# Breeding Electric Yellow Cichlids



## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

Okay, here goes. I have a pair of electric yellow's in a 29 gallon tank. They share this tank with 2 plecos, and a pair of Eureka Red Cichlids. My electric yellows have bred already, but I was unable to save any babies. I was wondering if adding another female or two would ruin the balance, as I had the babies only 2 weeks ago. Thanks for the replies.


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

adding females would be a good idea. once the male breeds and the single female has a mouth full of eggs he'll still go after her causing the possible lose of the eggs/fry, stress, and even death.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

That's a lot of fish in a 30" tank. I'd remove the eurekas (too big for a 30" tank anyway) and add labs.

You need a separate tank to raise fry, the adults will eat them.


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## AZcichlidfreak (Nov 16, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> That's a lot of fish in a 30" tank. I'd remove the eurekas (too big for a 30" tank anyway) and add labs.
> 
> You need a separate tank to raise fry, the adults will eat them.


+1
Remove the Eureka's and add 2 more female Labs.


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. And how big do the Eureka's get? I am just starting to keep cichlids, so a bit inexperianced. I cant get rid of the Eureka's yet, but I will as soon as I find a home for them. I am also going to get a 75 gallon tank or so, when I move to a new house that we are going to start building right away.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Eureka's are 7" fish and would work well in a 75G but I would not go any smaller.

For a 30" tank you want fish that mature at half that size.


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

Thanks again. I think I will get ridd of my Eureka's as soon as I can. From my understanding, the Electric yellows get 3-4 inches, correct me if I am wrong. And what kind of beautiful fish could I get in a 75 gallon with the Electric yellows? I am going to keep my 29 gallon for raising the fry, and I am going to get a tank divider and keep Ram Cichlids on the other side.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Your rams and African fry will need two different sets of water parameters...rams like a softer pH. Also I think each would enjoy having that entire tank for themselves, picture 20 mbuna fry that are 1.5" in that tank, LOL.

Check out the cookie cutter tanks in the Library Quick Reference section for ideas on stocking a 75G with yellow labs and others.


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

lol. Thanks. Could 2 rams do well in a 10 gallon tank? 2 or 3 is all I would get. And is it hard to breed them? And what about sexing them?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I don't know, as rams are South American as opposed to African. Here is the profile and I'll bet you could get the information in the South American forum. :thumb: 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=421


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

If you want to save some fry from the next batch, with less headaches, let her hold for 3 weeks then strip her. The fry will be free swimming at that time so you dont have to have an egg tumbler and will take food like hikari first bites for about 2 weeks before weaning them onto a larger food like crushed flake food. Works well for me & the 40 Lab fry (total, from 3 spawns) I have right now. I use two fry baskets, one for the fry & one for the mother for 3-4 days so she can eat & get some strength back before releasing at night back into the tank.


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

Okay. Any advice on stripping and catching your cichlid when the time comes? I don't want to tear my whole tank apart.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Cichlid-Lover-45 said:


> I don't want to tear my whole tank apart.


Oops, they maybe you also don't want to save the fry. That's what many/most of us do. :lol:


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## Kerricko (May 26, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> Cichlid-Lover-45 said:
> 
> 
> > I don't want to tear my whole tank apart.
> ...


Unless you an get traps to work, unfortunately it usually omes down to tearing the tank apart. Thats why we put the breeders in seperate tanks without all the goodies. It really all depends on what you plan to do with the fry. But hey sometimes the tank just needs a good cleaning anyway.  Grats and good luck. You will get the hang of it and decide what works best for you.


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## Kerricko (May 26, 2010)

I guess my "c" isn't working very well. Doh!!!!


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

thanks a ton. Of course, I would like to save several batches of the fry. My friends will want some free little cichlids.


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

It's said that its easier to catch her at night. I dont see how, when the net spooks her, its harder to follow her with the net in the dark with a flashlight in your mouth while moving rocks around to figure out where she went.

Once you catch her, striping is easy. I hold her head down over the fry cage and gently pry her mouth open with my finger nail. With the mouth open, dip her head into the water and wait and the fry start popping out. It'll take a few dips before they're all out.


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

Thank you very much. My electric yellow is definatly holding. I looked at her last night, and she has a huge throat!!! Wish me luck! :fish:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Wait a week before you catch her.


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

should I put her in a 10 gallon? Or should I wait a bit and then strip the fry and put them in a 10 gallon. My female has, nor is, been bullied. All her fins are grown out and stuff, so can I just put her right back in the tank again? She seems okay to me. And what (other then brine shimp) should I feed the fry? I hear crushed flake is good, but should I mix it with water so it sinks?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If she is fine you can wait until day 18 and then either strip her or put her in the cycled 10G. Waiting 18 days allows you to put the 10G filter on the established tank and run it for 18 days to give the bacteria a chance to start growing on the filter media. Also by then you can be confident the eggs are fertilized.

You can strip her or let her spit and put her right back in the main tank. Don't leave her with the fry more than 24-48 hours as she will eat them. Feed the fry adult food crushed or buy a fry food (not necessarily brine shrimp).


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## Cichlid-Lover-45 (May 1, 2011)

so how do you reccomend I crush the food? Grind some in a cup?


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## dotbomb (Jan 5, 2011)

Coffee grinder works great for me. If you don't have a spare you can put some in a shallow bowl and grind it with the back side of a spoon.


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