be delivering some fry. But if I did I'll just have a 5th tank to have fun with! :)
 
Back
Top Bottom