Yellow labs?

[Meghan]

I've tried searching on here, as well as Cichlid Forums...

I would like your opinions on whether or not it is advisable to do yellow labs in a 29g. I saw tonight that my lfs keeps them stocked. I love the color. I'm still cycling right now, so it'll be a couple more weeks before I get any fish. Gives me plenty of time for research.

On cichlid forums, it was advised to keep 1 male, and at least 4 females. What do you guys think?

I would be perfectly fine if it needs to be a species only tank. I don't think I am much into 'the average tropical community' fish that I have found in my lfs.

Tank dimensions are 30" long x 12" deep x 18 3/4" tall

Any help is much appreciated!

[SinisterKisses]

I know over on CF a lot of people say a 29gal is okay for a small group of labs, but I very strongly disagree. It's just too small in my opinion.

[Cichlid-Man]

I'm one of those that say it will be ok. I used to have a 29gal lab setup.

[VirgoWolf]

Well you have 2 of the most knowledgeable cichlid people disagreeing already LOL. I'm afraid I'm with SK though, I have labs (as well as other Mbunas) in a 70gal and I can't see how they'd be comfortable in a 29gal, they just get too big to have more than 2 in there and I think they'd be pretty lonely with just the 2 of them...

[Meghan]

Haha, hmm....

Okay, so what about doing 4? That seems like kinda a compromise.

C-Man- how many did you keep?

I really liked the yellow labs because they are so colorful. Are there any other colorful, fairly common, cichlids that I could do?

I had fancy tale male guppies for a while and I really disliked them. Very dumb fish, IMO. So, I'd really like to go with something different.

Thanks for your help so far guys.

[VirgoWolf]

Rainbow cichlids, Honduran Red Points, Blue Acaras, German Blue or Gold Rams, Apistos, Kribs, etc... there's plenty of options. Matt can probably suggest some smaller africans if you're set on them. I personally like the personalities of the South and Central American cichlids better, the africans seem to just dart around and pick at eachother and run and hide from people unless you have food, my SA/CA cichlids tend to be more puppy like and follow you as you walk past the tank and begg for food, etc... and never hide.

You could still do a community tank without having that "dum-de-dum" feel to it LOL. You could do a focal cichlid of medium size or a pair of smaller cichlids and get some diversity with other colors and behaviors with things like a small pleco, a school of tetras, or pretty much anything. Try searcing for fish profiles and taking a look around to see what you're interested in.

[Meghan]

Haha, thats cute. I love my betta bc he comes to the top of the tank, to a specific corner of the tank to be fed. And, I really think he knows the sound of my voice.

Yes, I have spent a lot of time in my lfs's. They really don't have a lot to offer. And, I don't want to order any fish online, so I am really limited to what is available locally. I haven't really noticed any tropical comm fish that have really caught my eye. I really haven't seen any tetra's locally that I like.

I'll keep researching cichlids. I had always ignored them in the store bc I thought they were too aggressive to be in a smaller tank, but I'll read up on different kinds, and the kinds you mentioned, and I'll see what else is available locally.

Thanks for the suggestions, Virgo!

[bunker_1]

Originally Posted by Meghan

And, I don't want to order any fish online

I have never had an issue buying fish online. If I ever had a DOA, it was replaced in no more than a week. If that is your concern.

[Meghan]

Originally Posted by bunker_1

I have never had an issue buying fish online. If I ever had a DOA, it was replaced in no more than a week. If that is your concern.

Well, I guess it's just because I haven't yet tried it. Superstitious, I guess. I would probably have to have them shipped here to work... I wouldn't want them to be delivered to home and no one be there for a couple hours.

I'll look into it.

[VirgoWolf]

I actually prefer to buy my fish online, comming from other well informed hobbiests most of the time, they seem to be healthier and more well adjusted and very rarely carry diseases. Every fish I have bought from a chain store has died or passed on a disease or something of the like, I've had just horrible luck with them.

You might want to look around for smaller stores too, there are a lot of little shops that aren't well known that usually have a more diverse stock and usually healthier fish since they're not buying them in bulk from places that breed for quantity not quality and stress the fish a good bit, but usually from smaller scale breeders who seem to care for their stock a bit better.

Glad I could help out some! Good luck!