# Any luck with Yellow Labs in a community tank?



## davec

Will yellow labs be compatible with blue rams and cardinals if they are introduced after the other community fish and bought when it is a juvenile and not much larger than an adult cardinal? Or will they munch on the blue and reds when they get big enough and constantly harass the blue rams? 

Any other 'community' colorful cichlids you might suggest?

I know I have kept neons with anglefish with no problems if they were 'brought up together' and never known the other as prey/predator.

Thx

Dave C


----------



## AquariAM

davec said:


> Will yellow labs be compatible with blue rams and cardinals if they are introduced after the other community fish and bought when it is a juvenile and not much larger than an adult cardinal? Or will they munch on the blue and reds when they get big enough and constantly harass the blue rams?
> 
> Any other 'community' colorful cichlids you might suggest?
> 
> I know I have kept neons with anglefish with no problems if they were 'brought up together' and never known the other as prey/predator.
> 
> Thx
> 
> Dave C


You can't keep them together ethically.
They can't communicate, and yellow labs do best at a pH of 8 or so with relatively high hardness and lots of carbonate salts. Angels and neons do not.

They will also outcompete your other cichlids for food, prefer different living conditions, etc.

I can't really suggest anything else in terms of a bottom dwelling cichlid to keep with blue rams. I would give them the entire bottom of the tank in terms of anything remotely territorial because they can not hold their own against anything without stressing out. They handle stress poorly. If you had a five or six foot tank, you could certainly setup territories for 2 species of dwarf cichlid at opposite ends of the tank.

If you want another cichlid in the tank, as you mentioned, angelfish will be fine. Another choice you may want to look into if you want yellow is yellow honey gouramis (colisa chuna). Those are 100% safe to add. If you have very thick cover down low for the rams, you can add yellow threespot (trichogaster trichopterus) gouramis. When sexing either species of gourami look for a pointed dorsal and anal fin vs rounded in male and female.

Other choices for yellow include Lemon Tetras a couple of kilifish species a couple of rainbow species... any of that up your alley?


----------



## shark

If you wana keep yellow labs with a variety of fish i suggest a malwali tank or with other aggressive fish, so if the lab or labs try to take a bite the other fish will bite back 

Keep in mind yellow labs are very territorial and in a group its much worse.


----------



## clubsoda

if its one small yellow lab probably okay for about a year. if you wanna mix everything its up to you, my recomendation is tiger barbs instead of yellow lab, its kinda yellow... even lucky aquarium has discus and gold fish in the same tank...lol amazing


----------



## AquariAM

clubsoda said:


> if its one small yellow lab probably okay for about a year. if you wanna mix everything its up to you, my recomendation is tiger barbs instead of yellow lab, its kinda yellow... even lucky aquarium has discus and gold fish in the same tank...lol amazing


You can't keep one small yellow lab for about a year as they grow from 1" to a full size fish in six to eight months maximum with proper care.

Tiger barbs are sort of yellow, sure, but honey gouramis are actually bright yellow and would completely work here in every possible way.

Lucky has discus and goldfish together? That doesn't mean it's right. Discus like it around 83-84, fancy goldfish like it around 78.

Yellow labs don't like to be alone. They should be kept in groups.


----------



## Riceburner

a gourami would be nice at the top of a community tank









though....my lab fry are in the community as a grow out... for now. They are the smallest things in there.


----------



## AquariAM

There are lots of choices in the gourami family that you could go with if you want a centerpiece type fish that won't really bother your other fish.

The honey gourami (Colisa chuna)is the most inoffensive choice. It is commonly available in three morphs. The red or 'blood' morph is pictures in the above post.

This is the standard morph










and the yellow morph










Females of the red and yellow morphs are colored while standard morph females are grey.

You can also go with dwarf gouarmis (Colisa labiosa) which are available in a powder blue










and standard morph










With all of the above species, try to have a calm corner of the tank with floating plants.

Don't mix various species. Pick the one you like best and get a pair to avoid conflict- and enjoy your fish 

Hope I was able to help.

You can also, assuming your cardinals are over an inch long, add angelfish.
They won't interfere with the rams. I've kept angels and rams together for years no problem.
I've also kept Angels with neons no problem. They prefer to eat grey colored fish if they can, and can't really be bothered to ingest a fish that's hard to get in their mouths, especially if well fed. They become lazy very quickly.

Might also want to add some lyretail killifish for that 'what is that' factor.









2m 2f should be fine.


----------



## davec

*Hi AquariAM*

How difficult is it to raise Lyretail Killifish? Do they need frequent feedings of live food?

Where do you buy them. Never recall seeing them in any LFS before. Are they cost prohibitive?

Thx

Dave C


----------



## AquariAM

davec said:


> How difficult is it to raise Lyretail Killifish? Do they need frequent feedings of live food?
> 
> Where do you buy them. Never recall seeing them in any LFS before. Are they cost prohibitive?
> 
> Thx
> 
> Dave C


Usually you need to buy them from someone's basement. It's a hobby fish. Harold at Menagerie has had them before, along with lots of other cool Killis.

They aren't particularly expensive. I imagine it's a little more now but they retailed for about ten dollars last time I checked about four or five years back. Other than reduced current and a slightly lower than average temp (about 75 usually works pretty well) you just keep them in tap water and feed them a quality diet. Mine ate Hikari cichlid complete (back when it was good) as a staple with some veggie flake, blood worm, brine shrimp. They'll pretty much try to eat anything that will fit in their mouth, and they breed quite easily as well. All you have to do is put a mop head (not used hehehe) in there for a week once theyr'e well established, then clone the tank over and move the mophead (but don't ever let the mophead leave water or the eggs get messed up for some reason afaik) over. Takes about 2 weeks (?) for the eggs to hatch.








This is Amphyosemion gardneri-- just as easy as the lyretail (A australe)

Ask Harold what he can get. Killis are the coolest tiny fish. They behave sort of like microscopic cichlids. Not very difficult to take care of. Just need clean water.
Start with either gardneri or australe because as far as I can remember they are the easiest ones. Try to keep them in their own micro tank if you can, or keep them in a planted (if possible) community tank with nothing that will bother them and low current. And watch the temp. Something like a bunch of white clouds and amano shrimp would be perfect, given that they appreciate a lower temperature as well. Gardneri can be somewhat obnoxious and vicious for their size while australe pretty much stay out of other fish's way.

Not so sure about gardneri but I kept australe at about 78/79 for a long time to see if it'd be ok and they spawned frequently. Still probably not a good idea.. but you can do it if you want to. That's why I mentioned them before. Most people run a community tank at about 79






Here's a video. You can't buy a 1" fish that can live in a 2 1/2 gallon that's going to be funner to watch than that.


----------



## Aquatic Designs

Actually goldfish don't like 78 degrees either. They can tolorate it but 70 is about the upper limit of the range they should be kept at. The colder the better. At about 60-65 they are very active.


----------



## AquariAM

Aquatic Designs said:


> Actually goldfish don't like 78 degrees either. They can tolorate it but 70 is about the upper limit of the range they should be kept at. The colder the better. At about 60-65 they are very active.


The Japanese high end goldfish breeders suggest keeping fancy goldfish (veiltails, for example) at mid to high 70s according to Goldfishfreak, who had the nicest goldfish I've ever seen. You sure you're not just talking about common stuff like comets? I know Koi also like it cooler.


----------



## davec

*Killifish*

If the Lyretail is a relatively hardy community fish why doesn't more LFS carry this attractive fish?

Thx


----------



## AquariAM

davec said:


> If the Lyretail is a relatively hardy community fish why doesn't more LFS carry this attractive fish?
> 
> Thx


It's not a commonly known fish and it isn't commonly bred for some reason..


----------

