# Lab fry



## Riceburner

Well after about a half dozen spawns, I decided to strip the latest. These guys are about 1cm.




























The mother is less than 3". Amazing how many fry can fit in her mouth....


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## planter

I've always wondered... whats the best way to strip fry? I've never had to do it before?


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## planter

BTW congrats on the spawn.


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## Cory

Congrats! Are those the white labs?


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## Tropicana

looking good congrats.


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## Riceburner

To strip fry, I hold the mother in one hand just under the surface of the water and gently pry open her lower jaw and let the fry swim out.

Not white labs... they are translucent, haven't started to colour. The flash lights up their scales and reflects back a bit. If you look closely you can see their internal organs pretty well.


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## Riceburner

Thought they were lab juvies, but since they are breeding...young adults?









Mom


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## Jackson

These are very nice pics

The little ones are very cute


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## Cory

Oh, that's so strange. When my lab fry come out they are already yellow even if they don't have their egg sacs fully absorbed. It certainly intensifies as they get older but they've never looked like that. 

As for whether they're juvies or young adults well.. juvenile humans breed all the time so why can't fish?


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## Riceburner

Thanks.
True enough...juvie moms and dads.

I'll give it a week and see what gives. Maybe I've got a morph? They actually looked dark when they were being spit, but look translucent now.


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## Cory

Could just be different genetics, one type shows yellower than the other at birth. White labs do exist though and I was told once that yellow labs are actually a white lab morph (not sure if it's true). The white labs are a nice fish, I've considered buying them many times from a friend but never got to it.


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## Riceburner

Well it's been a bit and still no change in the body colour. Looks like the dark band on the dorsal is coming in though.


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## bae

Riceburner, I'm in awe over your photographic skills!

'White' labs are the most common form in the lake. The name 'caeruleus' means 'sky blue', for the blue iridescense, and this was the form that was originally described. The yellow labs came originally from Lion's Cove -- most of the L.caeruleus in that area are more or less yellow. Someone (Stuart Grant?) sent some of these Lion's Cove labs to Pierre Brichard who was shipping lots of fish from Lake Tanganyika, and he started a colony in a pond, to the confusion of everyone who wondered why these mbuna were being shipped with Lake Tang fish. IIRC, most of the yellow labs originally in the hobby originated from Brichard's pond.

Your adults aren't as yellow as some, so maybe they are from an area where the two forms mix, but it's strange that all of the fry are white.


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## Cory

If the parents are yellows the fry will be too, or at least a good portion of them would have to be. It's possible theyd have a recessive white gene but it wouldn't be expressed in all of the fry. I'm going to guess that because as bae said they are a less yellow strain of lab perhaps the fry take much longer to show colour since the end result is less vibrant as it is?


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## Riceburner

Thanks bae.

This was the parents at about 2-3x the fry size...









I'm gonna strip the next spawn in a few days and see what they are like.


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## Riceburner

They still haven't coloured except for the black on the fins.









the next batch from a different mother, stripped this week.








looking similar. Plus there is another female holding that I may strip on the weekend. No idea if she's the same as the first one...would be a quick turnaround if she was...and starving....so hopefully not.


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## bae

I'm curious why you strip your females. When I want the fry I put a female in about her last week of brooding in a 10g tank with lots of plants and cover and take her out a day or two after i see fry. Under my conditions they brood for about 4 weeks but at higher temps they can do it in 3 weeks.

I've found yellow labs will eat while brooding. Somebody did a study on this and discovered that the fry in the mother's mouth will eat, and if you squirt some fine fry food in front of a brooding mother she'll suck it up for the fry to eat!


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## Riceburner

Don't want to set up another tank. The fry containers have lots of room for them, but too small IMHO for the mom. 

I want to make a 5G tank to fit inside the main tank as a fry tank. One side clear for photos, the rest mesh/perforated.  

...or I could just put a fine mesh divider into the tank...lol


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## bae

Riceburner said:


> Don't want to set up another tank. The fry containers have lots of room for them, but too small IMHO for the mom.


Makes sense.



> I want to make a 5G tank to fit inside the main tank as a fry tank. One side clear for photos, the rest mesh/perforated.


The mesh part is easy -- just sew together pieces of that needlepoint mesh. The clear side is a bit harder, but I suppose you could glue strips of needlepoint mesh to a piece of clear plastic. Unfortunately I don't know what kind of aquarium safe adhesive would work, since silicone doesn't stick to plastics very well.



> ...or I could just put a fine mesh divider into the tank...lol


I recently had to separate two warring pairs of shell dwellers. I had a tank divider for a 10g that came with a buncha other stuff I bought at a yard sale IIRC, but never used. I replaced the perforated plastic with a larger piece of needlepoint mesh and it works really well, since the mesh has substantial stiffness and strength.

Has anyone seen the plastic edge strips used in commercial tank dividers sold by the meter?

Dunno how I managed to post my last message twice. Apologies to anyone who had to suffer through a second reading. ;-)


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## Riceburner

just edit one to delete the content.

I'm probably not going to do a divider... they always seem to slip past.
I was thinking of the needlepoint mesh. Cut one long piece and fold for the bottom and sides and use small zip ties to add the back side of mesh and the front of plexi. I've already got some clear plexi too.


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## Riceburner

Batch2 fry...


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## Riceburner

Batch2 fry(bottom) looking the same as batch one(top 2)...









Some more lab wrigglers stripped today...maybe a bit too soon.

Wonder if I can turn my community tank into a cichlid grow out???? How long do ya think the guppies would last????


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## bae

Riceburner said:


> Wonder if I can turn my community tank into a cichlid grow out???? How long do ya think the guppies would last????


Labs are pretty inept predators. In nature they eat small snails and such. Their mouths aren't all that big, either. They'd keep down the number of guppy fry, but not as well as the guppy adults probably are already.

I'm still mystified about why all your lab fry are coming out white. Very strange.


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## Riceburner

latest...



























I'm gonna raise the Leucistic Labs up a bit. Hope they don't outgrow the condition.


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## bae

They look great. They're getting that sky-blue iridescence the species was named for.


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## NuclearTech

Great photos! Is there any 'genetic' resemblance to the ones you took off my hands?


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## Riceburner

What do ya think?

These were the ones I got from you.









Can't confirm which combo are the parents for sure. A cross between 2 different batches the cause?


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## Cory

If those are the parents your fry are normal and will eventually show colour but it will be pale like their parents. Saw similar situation in another breeder's tanks and he said his fry just take their time (2" mark or so) to put on their yellows properly. His adults looked similar, white bellies, faded yellow, and black undertones across the flanks. My guess is that labs like this have some hybridization way back in their past because they have some small non-yellow lab traits all throughout their lives like being born white, colouring slowly and ending up not living up to the name "electric yellow."


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## NuclearTech

Well, whatever the reason for the colour, it's nice to see them.


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## KhuliLoachFan

Very nice!

Warren


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## Riceburner

Well put them in their new tank...









...so could get better pics.










I figure Labs originated from white and the yellow is a morph, these have gone back to source genetics?


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## Riceburner

some more...


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## Cory

Lol in the 2nd picture the way the fry's fin is captured it looks as if it is trying to say, "talk to the hand, cuz the face ain't listening."


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## Riceburner

dang fish....I'll teach her to diss me....


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## gucci17

I really like the slight blue/tourquise tinge that glows off them. Would be cool if they stayed this way. How old are they now?


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## gucci17

sorry double post...


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## Riceburner

gucci17 said:


> I really like the slight blue/tourquise tinge that glows off them. Would be cool if they stayed this way. How old are they now?


That blue is where they got their name from...


> Labidochromis caeruleus was first identified in 1956 by G. Fryer. He described this fish as normally being white, with a black stripe through the dorsal fin, which would become a pale blue cast in breeding males (probably the morph from Nkhata Bay, Malawi). Believe it or not, this species was named caeruleus (meaning "blue" in Latin) for this very reason.


First batch were born in early Oct09.


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## Ciddian

they look so delicate.. <3 :3


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## Riceburner

delicate.....sure as delicate a ravenous sharp toothed omnivore can get....


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## TBemba

Like CRS you have a find. You should strengthen this white lab line. They should be worth triple what a yellow one is worth


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## Riceburner

the gang hanging out...


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## NuclearTech

They are looking amazing!

BTW, I was looking in Axelrod's this weekend (trying to choose fish for the next tank) and I saw 2 images for the Yellow lab. One was the Yellow that we are so used to seeing and the other looked exactly like yours. I think its great that you've been able to bring out these genetics. They are definitely not something we get to see all the time.


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## bigfishy

New Breed of fish!

Riceburner's Platinum Labidochromis Caeruleus


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## NuclearTech

bigfishy said:


> New Breed of fish!
> 
> Riceburner's Platinum Labidochromis Caeruleus


+1

I don't normally spread false rumors on purpose, but this just sounds fun 

Also, "Riceburner's P.L.C.'s" has a nice ring to it.


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## Riceburner

oh oh...what have I gotten myself into????


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## AquariAM

How did you get such a sharp picture of what must be a 6mm fish!!


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## Riceburner

Naw, it was easy, it's actually bigger. More like 9mm. lol

Just lots of practice using a manual focus lens.

Here's one from yesterday. This one is from the Nov spawn ...


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## Riceburner

bored of em yet?


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## Ciddian

nooo I love them!


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## Riceburner

Shellie lab???? lol


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## Ciddian

LOL!!! Awee very cute.


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## AquariAM

They're almost big enough to try to eat that snail  nice fry


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## dl88dl

You take awesome pictures...what camera did you use for this pictures?


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## Riceburner

AquariAM said:


> They're almost big enough to try to eat that snail  nice fry


they are trying. lol



dl88dl said:


> You take awesome pictures...what camera did you use for this pictures?


A DSLR...doesn't matter which one, any will do the same. It's the lens that makes the difference. In this case a manual focus Tamron 90mm macro capable.


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## dl88dl

Riceburner said:


> they are trying. lol
> 
> A DSLR...doesn't matter which one, any will do the same. It's the lens that makes the difference. In this case a manual focus Tamron 90mm macro capable.


How do you use a macro len with moving objects?


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## Riceburner

I track them focus and shoot.


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## AquariAM

Riceburner said:


> I track them focus and shoot.


Easier said than done! My results look like red smear, green smear, yellow smear.. Occasionally I improve from smear to blurr.


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## Riceburner

lots of practise...  
....and lots of shots to get the good ones.


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## Riceburner

Lots of practice, patience and a bit of luck....
one of the latest spawn....


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## TBemba

That is too cool! Love the shot


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## Tbird

Amazing shot !!!


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