quick question

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


acerkai640
 
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:09 am

quick question

by acerkai640

i was at petsmart today and i saw an electric yellow and a yellow lab cichlid, i was curious if either one will do ok in my tank cuz i would like to add some color to my tank but i dont want all cichlids.thanks
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Mike0372983
 
Posts: 267
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:59 pm

by Mike0372983

depemds what kind of fish you have in now, chiclids tend to be agressive and you will need to make them some caves to claim territory on. not much of a chiclid expert at all so you should wait for miami or gumbii...


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

If you don't want all cichlids, I advise against it. They are very territorial and will be way too aggressive for anything other than other African cichlids. Also, they require a PH that is way too high for most every fish except cichlids.

Electric yellow and yellow lab are the names for the same fish. Where they both yellow, with black on the fins? My male has strong black on his fins, one female has barely any black (you have to look very close) and my other female has half a black dorsal fin. I have pics of them on my profile. :-)
Hope that helped some.


acerkai640
 
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:09 am

by acerkai640

yeah thanks. are there any colorful fish that i can add to my tank and not attack or kill my other fish. i have: 1 banded lepo, 1 pictus catfish, 2 shilvertip sharks, 1 rubberlip pleco, 5 red-fin tetras, and 2 s. petricola. my tank is 115 long so any good fish suggestions
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jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

yellow labs arent that agressive. they are mostly very peaceful cichlids.


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

They are peaceful relative to mbunas, not relative to fish in general. They would not work in your tank.


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

You can get some real good color in Dwarf Cichlids. I have a pair of Bolivian Rams in my community tank. Or you could go with the Blue/German Rams. Most of the dwarf cichlids are fairly peaceful. They will get aggressive at spawning time, but other than that they are good community fish from what I hear. Just Google dwarf cichlids and you will find out what all kinds there is, etc.

Yeah, yellow labs are peaceful for African cichlids, but put them in a community setting non Africans and they will kill them all. I know if I did that with any of my yellows there would trouble! They may tend to back down to my other mbuna, but they would tear the crap out of the rams in minutes because they will claim the tank.


acerkai640
 
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:09 am

by acerkai640

thanks for the input ill look into the rams and would the labs get to big and destroy all my fish even if they all get 6-14 inches?
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dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

I know you really like the labs, I think we have all had our hearts set on one type or another of fish. But, even tho they only get to be about 4" they will still be a terror in a community tank. I have 1 week old Yellow Lab fry and watching them is amazing because they already fight with each other! Also, they need a PH that is 7.8 and higher. If they were in a lower PH, they may live, but they will not thrive.

If you want cichlids, look into the South Americans (Dwarfs, New World cichlids). They live in a low PH (the way most fish do) and enjoy plants and drift wood. etc. All the things we like so much in a freshwater community tank. My Bolivian Rams (they are bigger than the blue ram) are still my favorites, even tho I have a tank setup with African Mbuna: Yellow labs, Acei, Red Zebra and Socolifi. They will chase and posture to the other fish in the tank, but I have never seen them bite or harm another. They hang out in the plants, eat the same diet as the rest (Labs need a vegetarian diet, NO meats) and have a lot of personality.

Look into the New World cichlids, you will like them :-) here is a good place to start.
http://www.aquahobby.com/e_american_cichlids.php


acerkai640
 
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:09 am

by acerkai640

thanks again, do they need anything special or can i leave my tank the way it is? does anyone know anything about s. petricola (pygmy catfish) ive read some stuff but im still confused on why they are relly dark in my tank when the were white with black at the LFS?

quick question

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