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Best tank size for a breeding Electric yellow colony

8K views 18 replies 3 participants last post by  dazfish 
#1 ·
Hi
I have 4 females and 1 male eletric yellow in a 2 foot tank at the moment

Wondering if this is a good size tank or do i need a biiger tank maybe a 3 foot or 4 foot tank
 
#3 ·
Bare minimum 3ft 30 gallon aquarium but a 4ft 55 gallon would be better. If it's just the labs and you have no intent on adding any other fish the 3ft tank will work. Have plenty of caves and heavy filtration.
 
#4 ·
Hi
Thanks so much for the advice. I have just started the fish hobby. im trying to get as much info and knowledge as i can. i have a 6 foot tank with a varity of ciclids mostly yellow labs. And was told that its best if i had a coloney of 4 -5 females to 1 male in a tank to breed. something to do with male being a bully or something. i want to learn on yellow labs and then move up to other cichlids. i only had 6 other tanks on hand and a 4 foot tank with gold fish in it.
So i might set the 4 foot up with th eyellow labs and put gold fish in the 2 foot tanks.

What do you all think
 
#5 ·
If they are comet goldfish then forget about it. Those guys are like mini koi and get massive. If they are fancy they might work I am not super knowledgeable on goldfish tough. Why don't you just leave the labs in the 6 footer and do a cichlid community tank?

As for the labs you need at least 2-3 females per male because mbunas breed harem style and the male will constantly pick on and even kill one female. You can have more males you just need more females too. Labs are a milder mbuna so they don't need as many females to males as the more aggressive mbunas like kenyi and auratus.
 
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#7 ·
What is in the 6 footer currently? I would get more peacful mbunas. You could add a group of acei, a group of hongi, and a group of rusty cichlids. And maybe a dozen demasoni too. Mbunas are best kept in an overstocked system but you MUST overfilter to accommodate the extra fish. Be sure to add lots of rock work too.
 
#9 ·
Sounds like a decent stock. What is the scientific name of the electric blues there a few fish that go by that common name. I would get more johanni and ditch the tropheus. Tropheus have an extremely high conspecific aggression and are best kept in large numbers. You could maybe keep them but I would add a lot more. They also need to be kept in specific ratios.
 
#11 ·
You may be able to keep the fryeri but they are haps and get much larger than mbuna and are more aggressive. It could work but I would have 1m and 2-3 females. For the trophues you will need probably 4-5 males and like 12-15 females. The tank really isn't big enough for all those fish. I would keep the mbunas and ditch the other species. Or if your dedicated do a nice tropheus tank.
 
#13 ·
Make sure both tanks are at least 75 gallons. The tropheus colony may be able to survive in a 4ft tank but it is a bit of a long shot. These guys can be extremely hard on eachother. The fryeri should be ok in the 75 by themselves.
 
#16 ·
Not sure what you are asking. Are you looking for a breeding setup to start up? There are so many options as for as fish go you would have to narrow it down a bit. Plus the fish you have should breed for you.
 
#18 ·
If you are looking for easy to breed cichlids again there are tons out there. I would defiantly start small. For central american cichlids you could get convicts, HRP, firemouth cichlids, etc. For africans I would do brichardi, shell dwellers (ocellatus gold, brevis, etc.), leleupi, or some small julidochromis. For south american I would maybe do a pair of blue acaras, angelfish, etc. All these fish can breed in tanks of 20-30 gallons. As for filtration that is up to you. There are tons of options out there. Some people prefer sponge filters, some prefer HOB's, some prefer canisters it really just depends. A lot of figuring out what you want is going to require some research on your own. I would google the fish I suggested and do some reading on them then select one pair you want to keep.
 
#19 ·
Thanks mate
i will do some research and then let you know what im thinking of doing. then you can tell me if it would be the right thing to do.
i have moved my breeding yellow labs to a 4 foot tank with heaps of rocks and caves with a canaster filter so they should do really well in there.
thank you heaps for all the advice you have given me it is nice to see that people can come on here (totally novice like me) and ask for advice.

once again thanks
 
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