How do you breed electric yellow lab?

[Fishie]

How would you breed these? I got 55G almost finished cycle. Going tomorrow to lfs. How many can I put in 55G? All I know is mouth brooders. Don't even know how to strip of egg or anything. Think it will be cool to start breeding these things.

[Fishie]

Any info would help! Thanks in advance

[Bigtay]

Originally Posted by Fishie

Any info would help! Thanks in advance

Really they will breed on their own,long as the tank is clean. I just had my first batch of acei babies,well so far I only found one but hoping their are more in there. I have an 60 gallon long and I have had 16 fish in there before,just have to have good filtration and lots of rocks/hiding places. Hope this help you out sum, maybe sumbody else will help you out soon!!!!!

[Bigtay]

Originally Posted by Bigtay

Really they will breed on their own,long as the tank is clean. I just had my first batch of acei babies,well so far I only found one but hoping their are more in there. I have an 60 gallon long and I have had 16 fish in there before,just have to have good filtration and lots of rocks/hiding places. Hope this help you out sum, maybe sumbody else will help you out soon!!!!!

And I have had my mbuna's a little over a year and this is my first batch of babies. I would suggest you get a moonlight also, it mimics the light of the moon and encourages spawning. I have sand and tons of rocks in my tank to mimic their natural environment. Also I would suggest to get a little more info on cichlids, it will save u time and money, hope this help!!!!!

[Mumma.of.two]

I know this is VERY of topic and I feel as I'm always bugging you. But if you have a 55 and a blood parrot in a 29g (I'm assuming you still have it) why not move him over and give him a better life? Sorry if I'm mistaken.

[Fishie]

Originally Posted by Mumma.of.two

I know this is VERY of topic and I feel as I'm always bugging you. But if you have a 55 and a blood parrot in a 29g (I'm assuming you still have it) why not move him over and give him a better life? Sorry if I'm mistaken.

Oh I went to my petco today and they didn't have dollar per gallon sale but I'm going to another this week. I was looking for 55G tank but didn't find any prices. My bro in law has 150G and might give it to me. I might buy another used one.

[Fishie]

Originally Posted by Bigtay

And I have had my mbuna's a little over a year and this is my first batch of babies. I would suggest you get a moonlight also, it mimics the light of the moon and encourages spawning. I have sand and tons of rocks in my tank to mimic their natural environment. Also I would suggest to get a little more info on cichlids, it will save u time and money, hope this help!!!!!

What's a moonlight? Just a light that project light like a moon??

[Fishie]

Originally Posted by Bigtay

And I have had my mbuna's a little over a year and this is my first batch of babies. I would suggest you get a moonlight also, it mimics the light of the moon and encourages spawning. I have sand and tons of rocks in my tank to mimic their natural environment. Also I would suggest to get a little more info on cichlids, it will save u time and money, hope this help!!!!!

Are your fish mouth brooders ? If so what's your method to get eggs/fry out?

[kdpuffer]

With cichlids breeding is easy, keep the water clean and match thier natural environment and they do the rest. With mouth brooders there are different ways to breed them and have success. One way is to strip a holding female once you notice she is holding and placing the eggs in an egg tumbler, this method is tricky as you have to have the tumbler set just right or the eggs will rot. Secondly is to strip the female once the fry are hatched and free swimming, I've found the best way to do this is to watch the female at feeding time, once she starts taking food she is feeding the fry and I like to wait a couple days once this occurs then strip the fry, they are ready for the grow out tank at this point. The last method is to let her spit in the tank, this often results in the majority if not all the fry being eaten so this is to be avoided unless you don't want the fry. To strip a female of eggs or fry is the same, you need to catch her which is the hard part. You want a good sized bowl filled partially with tank water and using wet hands or your net you gently hold her in one hand and use your other hand to hold her mouth open. I found the best way is to very gently use your finger nail and work it in between her lips and pull her lip down, with the mouth open you submerge her head in water in the bowl and then pull her out and the water in her mouth will wash any fry or eggs out. Repeat this step till they are all out but try to be quick about it cause fish can't breath out of water. Another good habit is to keep another dish of tank water to put her in so she can have a little rest between attempts. Don't put her in the same dish with the fry or eggs cause she may suck them back up then you have to start over. Hope that helps.

[Fishie]

Awesome info kdpuffer helped me a ton (literally) do hey hatch in her mouth also? How do I know when I strip her? Got .5 for her so I can strip her. What is that egg tumbler?

[kdpuffer]

Yes the eggs hatch in her mouth and you can tell when she has eggs by the spot under her mouth will look "swollen" do a google search of holding female mouth brooder on google and I'm sure you can find a good example. An egg tumbler is usually a clear plastic tube with small petri type dishes attached to it. You put the eggs in a dish and it uses an air stone to draw water through the system and keep the eggs clean. Again do a google search to see what it looks like. There are DIY tumblers you can build but I found buying a good one worked best.

[Fishie]

Originally Posted by kdpuffer

Yes the eggs hatch in her mouth and you can tell when she has eggs by the spot under her mouth will look "swollen" do a google search of holding female mouth brooder on google and I'm sure you can find a good example. An egg tumbler is usually a clear plastic tube with small petri type dishes attached to it. You put the eggs in a dish and it uses an air stone to draw water through the system and keep the eggs clean. Again do a google search to see what it looks like. There are DIY tumblers you can build but I found buying a good one worked best.

Thanks last question if you know how to tell sex/gender of fish? You have been great help!! It's ok if you don't .

[kdpuffer]

Best thing to do is to buy a half dozen to a dozen jouvenile fish and wait till they mature. Typically the males have more black in their dorsal and pectoral fins but this is not always the case due to inbreeding and such. I recently saw someone on this forums female yellow lab that put most male yellow labs to shame. The other option is to get a proven colony or group of breeders but those are harder to come by and cost alot more. So I would stick to buying a bunch of juveniles and letting them grow then as they spawn you know which are female (they hold the eggs) and which are male and can weed down your breeding colony to 1-2 males and 4-6 females.

[Fishie]

Wow thanks a ton I've learned a lot from you and answered all my questions. I see you breed some yourself! I'm going to go with the first option to get a lot of fish. Right now only have 2.

[kdpuffer]

I've bred african cichlids in the past, only breeding project I have going now is guppies as feeders. Have a colony of frontosas that I hope to breed once they mature which will be a while yet. Good
Luck and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask there are alot of knowledgable people on here that will be glad to help out.

[Fishie]

Originally Posted by kdpuffer

I've bred african cichlids in the past, only breeding project I have going now is guppies as feeders. Have a colony of frontosas that I hope to breed once they mature which will be a while yet. Good
Luck and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask there are alot of knowledgable people on here that will be glad to help out.

Cool! Yes a lot of knowledgeable people like you!