# Sexing Yellow Labs



## heyzeusbrains (Jul 12, 2011)

Hi I have a 38 gallon yellow lab species tank, home to 8 yellow labs. 4 of them are albino yelllow labs, four are regular yellow labs. It's a 36" long tank.

My Question - my #1 dominant male and the #2 sub-dom male both appear to be holding. Is it possible for males to be holding, or is this a good sign that my tank boss and the other fish are really females? The fish are only about 2 and a half inches long, and about half of them or more just developed single egg spots on their anal fins about a week ago.

Is there any other type of behavior or condition that I could be mistaking for holding? They definitely have their mouths full.

I am kind of new to cichlids (and fish in general) and I've never had them breed before... I've had the fish almost one month and the tank is just on the verge of being finally cycled.

If these two are females, it pretty much throws all my ideas right out the window about how male vs. female fish are supposed to act.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

If they're holding, they're for sure females :thumb:


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

Can't really use behavior or color or tank status to sex yellow labs. They're female.


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

dielikemoviestars said:


> Can't really use behavior or color or tank status to sex yellow labs.


Agreed. Yellow labs are difficult to sex even at the best of times. But if they're for sure holding then they are definitely females.


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## heyzeusbrains (Jul 12, 2011)

Is it common for two different males to be spawning in yellow lab tank, or do you think all these babies have the same daddy?


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

Depends on whether or not albino yellow labs with breed with regular- maybe somebody else could fill you in on that since I don't know. If they don't breed together then I would guess they're the same daddy since usually only the dominant male in the tank will breed. But if they interbreed then it is about a 50/50 chance that it's the same daddy or different daddies since there are enough fish to allow multiple full colored males.


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## travisbundo (May 4, 2011)

Yellow labs are docile enough that I imagine multiple males could be spawning around the same time w/ no problems. It really just depends on the dominant male is dominant and aggressive enough to interfer with the other groups spawning. Theres no way to know for sure if you did not witness the spawning first hand. Also, the thought to be dominant and subdominant males turned out to be confirmed females, for what we know, there may only be one male in the tank.


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## car0linab0y (Aug 10, 2009)

I went strictly by size... I got some fry from the same batch. Once they got around 2-3" I assumed the larger ones were males, and the smaller ones were females. Maybe I got lucky, but I ended up with 1m/2f after I sold the extra males.


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## Vadimshevchuk (May 23, 2009)

I would just empty the tank down halfway like a water change and just catch them put them in a bucket, and start venting...... Drop all the females in a tank and leave the vented males in another bucket and pick your best ones  . Sounds a lot harder then it really is!


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## heyzeusbrains (Jul 12, 2011)

I am only a couple of months into this hobby and I'm not sure if I'm ready to start putting my hands on the fish e.g. venting and stripping.

I am sure the regular labs can spawn with the albinos. The albinos are identical to the regular fish except they have dark red eyes that flash like rubies, and they don't have any black pigment in their fins (the holding female albino does have some light blue in her dorsal fin). They are just as yellow as the regular fish.

It will be interesting to see if all the fry from the albino female are albino as well... one of the reasons I got four of each was because I thought the genetics would be interesting. I don't know if the regular labs have the recessive albino gene or not, but I got them all at the same LFS from the same tank so they could likely be related.

I would like to grow out the fry but I don't have an extra tank or anything yet... again, this is happening way faster than I thought.


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## Vadimshevchuk (May 23, 2009)

im 16 and i vented the labs lol :lol: Just look up on google and grab a flashlight and its not tht bad i say!


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

Vadimshevchuk said:


> im 16 and i vented the labs lol :lol: Just look up on google and grab a flashlight and its not tht bad i say!


Agreed. Way easier than it seems! Once the fish is caught in your hand they freak out but after they calm down it's not bad at all! :thumb:


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## Malawi_Marc (Mar 13, 2009)

My video might help the beginner out on venting.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=231655


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## heyzeusbrains (Jul 12, 2011)

Thanks guys. Can labs be successfully vented at this size? Mine are only about two and a half inches...

Also, another question - the smallest lab in the tank has been partially exiled. He does spend time swimming with the other fishes but also spends a noticeable amount of time hiding behind the filter (sometimes swimming sideways or vertically)...

Is this a good sign that the fish is an extra male, or can females be exiled in a similar manner?

In any case, should I get rid of the partially exiled fish?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You should do something about the partially exiled fish because he is under stress and can become sick and infect the tank. It could be a female as well.

Remove is one option. Bigger tank, new aquascape, add fish, remove the dominant fish are all options as well.


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## heyzeusbrains (Jul 12, 2011)

This particular fish was one of my original four and was exiled right away. When I added additional four fish and a second HOB filter that really seemed to improve things. But the problem still exists just not as obvious as before. There is some very subtle bullying that has gone on involving chasing and intimidation postures. However as time goes on it is becoming less and less clear to me who is the dominant fish in the tank. One of the holding females has always been tank boss but her pursuit of the other fish has never been relentless. Other fish (such as the other holding female) have displayed more aggression in chasing other fish but have always backed down to the boss fish. Obviously I am still trying to figure these fish out. The psychology involved is what has attracted me to keeping mbuna.

I rearrange the rockwork every week when I vacuum. A bigger tank is not in my immediate future (I fully realize I am working with a small tank by mbuna standards which is why I have resigned myself to a yellow lab species tank for now).

My holding tank boss decided to eat a couple of pellets today. I think she may have swallowed some eggs in the process... she's still holding but her throat is not as swollen as before.


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