wandj Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 I have a batch of what I thought was Yellow Lab fry at about 1.5 inches. I netted the female out of my big tank and let her spit in a 20gal. She shared the big tank with another female and male YL. There were also 6 male Red Zebras (Metriaclima estherae) in the tank as well. I notice that the most of the fry do not have any black on them yet. Is this normal? Is it possible that my female chose to mate with a Red Zebra instead of the male YL? Should I be concerned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanker Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Of your three Labs, do all of them have the black stripe? Maybe there is a gene in the pool that is of the strain of Labs that do not have the black? Weird that all of them are lacking it, tho... your Yellow Lab spit out Bumblebee cichlids! hahahaha I have some YL fry growing out right now, and they are barely at the half-inch mark... already the black stripe is VERY obvious. They look the way cichlid fry are supposed to... mini-me's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff M Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 It is very possible and sounds quite likely that the yellow lab and the esterae hybridized. I've seen yellows before for sale in pet shops that you know were hybridized with esteraes. I won't keep my yellows with my zebras, body shape is very similar and the coloring is too close. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 This is one of the issues of breeding africans in a community tank with other mbuna that have a similar appearance. But just because your lab fry don't have any black showing yet, doesn't mean they are hybrids. I have F2 lab fry growing out now and they are 1" and their black markings are still greyish. On my last batch of F2 lab fry I kept them in a bare bottom tank and they didn't start showing any black untill they were 1 1/2", but i believe that was due to the lack of substrate. So I guess you wont' really know what they are untill they are older and even then sometimes your not able to know of sure unless it shows up as solid yellow labs or something obvious. So my suggestion would be that if you want to keep them, grow them up to a larger size and see what you get but dont' sell or give them away untill you are 110% sure what they are. Also if you have future plans of breeding, seperate the labs and red zebras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 With male M. esterhae in the tank, and no black showing whatsoever at 1.5", chances are good that they are hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 With male M. esterhae in the tank, and no black showing whatsoever at 1.5", chances are good that they are hybrids. Oops, guess i should have read the original post better. I missed the part where your fry were already 1.5", I thought they were new fry. So since they are 1.5" I would agree with RD. They should be showing showing black or atleast some black by that size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandj Posted July 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2006 (edited) Well, I seem to have a mix. Some of the fry are showing the black, but some are not. I actually tried to get rid of the Zebras after this batch was spit but there is still one in the tank that I could not catch. I am going to compare the first batch with the second batch. I will let them grow more and see what develops. If they look to be hybrids, what do I do with them? I know some shops carry a tank called "mixed Africans", but should I destroy them? Edited July 16, 2006 by wandj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted July 16, 2006 Report Share Posted July 16, 2006 They are all hybrids most likely, even if some are showing the black. Nothing really unusual about lab x zebra hyrbrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 If they look to be hybrids, what do I do with them? I know some shops carry a tank called "mixed Africans", but should I destroy them? If they are hybrids(and from the sound of it they probably are) I wouldn't recommend selling/giving them to a store, or even to a hobbyist. Its best not to release hybrids into the hobby. Especially with africans as its so hard to find quality specimens already.All yellow labs hybrids are already a major problem, you dotn' want to contribute to that by putting them in a store. I would either suggest keeping them, culling them or giving them to someone to use as feeders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandopsis Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 I would either suggest keeping them, culling them or giving them to someone to use as feeders. I'am always in the market for some quality feeders. Trust me they won't feel a thing if put in my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandj Posted July 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 If I am sure they are hybrids, I will take a much closer look when I have the time, I will give them to you (Nandopsis) as feeders. But it will have to wait till I go to Edmonton some day. I'll PM you when I plan to go. How come you changed your name? The last one was pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandopsis Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Sure just let me know when is good for you. I was just tired of the hole trailer park boys thing. I'am the kind of guy who likes something untill it becomes popular. Then it's a sell out, and i lose interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.