I Saved The Yellow Labs!

[kribensis12]

I talked to my teacher today and i saved the labs in exchange for 3 swordtails and 1 mollie, 1 filter, and a free tank cleaning. I put them in my 30g with a jewel cihlid. I feed them flake and they act like they have never seen food before. The are very skinny, you can see a upside down u indention on there stomach from lack of food. They are actually 4 to 4.5 inches. They do not have a very yellow color to them which i am contributing to the fact that they were left without food. They seem to be doing fine.

 

[vancouver]

Uh oh... jewel cichlid + yellow labs in a 30g tank..

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[caboose_122]

how many labs? it should be fine for now if enough hiding spaces are given but the labs will need a 4 foot tank like vancouver said this could be a disaster waiting to happen, do you have any other tanks you can put the jewel into?

you probably know this but you should supply a 6x turn over rate but the higher the beter
and what are you feeding?

i suggest hikari algae wafers and a good african flake food (i cant remember the name of it )

good luck

 

[kribensis12]

the jewel got beatin up by a pair of jewels and is only going to be in there temporaly. I do have a 55gallon that will be empty on monday for them. I am feeding them, tropical flake, cichlid pellets, spirulina pellets, and beefheart.

 

[znk]

Good job.

 

[kribensis12]

Thnx, they are super skinny, i will try to post pics later.

 

[dthoffsett]

What you're feeding sounds fine except for the beefheart, they just can't handle that kind of protein, bloodworms are also a no no. If you want to feed them something a little meaty go for frozen brine shrimp, or even better spirulina enhanced frozen brine shrimp.

Edit: Forgot to add, if you are able to, small meals 3-4 times per day would be better than 2 larger meals until they fill out some.

 

[kribensis12]

I feed then around 5 times aday, small portions, and they still eat like crazy, not one flake has hit the gravel once they notice the food.

 

[kribensis12]

Here is a pic: http/i170.photobucket.com/albums/u274/kr.../yellowlab2.jpg
I am sure they are both female. It is hard to tell from that pic, but you can see that they are underfeed. Here is a video: http/s170.photobucket.com/albums/u274/kr...lowlabvideo.flv
They seem to be doing better. Also one of them has a thin black mustache.

 

[kribensis12]

BUMP!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kribensis12]

What do you guys think about the fish? I think there mouths looks to big. Would that be becasue there a mouthbrooder, adn it is supposed to be larger. Or could it be they ae so skinny there body weight doent look proportionable the head.

 

[dthoffsett]

Poor things, they are skinny. The only reliable way to sex yellow labs is to vent them, but I wouldn't worry about that at this point, it would likely be too stressful for them. Their mouths look fine to me, they probably just seem big because the fish are so skinny. Here are a couple of pics of well fed labs.

And here's a holding female.

 

[kribensis12]

Now that i have seen yours( which by the way, are stellar)mine look even skinnier. Could you give a guess at the sex of my labs from the pic? Yours really do look lovely.

 

[dthoffsett]

As I said before, the only reliable way to sex them is to vent them. I still haven't figured out which ones are male in my tank. Males are usually a little larger and brighter than females, but just to make things tricky, females can sometimes take on male coloration and size, and vice versa. Fortunately, unless you get a rouge, male/female ratio doesn't matter w/labs.

Here's a great article on venting in case you want to give it a go sometime.
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gender.php

 

[kribensis12]

Thanks i will wait a week or 2 before i vent them, i want them to fatten up a little.