Yellow Lab breeding??

[gregpape23]

Ok, Im new to breeding Cichlids so this will be an experience. lol
I have a 29g tank that has many many caves that I made. It has been cycled for a few months now.
Stocking: Pink Convict
Green Terror
Firemouth
Yellow Peacock
2 yellow labs.
I know some would say that my stocking is a bit odd, or wrong. But it is a combination of my neighbor moving, and a lot of experimenting to see what would work. They All get along great. Lets go back a few days...I only have 1 yellow lab. (and everything else) Everything seems fine and I think it would be really nice to try breeding some yellow labs. I am fairly certain that the original lab is a female because the black markings on her anal fin isnt very prominent and sometimes isnt there at all. So I go out and buy a male lab, with much darker anal fins. I put him in, and all seems well. The labs seem to be playing(chasing eachother etc. in a playful manner) I check back in a few hours and the female lab seems to have taken control of the tank, the pink convict, yellow peacock, and the male lab all seem very scared of her, they are hiding btwn the filter and the glass, and other hardtoreach places. lol What is going wrong? I know someone is going to comment on the stocking scheme, but all I can say is that it was going great before the addition. What behavior(be specific) should I expect from the lab pair? Sorry for the lengthy post
Thanks in advance!!

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA! As they grow and breeding becomes more on their minds, they will become much more aggressive. The fish you have need a 55 gallon tank minimum.

 

[gregpape23]

Thanks! I think I might have a 55 or 60 laying around in the basement so that is good. What kind of behaviours should the yellows exibit when they might be ready to breed?

 

[jibboo]

My labs don't bother anyone else when breeding. Of course they are pretty unlikely to bother my johannis which are bigger or my demasoni in my other tank which is king of the tank (even though he's not the largest).

I wouldn't necessarily chalk the behavior up to breeding ... it could simply be the dominant fish exhibiting control. Maybe your first lab wasn't a girl after all? The black markings aren't a definite indicator.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Yellow labs aren't monogamous so giving the male a few females would increase your chance of having some fry.