dunl Posted December 1, 2004 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 I've seen lab x zebra hybrids in two different places in Calgary, but only one was offering them as a line-bred all yellow lab. Pure bred, not hybrid. Pure something, but not "bred". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted December 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 but only one was offering them as a line-bred all yellow lab. Pure bred, not hybrid. Hmmm, yes, that does ring a bell now that you mention it. If I'm not mistaken, those fish were a tangerine/yellow color. I really didn't pay much attention to them at the time, I just laughed under my breath & kept on going. Tanked had mentioned that labs x saulosi are showing up in the Winnipeg area, which is a new one to me. Not sure why anyone would cross those two species? Sheesh .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted December 1, 2004 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 Hmmm, yes, that does ring a bell now that you mention it. If I'm not mistaken, those fish were a tangerine/yellow color. I really didn't pay much attention to them at the time, I just laughed under my breath & kept on going. Nope, you're thinking of different ones. Those ones looked exactly like yellow labs, except for the tangerine colour. They had nice black finnage, etc. The ones I am talking about were a solid yellow colour - no black whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted December 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 When you're an old fart like me, they all become one great big hybrid blur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 BTW, are these showing up in the Edmonton area as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 [Tanked had mentioned that labs x saulosi are showing up in the Winnipeg area, which is a new one to me. Not sure why anyone would cross those two species? Sheesh .... knowing the person who had them I would suspect that they were housed in the same tank and it just snowballed from there. I was actually told by one of the founders of the Malawi Cichlid Home Page that saulosi and labs will not cross breed however apparently they will. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted December 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 Rick - to the best of my knowledge *all* mbuna have the potential to cross breed with other mbuna species. Having the proper m/f ratio will help decrease this from happening in a mixed mbuna tank, but the risk of cross breeding is always there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 yes, I would have thought so. I was a bit surprised when I initially heard that. The adult x lab & saulosi became pretty obvious as they got larger. The slope of the head was different and they were yellow, little or no bars at all. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 There's really no problem with keeping hybrids if you don't release them into the hobby. Freshmike has one of the nicest looking hybrids I have ever seen, for example. But Freshmike isn't selling them off to people as pure cichlids, like some retailers are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABwildrose Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 I currently have 2 labs holding from a saulosi. He began persuing them immediately upon release into the tank. I am hoping that when I find him some female saulosis he will turn his attention away from the labs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 The thing with 'hoping' that he'll find a female saulosi is just that, hoping. Even if you have numerous females in the tank with him, the simple matter is that he is still a male, and being dominant ( I would assume), he'll breed with whatever females are around, unless you find a male lab that becomes dominant or strong enough to compete. I would think that just about anything would cross under the right circumstances, just look at the Aulonocara/Mbuna hybrid in the ob peacock. People must be aware of the easy possibility of hybridization in fish when kept in tanks together and stop keeping fish that will so readily interbreed together. Even with Haps and peacocks, I'd never keep two species from the same genus together just in case there were the chance of mixing. Unless you're there and watching every single spawn you can't guarantee a purebred fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABwildrose Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 I don't think any of the fry can survive in my tank, but I will be sure to keep my eye out for them so I know if I end up with any crosses. I do have 2 other yellow labs that I bought a while back. Maybe one of them will be a male and will become more dominant when he gets bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 I was in yet another pet store this weekend that is carrying these hybrid labs. I asked where they came from & was told that it was the same large wholesaler/distributor in Calgary. I suspect that within a few years the only pure strains left in AB will be the ones found in a few of the more serious hobbyists tanks. Kinda sad how quickly even a common species can be ruined by the likes of hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc51 Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 Sorry guys I am not in the loop as much as I would like to be, but maybe it's time to start to name names of wholeslers that are knowingly distributing hybrids. I know it could cause some problems, but I for one would like to know even through email or p.m. Just a thought. Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted December 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 Tom - I'm not so sure they are 'knowingly' distributing hybrids, anymore than some of the stores that are selling them. I suspect that the majority of these fish are starting out in fish farms in FL, and then heading north. The problem is the average consumer that shops for fish in places like Walmart, Petland, Petsmart, etc, doesn't care about the genetics of each fish they are buying, they only care about color. They want a 'pretty' yellow fish, a pretty orange fish, and a pretty blue fish. I see this all the time in the big box stores, and due to the fact that high quality yellows are not readily available, I guess the fish farm breeders have come up with a quick fix for that little problem. :cuss: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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