29g

[mmme]

How many yellow labs could I keep in a well rock landscaped 29g tank?

[tom]

Hi mmme. Welcome to the board.

I kept a male and five females for a few years in a 29, without incident.

[mmme]

I understand its difficult to sex yellow labs. I basically just want to get around 7-8, if I got more than 1 male will they fight to the death or could more than 1 be in the same tank?

[SGypsyMermaid]

they might, but if there is serious aggression, you could always take one out.

[mmme]

My lfs has a bad return policy, and for that matter a limited supply of africans, I don't think they would let me return any extra males.

Any ideas on what I can do?

[SGypsyMermaid]

set up another tank! ;)

[Alansfish]

Labidochromis caeruleus tends to be more tolerant of other males in general...you might be able to get by with a mixed group of 10-12.

[FishoPhile J]

mmme said: My lfs has a bad return policy, and for that matter a limited supply of africans, I don't think they would let me return any extra males.


-- that's gunna be a problem. . . my mbuna's have been pretty cool with each other and still only afew are from the original group. try to hit him up for store credit (he probably won't give you what the fish are worth, but it would be better than having the fish sort it out).

[angelhf13]

I started with a 29 with 2 yellow labs along with 6 other mbuna. They did ok. The 2 original labs made lotsa babies, so now I have a 29 with all yellow labs in it.....about 10 (2 original ones, about 3.5", and some of the babies, about 1 to 2") They all get along great.

>>"I understand its difficult to sex yellow labs"

It is pretty easy after they are an inch and a half or so....the males almost always have the darkest black on the fins. After they have reached maturity, its really easy to tell them apart. The males will have a black "shadow" around the face which is darker in color when they are mating.
Ive found that my yellows are less aggressive than any other mbuna I have. They tend to do well with whatever I put them with.

[NyassaeMan]

Alot of good comments there. I would say add the the group you want to the tank with very little rockwork. Give them a week or so to aclimate tothe tank and then add a few pieces of rock on either side of the tank. The males, if over an inch should show some darker coloration in the cheek area...as well as having black front pec fins...as a general rule. I would remove all but one male and keep at least 4 other females. You can then add the additional rockwork . This not only forces males to show dominance and therefore allow you to cull off males...but also it will be wasier to catch the extra fish with less rockwork. Aggression between males in a 29 would IMO best be avoided.