new agression with yellow labs w/ pics

[CuppieCake]

ok so I have a 55g with 8 fish. 4 cichlids, 2 yellow labs(male & female) 1 electric blue, and 1 FH. The other 4 are, an eel, catfish, pleco, and a bottom feeder. Sorry dont know what it is. Yes I now know the FH has to be moved. I will be trading him this weekend for some demsoni's.

Over the last 10 days or so, both my labs have become aggressive. The male (about 3 inches) has been chasing away the electric blue and FH. last 3 days I have seen him nipping at the pleco, who is a good 5 inches long. My personal opinion is that the pleco hangs out in a cave, and I think the yellow wants the cave fore himself. Every time the pleco comes out of the cave the yellow will go in and swim through it. Then will charge the pleco if it tries to get in. But he wont attack the pleco if he is already in the cave.

Next is the female(maybe 2 inches) yellow lab, who is on the opposite side of the tank, and who has removed all the rocks down to the filter, and made herself a hole, under a piece of driftwood. She too will charge at anything that comes near the hole. Or she will just block the entrance.

I thought perhaps they were getting ready to mate, but dont understand why they picked opposite sides of the tank.

thanks for any feedback you have to offer

below is a couple pictures. You can see the pleco in the cave I am talking about in a few pictures. And the white on the yellow lab is glare from the camera. I cant turn off the flash.

This is the bottom feeder that I dont know what it is, in case its important.

here is a picture of the fishies in front of the driftwood about 3 weeks ago, before the female got possessive of it

This is her today guarding her hole.

 

[BigMamma1422]

I think the issue is that she's nesting...she may already be pregnant...When you clean the tank do you leave the driftwood in the same spot everytime? My shark got possesive of the cave I put in until I started moving it around each time I cleaned the tank. My females act funny just before they 'pop'. Hope it helps..good luck.

 

[CuppieCake]

I just did a 25% water change, and I left the driftwood alone in case she was nesting. I moved the cave a little and added another hidey spot.

However when we did the last water change and cleaned the gravel (before she got possesive) we did move the driftwood, Same spot just turned it a different way.

so do the labs lay eggs and then watch over them? or do they keep them in their mouth?

 

[BarroomHero]

I just did a 25% water change, and I left the driftwood alone in case she was nesting. I moved the cave a little and added another hidey spot.

However when we did the last water change and cleaned the gravel (before she got possesive) we did move the driftwood, Same spot just turned it a different way.

so do the labs lay eggs and then watch over them? or do they keep them in their mouth?

African cichlids hold eggs in their mouths. Labs are very difficult to sex by the way, you may have 2 males, 2 females, or a male and a female.

African cichlids are territorial and aggressive, you could try adding my decor/hiding places, a lot of people also "overstock" african cichlids tanks to some degree to try and reduce aggression.

 

[CuppieCake]

the LFS sold them as a male and female. He said he had sex'd them. I didnt know what that meant at the time, I do now though

Any chance that my pair will breed and create many babies?

 

[BarroomHero]

the LFS sold them as a male and female. He said he had sex'd them. I didnt know what that meant at the time, I do now though

Any chance that my pair will breed and create many babies?

I wouldnt trust the LFS, they are usually wrong, but its possible.

Also, african cichlids don't do well in pairs, they are polygamous and there should be multiple females for every male.

 

[Pharaoh]

You either have mating behavior or territorial behavior between two males. It hard to say without venting the labs.

 

[CuppieCake]

Think I should add 1 or 2 more yellow labs when I add the demasoni?

And you are right it was the same LFS guy that told me that the FH and yellow labs would be ok together, and that my 12" wide tank would be big enough for him.

I think that i will be getting roughly 6-8 demasoni Some adults some juvies, with that addition and that of say 2 more female labs, and my other fish, Am I going to over crowd them? I am hoping that the person I get the demasoni from will have a yellow lab female or two he may want to sell. As I am not really comfortable of doing the venting. Never done it and worry about causing harm to my little guys.

I will be doing a 25% water change weekly.

 

[Cichlidsanders]

You wouldn't do wrong if you added to your Electric Yellows numbers.

I wouldnt trust the LFS, they are usually wrong, but its possible.

Also, african cichlids don't do well in pairs, they are polygamous and there should be multiple females for every male.

Most Mbuna are "Harem Breeders" and you should have 3 or more females to 1 male.

I bought 4 Kenyi from My LFS and the guy there told me there were 3 female and 1 male when I bought them, but it didn't take long before the males were turning their adult colors, and I found I had 2 and 2 not 1 and 3.

African cichlids hold eggs in their mouths. Labs are very difficult to sex by the way, you may have 2 males, 2 females, or a male and a female.

African cichlids are territorial and aggressive, you could try adding my decor/hiding places, a lot of people also "overstock" African Cichlids tanks to some degree to try and reduce aggression.

Mbuna means "Rock Fish"

These fish need caves LOTS of caves try adding more rock or "Caves" and see if that helps.

You either have mating behavior or territorial behavior between two males. It hard to say without venting the labs.

The only way to "Sex" Electric Yellow Cichlids is to "Vent" them since the male and female both have the same colors.

I had what people told me was a male, but its holding its second batch of eggs since I got "Him" so...

Don't worry its easy!
Get your yellows in a net and with your wet hand, and the net hold them upside down (be careful not to close there gills) look in front of the anal fin with a magnifying glass if you see oo its Male or oO its Female.
The female has a larger genitalia because eggs have to come out of there. This is the "only" way to tell with Electric Yellows. Don't let someone fool you into thinking that the darker edge on the fins, or the darker area between the mouth and the eye, or the black stripe through the eye means that its a male. Because if you follow that you are just wasting time when you could have just vented and known for sure!
IMO I like to keep a single species tank I hear of people that have good luck, and bad luck with plecos in Cichlid tanks.
So to keep from running into problems down the line I would find another home for that pleco.

 

[colinrobinson]

dems need larger groups than 6-8 they really need to be 12-15