Breeding Malawis

[little T]

I have a community 75 gallon hexagonal tank with 3 sunshine peacocks, 3 dragon blood peacocks, 4 electric yellow labs. I would really like to breed them the right way. But, where would I sell all the fry to? I have a 25 gallon on hand. What is the best way to get the fry in there? Can I put any cleaning fish in there? In no the basics but need to know the more complicated side of cichlid breeding.. THANKS!

[DogWalker]

The only fry I might sell from that tank would be yellow labs, IF they are good quality and display the proper traits of yellow labs.
If it's the "Dragon's Blood" fry you're referring to (or the sunshine's for that matter), you can't be sure they aren't crossed with the other peacocks as peacocks are notorious for cross-breeding when there are females present. In fact the Dragon's Blood are hybrids anyways, likely a recent cross of a peacock species with an mbuna species so you're in very muddy water with them to start with as even their own fry are reportedly not very consistent in appearance. If the fry are a cross between the DBs and the sunshines then you would be selling something that is not what you claim, which would be wrong even regardless of how you feel about commercially marketed hybrids.

Good quality yellow lab juvies are often in demand at fish stores. They usually want them at 2" or more, so you would need to grow them on awhile. Many stores will offer store credit instead of cash. You'll need to speak with whoever does the buying at the store and strike a deal with them. The more convinced they are that you know what you're doing (and know your cichlids) the more likely they are to want your fish, so keep reading and learning as much as you can about african cichlids if you want to get into breeding.

The easiest way to get fry into a growout tank is to catch the holding female before she releases them and put her in the growout tank, then remove her a day or so after the fry are released. Another alternative is to catch the holding female and 'strip' her. I won't get into the details - I'm sure there are threads or articles on this site that already cover that better than I have time to at the moment. If you have a hard time finding the info we can help. Finally, if the mother has spit in the main tank, well, roll up your sleaves, pull out the rocks and get the net I'm afraid...

I hope all this helps.

[little T]

Omg thanks this is exactlly what I was looking for Thanks!