55 Gallon Tank, Labidochromis Caeruleus Journal

[mjzuverink]

Hey, guys this is my first journal so bare with me. me and my dad have set up a 55 gallon tank with which we are hoping to have a species tank with Labidochromis Caeruleus. I will put some pics of the tank decor later tonight along with the fish. we have had the tank cycles with some mature filter media so it should be ready for fish. we are going to pick up 8 labs tonight. I havent seen them yet so I'm not sure what sex ratio we will have. all that i was told is that three of the females we are picking up are already holding. my dad wanted to set up this tank because he has never bred any fish like I have him so im hoping it will turn out to be a fun project. as i said, i will post some pics of the tank and hopefully its nhabitants tonight

one question i did have. After reading up on this species i read several times that in some of th habitats they are found in the wild, they live amoung beds of Vallisneria. many people have actually said they have had good experiences with plant with africans and Labidochromis Caeruleus being one of the less aggressive.and i did also notice that it is in the pinned topic for plants in african tanks. but when i asked my lfs about it he said the vallisneria wouldn't have a chance. have you guys had any experience with plant? im assumming the labs would eat it somewhat , but i have heard that it grows fast enough to keep up with them. any help would be appreciated

 

[mjzuverink]

okay, so just got home from picking up the fish! got 11 labs, still not sure on the sex ratio, but they are all good size about 2.5-3 inch. we also got three kenyii,(which are not my favorite but my dad wanted to get them) but they are 2 females and 1 male, all about 3 inches. on the way home i was worried if the tank would be crowded but after putting the fish in i think it looks just about right.

as promised , here are some first pics. there are two pics of a fish that im not sure of. the guy we bought them from thought it was a large male electric yellow lab, but i think it may be some sort of hybrid. almost looked like some cynotilapia to me, would appreciate some help on an ID but the pics arent great. either way im not sure if we will keep this fish as we dont want to breed any sort of hybrid lab.

ENJOY!

here is the tank with the aquascae before fish, hasnt completely cleared up yet.

after the fish added

notice the little guy that got mixed in with the bunch hiding in the rock

here is a female that is already holding eggs, sorry blurry pic

tank pic

here are two pics of the unknown fish i was hoping you guys could ID

 

[mjzuverink]

does anyone think we could possibly get any inter breeding with the kenyi and labs? ( i hope not )

 

[james41683]

does anyone think we could possibly get any inter breeding with the kenyi and labs? ( i hope not )

being as aggressive as they are, the kenyi could just take the lab females if there aren't enough kenyi females. due to the aggressiveness they are usually recommended for a 75 gallon tank or bigger.

 

[kribensis12]

THe unidentified fish are yellow labs as well. My male looks just like that.

 

[mjzuverink]

thanks, I have been worrying about the unknown fish as i didnt want it to breed if it asnt a yellow lab. yea the kenyi werent my idea, my dad wanted those in there. but we'll seehow it goes

got our first fry yesterday, I seperated the female to a ten gallon tank to spit her eggs out and we got 12 good looking fry

so they are in a 10 gallon right now, I am currently setting up a 30 gallon that will be for the fry to grow, will get pics up soon

 

[dthoffsett]

Love your setup.

I'd give the plants a try, IME labs being omnivores tend to ignore greenery for the most part, the biggest problem you'll likely have is them digging it up.

 

[mjzuverink]

yeah, im thinking of trying some jungle val. as that type has a bit thicker leaves so might be a little hardier