# Electric yellow babies



## abdulkhan (Aug 14, 2013)

My electric yellow cichlids had fry for the first time, they were released yesterday. There's more than 25 for sure I can't really count, they move too much. They are in a breeder box kinda thing... Look at pic. I fed them 1mm veggie pellets and they seem to love it so far. How do I care for them and the fish that released them, do I release her in the tank, keep her in the floating box or what, also she won't eat...

Any advice/help is appreciated, thanks!


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Put her back in the tank ASAP. She has already gone 4 weeks without eating so she should start once she is out of the fry saver. 

Congrats on the fry. 
--
Paul


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

You really shouldn't keep a large fish like that in a breeder box. Same goes for the fry, really. You can't raise them in that thing. If you release them back into the tank, they'll get eaten. So you should set up a 20 gallon for them. Make sure you take a significant amount of cycled media from one of your established tanks to set the new tank up so there's no ammonia or nitrite.

In future, strip the fish. Don't put it in a breeder box and let it release due to stress. It's less stressful on them if you just strip the fry (gently) yourself.

Here's a video on how to do it from the best cichlid forum in North America:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/stripping.php

For feeding the fry, it may be more productive to grind the pellets up in a pepper mill then suck the pieces up in a syringe and squirt them at the fry. They'll get more in their belly that way.
Also, Yellow labs are omnivorous. It may be beneficial to mix the Veggie pellets with some meatier pellets like NLS Ultra Red or Dainichi Color FX. I'm not a fan of Northfin. I've been feeding it to my saulosi and the growth rate I'm getting is highly unimpressive. I'm switching back to Dainichi.

By the way, your labs don't look pure. They look like the typically sold in Toronto Metriaclima Estherae X Labidochromis Caeruleus hybrids. It's very hard to get pure labs in Toronto anymore. Too many idiots house them with zebras and they interbreed.


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## abdulkhan (Aug 14, 2013)

I put the fish in the breeder one day before it released the fry, i waited until i knew it will release soon, so it's only been in there for less than two days. Now it's free. 

I have another 10gallon tank but it has tetras in it, i also have an empty 5 gallon tank should i put in the 5 gallon?

Also if i have like 6 of those breeder boxes, can i just place around 5 fry in them leave it in the tank? Or is the idea of them in a breeder box not good?

I didn't know if they cross breed or which is pure electric yellow... But that explains why even though they all electric yellow they look a bit different from one another.

I have Topfin small cichlid pellets which when i fed they grew much bigger than northfin, 
Should i mix the Topfin small cichlid pellets, nutrafin max tablets, omega one natural protein formula flakes, and northfin veggie pellets, grind em up and feed it all together? Or is that a bad idea.

Thanks for the advice!


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## Dan The Man (Sep 15, 2013)

A 5 gallon tank is better than the breeder traps provided you have cycled the tank or add cycled material from an established tank, and that this is just a temporary home for the next little while. Be sure to stay on top of water changes during this time. I find that NLS small fry starter food is the best. I have had huge success feeding it to new fry for the first 3 weeks with the occasional supplement of daphnia or baby brine shrimp. Enjoy the new babies!


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

I wouldn't use Topfin, Nutrafin, etc. Most fish foods use really bad ingredients. IMO the best stuff out there for cichlids is Northfin, Dainichi, Omega one, NLS. 
You can keep the babies in a 5 gal. If you're using a HOB filter take a piece of sponge and make a prefilter for the intake. 

You can only raise those babies to maybe 3/4 of an inch in that 5 gal though and then you'd have to sell them off or move them to a much larger tank.


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## bobbyjoe (Jan 30, 2013)

abdulkhan said:


> My electric yellow cichlids had fry for the first time, they were released yesterday. There's more than 25 for sure I can't really count, they move too much. They are in a breeder box kinda thing... Look at pic. I fed them 1mm veggie pellets and they seem to love it so far. How do I care for them and the fish that released them, do I release her in the tank, keep her in the floating box or what, also she won't eat...
> 
> Any advice/help is appreciated, thanks!


I had Lab fry just last June, for the first week try and feed them a "powdered food", BA's sells a small bag for $5-6, one bag is plenty, while your there get yourself a container of NLS Growth Formula .5mm, the 1mm are too big for them. I feed my 2.5"-3" fry 1mm, they swallow it whole which is what you want, less wasted food. Try and feed the fry 3 times per day, use a small spoon and try not to overfeed.

Get the female and place her back in the main tank. Set up another tank for the fry, bare bottom is much easier to keep clean, place sponges on the intake of the filter so they don't get sucked up or get yourself a sponge filter but it would have to be cycled. Water changes can be done every 2-3 days, 25% is fine.

Presently my fry from last June have began spawning, 1 female spit out 2 fry just tonight, I'm sure she had more but the filters I had in the 10gallon didn't have any sponges on the intake, my mistake. My one male has 11 females to keep him happy, lots of shaking going on in the tank presently, 2 females began holding just last Thursday but from what it looks like, one of them must've accidently swallowed the eggs.

hope this helps.
If you have any more questions, just ask.


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