electrick yellow labs

[CichlidOwner]

hello. i have 4 yellow labs. i am trying to figure them out. i believe 3 are females and 1 is a male, the male is the smallest of them all and is always by himself. the females just stay at the edge of the glass and swim up and down all at the same time. i would like them to breade, and am wondering what is going on in with thier actions. can somone offer some advise for me?

[Lisachromis]

It's very hard to sex electric yellow without actually seeing them spawn or being very good at venting them. I wouldn't worry about their actions, it seems fairly normal so far. What size tank do you have them in? Are there any other fish in with them?

[CichlidOwner]

thanks for responding. they are in a 30 gallon tank with a bottom dweller. thay have plenty of rocks to hite in and behind. they are fairly youg, they are each about 1 in. long.
i'v been having a problem keeping the algea from growing on the plastick plans. i put B clear in there once a month but seems not to be working. do you have any suggestions?

[Lisachromis]

Unfortunately that one of the drawbacks of plastic plants. You'll most likely have to take them out and scrub them clean occasionally.

[CichlidOwner]

dang. ok then, but will the algea kill my fish in time? and another question if you don't mind, but what type of food shoudl i give them besides cichlid flakes and pellots?

[Lisachromis]

The algae won't kill your fish. In fact, it's a good part of their diet. Unless of course, it's the dreaded slime algae (it's not algae at all, but cyanobacteria). A good variety of flakes and pellets is fine for these fish. I also find a nice treat (not too often though) is a nice frozen shrimp; either brine or the kind you can eat (the raw stuff not cooked already). Just cut it in bite size pieces and they'll love it. The shrimp will help keep a nice yellow colour on the labs.

[Mattf]

I'm on the market for an easy to breed (but still nice) cichlid, and heard these were. Any comments? How long must they be to do so?

[CichlidOwner]

ok cool. thanks man, about that slime you were talking about, how can you tell the diff. from the slime and algae? i heard that blood worms are good for them too but realy cause alot of algae, is that true?
back on the slime topic. i was looking at one of the plants and the hole plastic leafe is coverd with brownish black crap. i washed it off about 3 days ago and its now back. whats up with that?
thanks man, you'v been most helpfull so far, i'll go buy some shrimp but i don't think it will last long in my house.
Dan

[Lisachromis]

ok cool. thanks man, about that slime you were talking about, how can you tell the diff. from the slime and algae? i heard that blood worms are good for them too but realy cause alot of algae, is that true?

Slime algae covers everything in big slimy feeling blue-green (or even blackish-brownish) crap. When you remove it from the water, it stinks. Algae just smells like plants, slime algae just reeks. Hmmm, bloodworms causing algae? Can't say I've heard that before. The only way I can think that may be true is if you feed too much and the fish don't eat all of it, then the worms die and decompose. The available 'nutrients' would then be used by the algae to grow.

back on the slime topic. i was looking at one of the plants and the hole plastic leafe is coverd with brownish black crap. i washed it off about 3 days ago and its now back. whats up with that?

Well, it sure sounds like slime algae to me (without being able to see it myself). This article may or may not confuse you on what to do (it gives you options on dealing with algae - http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/cya ... ia.html#14

Personally, I'd avoid chemicals first and see if it can be removed/controlled first.

Does the tank get any direct sunlight? If so, you should either move the tank or try to cut down the sunlight it's getting. How long are your tank lights on? You can shorten this time frame til the problem is solved. The other thing is current. Are the covered plants in a part of the tank with little current? Also, large regular water changes should help out as well.

thanks man, you'v been most helpfull so far, i'll go buy some shrimp but i don't think it will last long in my house.
Dan

Hope this helps. If anyone else has a good suggestion for dealing with cyanobacteria, it would be nice to hear it.

[polleni]

You can read a different posology in the following article written by a fellow Greek hobbyist. I have tried this many times and it works a treat. Two points to take into account. First, always finish the whole treatment even if BGA seems to have gone after the second dose. Second, although it has never happened to me, this treatment may adversely affect your biological filtration system. Taking a couple of ammonia / nitrite readings is highly recommended. I always use the drug meant for human consumption (much cheaper) but you have to stick to tablets.

Once I tried the eff. tablets (those that dissolve in the water by themselves) and I lost half a tank of N. brichardi fry.

For small water volumes you can even use injectable forms - more expensive but no excipients to worry about (this is a good advice in general !!).

The link to the article is below :

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aq ... mycin.html

[CichlidOwner]

cool, thanks polleni. i don't think it's BGA cuz it's not on the rocks and only on about 3 plants that are under the filter. would it be ok if i changed the plants every 2 or 3 weeks as to controll the algae?
Dan.

[Lisachromis]

Since your plants are plastic, there's no reason you couldn't just take them out and rinse them off every few days if that's what you wanted to do.