# Mouthfull of babies



## extraSnuffy (Sep 16, 2010)

I have a male electric yellow with a mouthful and have separated him into a 16 gallon tank alone. How long does he hold fry? Will he try and eat them right away? He was in a 65 gal with a female electric/ a male and female Orange Zebra and a male Bumblebee.....i removed the male with babies in hopes of saving them. I'm very new to Africans and never tried to mate fish any help would be fantastic.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

First note that only female yellow labs hold fry. Second note that the fry may not be pure yellow labs. With red zebras in the tank, and the fact that the two are infamous for crossbreeding, it may be impossible for you to be sure the fry are pure.

The red zebra male is more dominant than the yellow lab male and he can easily spawn with the yellow lab females.

Mbuna hold fry for an average of 28 days. Yes the female will try to eat them within 48 hours after she spits them out.

You may want to let her do so with this batch of fry (hybrids are difficult because you can't sell or give them away and many don't have tank space for 20 hybrids for their 8-year lifespan).


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## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

extraSnuffy said:


> I have a male electric yellow with a mouthful and have separated him into a 16 gallon tank alone. How long does he hold fry? Will he try and eat them right away? He was in a 65 gal with a female electric/ a male and female Orange Zebra and a male Bumblebee.....i removed the male with babies in hopes of saving them. I'm very new to Africans and never tried to mate fish any help would be fantastic.




male yellow don't hold egg lol. that one is a female. she will hold for 3 to 4 weeks. most people will strip the fry out at day 18 to 21. i won't save the fry it not going be pure yellow labs. since you have a orange aka red zebra in the tank with them. red zebra and yellow labs will cross breed and no one will want to buy hybrid aka mutt fish and please don't give out or sell the fry. bumble bee is really an aggressive fish only recommend for 75g+ tank imo.


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## extraSnuffy (Sep 16, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> First note that only female yellow labs hold fry. Second note that the fry may not be pure yellow labs. With red zebras in the tank, and the fact that the two are infamous for crossbreeding, it may be impossible for you to be sure the fry are pure.
> 
> The red zebra male is more dominant than the yellow lab male and he can easily spawn with the yellow lab females.
> 
> ...


If I did keep one of the hybrids just for my pleasure would it still mate with others? In other animals hybrids can't mate is why I'm asking. I won't sell or give any away for sure.


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## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

for your pleasure it is okay to save a few. yes the hybrid will mate with siblings, yellow labs, red zebra.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes a hybrid is able to mate with the others. So then, you won't be able to keep any fry from the entire tank because they will all be hybrid suspects.

It would be fine to keep a separate tank of hybrids for your pleasure.

In the future if you want to be able to save lab fry it would be better to remove the red zebras and add 4 yellow lab females. Malawi are harem breeders, the male will kill a single female but if he has 4 of them the harassment will be spread among them and they will survive.

Note I have yellow labs and red zebras in my tank. The zebras are female (no males to dominate the labs). And just in case the yellow lab male spawned with the zebra females, I don't keep fry from the zebras.


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## extraSnuffy (Sep 16, 2010)

soulpride said:


> extraSnuffy said:
> 
> 
> > I have a male electric yellow with a mouthful and have separated him into a 16 gallon tank alone. How long does he hold fry? Will he try and eat them right away? He was in a 65 gal with a female electric/ a male and female Orange Zebra and a male Bumblebee.....i removed the male with babies in hopes of saving them. I'm very new to Africans and never tried to mate fish any help would be fantastic.
> ...


thanks. The guy at fish store is where I got info on females hold eggs then males hold embryos till ready. My Bumblebee is pretty mellow but is growing fast. Maybe a new tank is in my near future? Any recommendations on companions for him?


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## extraSnuffy (Sep 16, 2010)

Thanks DJ sounds like a plan I can follow.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the 65G? It may not be large enough for bumblebees at all.

Ideal for the bumblebee would be a 75G or larger with 1m:7f because they are very large and aggressive.


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