new electric yellow question

[kaianuanu]

Hello i just got 2 young Electric Yellow Labs yesterday. theyre 1-2" long. One was noticably more vibrantly colored than the other. in the store, i picked the 2 most curious ones when i put my hand up to their tank. In their new home, when i put my hand up to their tank, only my brighter lab comes to "greet" me looking like this: :18:. the other hides :( .is this normal, will he settle in and be more friendly? Here's a few pics, can anyone help me sex them(use the 1st pic).

Thanx,
-Kai


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[greatXpectations]

too early to tell but my guess would be both female since i dont see any black on the lower fins...thats not even totally accurate anyways from what ive heard.

give em time to adjust to the tank...its amazing how much personality fish really have!

[kaianuanu]

ok, will do. I'm starting to like them more than my oscar, he's really lazy. one other thing, can they learn to jump out of the water for food like oscars?

[Billythefish]

ok, will do. I'm starting to like them more than my oscar, he's really lazy. one other thing, can they learn to jump out of the water for food like oscars?
Boooooooo lol how can you like a yellow lab more than your oscar haha,

(Imo) with yellow labs it dont matter how many you have or what sex thay are only one will be the boss.... Im sure it will always be like this with yours

[kaianuanu]

the only thing my oscar does is sit unless he is hungry. he has bad character for an oscar if u ask me. and most of the time feeder fish scare the crap out of him. whats up with that???

[Billythefish]

the only thing my oscar does is sit unless he is hungry. he has bad character for an oscar if u ask me. and most of the time feeder fish scare the crap out of him. whats up with that???
Mabe he's from a week strain or somthing, some would say oscars are wimps but try and tel that to my massive tiger who spends all day bench pressing rocks lol, i must say its strange for a oscar to just sit on the gravel all the time... How old is he?

[kaianuanu]

he doesn't rest on the ground normally he just doesn't interact much and idk how old he is all i know is that he is about 6" long

[Billythefish]

I'd say less than a year at 6'' mabe you could get him a tank mate... It may wake him up a bit

Hold that idea i just had a look at your profile and see you have to oscars in a 10g!!! This is why your oscar is so unhappy you need atleast a 75g for them to grow and swim freely!, i take it both your oscars are at 6''? Dude you need to sort this out and fast befor one kills the other and you damage there growth

[Lady Hobbs]

My "guess" is the lighter colored one is female and the other male. He also has a tinge of black on his dorsal fin. He may blacken up more if it is indeed a male.

Leave the lights off until they are comfortable with their surroundings. They adjust quickly and the one is probably just a bit more shy.

[Nick89]

I agree with my bud Billy here.. for 2 oscars 75g is ideal. at 6" the oscar is probably very depressed being in a small tank, and can be more susceptible to diseases. Need to get a bigger tank quick as possible. They might be stunted already, lets hope not.

[Lady Hobbs]

Yikes. An Oscar in a 10 gallon. I just noticed Billys post. This will never, ever do. He needs much more space than that and no wonder he's so unhappy.

[Billythefish]

Yikes. An Oscar in a 10 gallon. I just noticed Billys post. This will never, ever do. He needs much more space than that and no wonder he's so unhappy.
He has 2 oscars in a 10g, take a look at his profile!

[kaianuanu]

I'd say less than a year at 6'' mabe you could get him a tank mate... It may wake him up a bit

Hold that idea i just had a look at your profile and see you have two oscars in a 10g!!! This is why your oscar is so unhappy you need atleast a 75g for them to grow and swim freely!, i take it both your oscars are at 6''? Dude you need to sort this out and fast befor one kills the other and you damage there growth

no one died back when they were 2 inchers and now he is in his own 55g

[Billythefish]

no one died back when they were 2 inchers and now he is in his own 55g
Oh.... I hope so thay do much better in a large tank from the start, maybe this is why you lost one, and the one you have left could be stunted from being in a 10g and that's why he's the way he is, a tank mate could perk him up tho

[gm72]

This is a very unfortunate situation. Even when very small, oscars are large waste producers and deserve better living conditions. Your oscar has bad character because you have him in bad conditions. I promise you I wouldn't be particularly happy if you raised me in a closet, either.

As for having an oscar in a 55, this is debatable. Most will tell you that such a situation is also not ideal, because you will be dealing with a fish that is potentially longer than the tank is wide. Therefore, every time the fish goes to turn he/she is brushing across the walls of the tank. Not particularly a good situation. Most will say that a 75 is minimum because it will allow the extra depth for a clean turn.

[kaianuanu]

I'd say less than a year at 6'' mabe you could get him a tank mate... It may wake him up a bit

Hold that idea i just had a look at your profile and see you have to oscars in a 10g!!! This is why your oscar is so unhappy you need atleast a 75g for them to grow and swim freely!, i take it both your oscars are at 6''? Dude you need to sort this out and fast befor one kills the other and you damage there growth

dude i just fixed my profile, the last time i updated that was last Nov. those 2 oscars died from mouth fungus when they were each 1" long(i got mixed up). later i got an 2 incher and put him in a 55g w/ some other company(see new profile) when he rached 4". well anyway, today i got a 1" JD and a 1.5" male mbuna(idk what kind i'm about to post a new thread to try and identify him). hey greatXpectations, you were right about my electric yellow's sexes i did some more research and examined their vents, the 2 electric yellows are females and my new unknown species mbuna is a male.

[gm72]

Not sure that the mbunas are a good mix with a JD and oscar. I don't have personal experience with the mbunas though, so hopefully I am wrong here.

[Nick89]

Usually youre not suppose to mix them, becuase both fish have different types of requirements. like africans need a higher PH like 8.0 while south american cichlids need a lower ph, almost nuetral. And i think africans should be given a specific type of salt, and specific amount i believe. And if theres only a few africans then that could be a problem, aggression wise. Id remove the africans to another tank (with another good sized tank) and slightly overstock them to reduce aggression.

[gm72]

This is what I was thinking in general but needed some reaffirmation. Thank you for that.

[greatXpectations]

hey greatXpectations, you were right about my electric yellow's sexes i did some more research and examined their vents, the 2 electric yellows are females ...

+1 for me! lol :thumb:

I wouldn't mix the chiclids like that...you can "get away" with different lakes of Africans together, but i wouldn't go SA with Africans...

I also agree on having the Africans slightly over stocked...its harder for them to catch the weaker fish...its like trying to catch somebody small in a large crowd of people. My guys are doing ok understocked, so far, but they are also all peacocks...

[kaianuanu]

ok first i'll need to find a home for the jd. but i noticed that the jd isn't aggressive unless he is provoked by another fish, he doesn't go around picking fights. oh and i figured out my mystery mbuna was actually some type of peacock i think they called him an annucara or something like that IDK???

[gm72]

I am hearing a need for more research. Please make sure you research the fish you intend to keep. In that way you will experience fewer disasters, the fish will be more happy and healthy, and your life will be much easier!

[OscarFan]

I have 1 red Zebra cichlid in with my Oscar and they are great. But they were raised together so they may be used to each other. Theirs always a couple chases but at the end of the day I see them sitting right next to eachother waiting for food. But research is the key..