# Red Zebra vs. Yellow Labs?



## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

I have

4 yellow labs
4 red zebras
1 socolofi
1 bumblebee
1 rainbow shark

in my 55 gallon and recently my dominant Red Zebra has been showing aggression to 2 of my labs. I'm thinking this is because of the gender differences. My Zebra is male and I don't know the gender of the yellow labs but I'm assuming they are either female or male, and that's causing the problem. Any help/remedies?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Remove the bumblebee. Add labs until you have 6 individuals. Add zebra females until you have 4.

There will always been aggression. You need to act only if someone is hiding at the surface or behind heaters and/or filter intakes, and has sustained damage like fin or scale damage.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

IME the red zebra can get pretty nasty. A 55g may be too small to keep them and not experience that kind of aggression. They may view the yellow lab males as competition and try to spawn with the yellow lab females.

I had a tank similar to yours. I had a 55g with 10 yellow labs, a single albino socolofi, a single male crabro (bumblebee), a single male demasoni, a single strawberry peacock, and a single syno.

The crabro was one of the coolest mbuna I have ever kept. He was jet black, 7", and a mellow fish. No one messed with him and he even broke up fights to maintain dominance.

You may be able to keep the singles that you have - but you never know - a single fish may reek havoc in your tank. I would start by returning the red zebras and getting more yellow labs.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Many Yellow Labs that are available in pet stores these days are actually hybrids of Red Zebras and Labs... if that is the case, your Red Zebra is just chasing a fish that is competition for it in breeding.

It should be noted, that even with pure specimens, there are times when Red Zebras view Yellow Labs as their breeding partners, and Yellow Lab males as competition.


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

That might be it. I suspected the yellow Lab of being a hybrid for some time now due to the markings on its flank. Which would be a better solution, returning the zebra or yellow?


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

As stated before by *DJRansome* if u see any fish hiding behind heater intakes top of tank ect. then id be worried my labs and zebras coexist quite well they will always have the occasional argument tho.. IMHO i dont think red zebras are too aggressive for a 55G the male to female ratios will be key in keep the aggression down though....cichlids are aggressive fish...its when it goes too far that u may want to consider changin some things around :wink:


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

Right now he chases them around a bit. None are hiding behind the heater or filters but I am worried that I have the gender ratios off because my other RZ's aren't sexually mature yet so I can't sex them.

Is there always some aggression in a mbuna tank?


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

got any pics? we may be able to give you a guess as to what sex they are.


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

I can try to put up a few later but I don't think they'll help you


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

lets give it a shot


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

How about my other question meanwhile. Is there always some aggression in a mbuna tank?


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

yes there is always some agression to a certain extent.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Agree there is always aggression. You just want to avoid (a) damage and (b) hiding at surface or behind heater/filter intakes.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

TheSimster said:


> How about my other question meanwhile. Is there always some aggression in a mbuna tank?


Yes, there is always aggression, but you can control it by the way you stock the tank.

This tank is still pretty new, so you'll be working out the 'kinks' over the next few months, as they all mature.

Fogelhund made a very good point about the possibility of the yellow labs not being pure. I'm really wondering about that alot, since so many posts here pertain to yellow labs with very high aggression levels - way above the norm...They aren't always obvious in appearance.


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

So should I return the yellow lab or zebra? Or should I just wait to see if it becomes a serious aggression problem?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Okay, I'm confused...

Do you have 4 red zebras or 1 red zebra?

In your post in the illness folder regarding the socolofi, it says:



> I have a 55 gallon with 4 yellow labs, 1 red zebra, 1 bumblebee, 1 socolofi, and 1 rainbow shark.


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

Oh, sorry. I had one when I put the socolofi post up but the other day I got three more.

I'm thinking I should just return both my 3" yellow lab and zebra so I'll have all 1" zebras, labs, socolofi, and bumblebee.

That way it opens the door for the crabro to become dominant and keep the aggression down between the other three species, especially the yellows and zebras.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

I honestly dont think you should be keeping the crabo if it the aggression you want to go down....that fish alone in a tank that size will cause u problems no matter how well u stock the rest of the fish.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

TheSimster said:


> Oh, sorry. I had one when I put the socolofi post up but the other day I got three more.
> 
> I'm thinking I should just return both my 3" yellow lab and zebra so I'll have all 1" zebras, labs, socolofi, and bumblebee.
> 
> That way it opens the door for the crabro to become dominant and keep the aggression down between the other three species, especially the yellows and zebras.


Okay, here's another pointer for you...

Don't add fish when you suspect illness in the tank.

Always quarantine new fish before adding.

I don't think returning fish is going to solve any major problems for you right now. The lone crabro may or may not be problematic...You'll just have to wait and see. I do not think it will keep the aggression in the tank down.

You're still leaning towards an overly aggressive tank because of the singles you've got in the tank, plus the animosity between the yellow labs and red zebras. Those 'singles' are just going to fight with everything, and it wouldn't be like that if they had more of their own species to keep them busy. Reverting to younger fish (by removing older ones) will solve the problem for a bit, but as soon as another starts to sexually mature, it's going to start all over again.

I would give serious consideration to doing what you discussed doing before...Just going with 3 species - having breeding groups of those 3 species. I believe you were considering going with yellow lab, red zebra and socolofi. In this size tank, you could have 6 of each. Stocking in this manner (once you get your male/female ratios worked out) will change things considerably. You'll still have a high hybridization risk between the red zebras and yellow labs (especially if those yellow labs are part red zebras as speculated due to their over aggressiveness), but as long as you don't distribute fry from either species, it would look very nice. It would certainly be more peaceful and enjoyable for you as a hobbyist.

You seem to be really troubled by all the aggression, since you have numerous posts on it.

The answer has been right in front of you, all along, and that is to change your stocking up... :thumb:


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

I've been trying to have that stocking list since a couple of posts ago. I'm just waiting until my LFS gets more socolofi.

The aggression problems probably aren't that bad but I just want my tank to work out nicely.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

TheSimster said:


> I've been trying to have that stocking list since a couple of posts ago. I'm just waiting until my LFS gets more socolofi.
> 
> The aggression problems probably aren't that bad but I just want my tank to work out nicely.


Sounds like you're on the right track!

Don't worry so much about the fish all being the same size, if this is what is delaying you...Larger fish tend to ignore smaller fish, as long as they don't have snack potential...But smaller fish still seem to help disperse the aggression somewhat.


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## TheSimster (Jul 30, 2009)

Ok so I'll just wait for those socolofi.


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