# Yellow Lab Fry



## JoeLasDome (Apr 2, 2017)

Hello all,
So I have an African Cichlid tank and I have seen a few of them mouth-brooding (at least 2, maybe 3 with a 3rd or 4th still yet to spit them out.) I did not witness the first 1 or 2 spit the babies out and never saw any of the fry. This is my 1st African tank, so I didn't even know what was happening until someone from this web-site told me.

Most recently, I went to bed and when I woke up one of my yellow labs had obviously spit out her fry. That was 3 days ago and, to my surprise, today I found one of the little guys was still alive. I do have 2 yellow labs, but I don't know if the eggs were fertilized by the other lab, or if it is a crossbreed.

My problem is I am afraid that if I try and scoop it up from its hiding spot it will immediately get gobbled up. I never intended on breeding and was going to just let nature take its course. I was told that, if I did this, I would most likely end up with 1-3 survivors which was fine with me.

I kind of feel bad now though. And I know this probably isn't a solvable problem, but does anyone know of any way to safely get it into a breeders net? Or do I have to continue to let nature take its course like I was doing?

Attached is a picture of the little guy. I dont know if the attachment is working so you can also see it here


http://imgur.com/4g3Mb


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

The only thing you can do is try to catch it or let nature take it's course. In the future you can try removing the female to a fry tank if you can't bear to have the fry eaten. Honestly, if there's a chance of crossbreeding I'd let them get eaten because sometimes the hybrids are hyper-aggressive.


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## JoeLasDome (Apr 2, 2017)

Ok thanks for the advice. There are 2 labs in the tank, but I don't even know for sure if the other one is a male. So there is a def possibility of crossbreeding. I guess I will just see if this guy is able to hide long enough to grow big enough to survive.

Last question; if it is able to survive and I can tell that it is a hybrid and not a pure yellow lab, should i leave it in the tank? Or would you suggest moving it and/or getting rid of it?


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

I would say if you are not breeding to sell and are ok with them living in your tank, leave him be. I have 4 from one batch and one I see so far from another. Not many get past the catfish and larger fish. If somehow a population explosion occurs, well that is different. 5 baby fish arent going to hurt anything... little kids like to see them if you have any. My little ones are replacing ones that I have got rid of or that died, so if they grow up, so be it.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You won't know if it is a hybrid and you would want to remove it if you want to save fry in the future.


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## JoeLasDome (Apr 2, 2017)

Thanks for your help guys, I'm pretty sure this guy either moved or became dinner. His hiding spot was covered up by my electric blue that removes rocks from his cave to make space over the weekend. Hopefully he found somewhere else, but I am not sure.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Just in case? If this sneaks up on you again, I find the best way to move tiny fry is not by netting but by siphon. They tend to get hung up/lost/ smashed in nets but do much better when a straight section of tubing without the big end like vacs have. They are somewhat easy to stick down close enough to the fry, suck them into a bucket and then pour the bucket. 
However, when in doubt, I do not keep hybrids to adult stage. We've all got enough trouble figuring out which is which without a bunch of mutts to stumble through. 
Just part of the old ethics question?


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## JoeLasDome (Apr 2, 2017)

Update, I can't believe it, but I moved the rocks away that had covered its spot and it showed back up a day later. So he or she is alive and well. 
It seems to be a pure bread yellow lab, but, at this size, I obviously cannot be sure. Would you recommend using the siphon and, if successful, putting it into a breeders net? And for how long? As always thanks for your help.


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## iluvmud (Jan 2, 2017)

after about 3 birthings between two females, I stopped trying to save the babies. They've both already had new batches and a couple have survived. To be honest if he's still around I'm sure he'll be ok in there now.


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## krazyju84 (Jul 10, 2014)

How big is it now?

In my experience, fry that reached over 1 inch has always survived even with several of 6-12 inch fish in the same tank but i assume experience will differ with available hiding spots and inhabitants. Or few just have enhanced survival instincts. I have thought about siphoning or netting the fry but with 150 gallon tank it was in, seemed too difficult and time consuming.

Sounds to me you really want to save/keep this fry. If you have a survivor this time around then you will probably have more survivors in the future batches and down the line you could end up with many that you wont be sure if they are hybrid. So, if you find the hobby more enjoyable by experiencing the breeding aspect of it then maybe you have to consider eliminating possible crossbreeding. Not trying to push you in a certain direction, just saying what my experience has been so far since i'm pretty new at this too. I didn't care about breeding or saving fry until I witnessed it, now I find it the breeding part of the hobby more enjoyable.


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## JoeLasDome (Apr 2, 2017)

It def isn't an inch yet, he is about 1.5cm. There is a link for 2 pics on the same page below, the top is of the surviving Fry, I named him Rocky. The bottom is of my Benga Sunshine Peacock, but the purpose of this pic is to show you the bottom right of the photo. This is were the rock is that Rocky has been hiding under. I put this picture up to give you a little perspective as to how small he is. I haven't decided whether or not I am going to siphon it. I am leaning toward having faith that it will survive since it has for over a month already.


http://imgur.com/qQujx


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## Old Newbie (Feb 18, 2017)

JoeLasDome said:


> It def isn't an inch yet, he is about 1.5cm. There is a link for 2 pics on the same page below, the top is of the surviving Fry, I named him Rocky. The bottom is of my Benga Sunshine Peacock, but the purpose of this pic is to show you the bottom right of the photo. This is were the rock is that Rocky has been hiding under. I put this picture up to give you a little perspective as to how small he is. I haven't decided whether or not I am going to siphon it. I am leaning toward having faith that it will survive since it has for over a month already.
> 
> 
> http://imgur.com/qQujx


I had one Red Zebra fry survive from my smallest female's last batch; it made it to 4 weeks and I thought it was clever enough to make it to adulthood. I noticed yesterday when I fed that it was no longer hanging out in his safe little hidey hole where none of the adults could get to it and food bits circulated down to it. It was now cruising around the rock formations toward the center of the tank far from it's home as if it owned the tank. When I fed this morning it was no where to be seen. I never really wanted fry as I have a mixed Mbuna tank where cross breeding can definitely happen, but I have to admit that after a month I was kind of rooting for he/she to make it. Also noticed today that the same Red Zebra female is holding again.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

This is going to sound moderately tough, so excuse me , please. At this point, I would let nature take it from here. If the fry is doing alright, it may make it all the way. For one fry, I don't tear up the tank as there are certain to be many more soon enough. Perhaps the best use of time/effort would be to be better prepped for the next time. However that is where it may get mean. Two things are working against you, right now. The yellow labs are among the lesser aggressive mbuna and they are also one who will crossbreed very easy. That makes for lots of hybrids/mutts. since yellow labs are so easy to breed, the market tends to be full in many places and then throw in hybrid and you can get into unwanted fish very quickly. the mean part? I would suggest moving one group or the other as they should not be allowed to breed. The last thing I want in my tank is to be raising fish nobody wants!


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Yellow lab fry can do a really amazing job of surviving, even in the worst if there are enough hiding places. Sometimes the "snack" is just not worth the chase! Looking through some old pics I came across this example:


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