[SpeedFreak]

Ok today I got 6 yellow labs from a friend. they look like their three different sets from their sizes. The largest are about an inch and only one has a lot of black on his dorsal fin. the others barely have it along with all the others. I was told and I've found that they fill in the older they get. Is this true to everyones experience? I was told that the Pelvic and anal fins will get dark last. None of them have black now at all. Also they all have whitesh shiney bellies. Will this turn yellow after awhile? The next size down both are very pale. The next size down which is about 3/8'' is the brightest yellow of all so obviously the middle generation isnt to young to be bright. All of these fish should have been bred by the same male and mostly likely different females. The only reason I have heard of pale fish like that are because theres another dominant male so they get duller. However I figured they had to be mature inorder for that to happen. Does anyone know if thats true or can anyone shed the light on what I can expect the changes to be? Also the younger ones seem to have some barring. I was also assuming that would go away with maturity. Its more evident in the smaller ones then the larger ones and very hard to see.
As a side note about what size do they start breeding. I know its awhile away but it will give me something to look forward to.
Thanks for all your help in advance!!! :fish:
Shawn

 

[sean151]

From my experience my original lab started out very pale and with good care it's colors will show up. I was very surprised when I first noticed how deep it's colors got in the 4 months I've owned my two original cichlids. Also dominance will play a role in how deep the color turns, I just picked up a mostly pale lab that I hope will be a sub dominant male not just a poor strain. Just remember to feed cichlid food to them and if you don't know what to get this site has a review section on food:
Flake - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/ca ... ?CatID=401
Pellet - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/ca ... ?CatID=402
Frozen - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/ca ... ?CatID=403
Specialty - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/ca ... ?CatID=404
Labs will eat from the top or bottom so pellet or flake works perfectly.

 

[DJRansome]

First, did you see the father and some of the mothers? And the tank they came from? Were there any red zebras in the tank? Was the father clean and yellow with nice black fins? Those are good things to check when buying yellow labs.

I'm raising a batch of lab fry now that came from a nice strain of males and females at a time when there were no male zebras in the tank.

I also recently obtained some adult labs from an even nicer strain.

To address your concerns: the barring and pale whitish bellies, IME, are probably stress related. The yellow will darken and the bars will fade once they are comfortable in your tank in a month or two. My babies show no barring and the dominant male shows very slight barring in times of extreme stress. Sounds like yours might have a little more than what is desirable.

Regarding the lack of black on the fins, there are times when you can't see it if you just glance at my fry, but don't forget, they can "turn off" their colors when they feel threatened. I know all my fry have the black fins because I have seen it at other times. It can be really hard to see but look for at least a black dot at the top of the dorsal. If that's not there, you may have hybrids.

Turning off colors is not limited to maturity and any fish who is nervous at any age can and will do it.

Good luck!

 

[CICHLUDED]

From what I have experienced from every fry I have raised… They start showing signs of black in their dorsal about 2 weeks after being released. ( around ¼â€

 

[Dewdrop]

When I bought my first 3 labs as juvies, one had a real nice black mark on the top fin. The other 2 had a tiny bit of black present but not much and one of those 2 had a lighter almost white belly. The lady at the LFS assured me that the black mark would get blacker as they matured and it did. The one that had the lighter belly I was hoping was female but it eventually lost the lighter color and ended up being the best colored one of the of the 3 even though they all turned out to be males.

 

[gherlevi]

The ultimate proof is seeing the parents, but I had a similar experience. I bought several labs from a trusted breeder, and at first I was really uninpressed. White bellies, weak black markings...

...and then 4 months go by and holy cow! The worst looking one ended up my vibrant all-yellow male. It also helped he was essentially the boss of the tank.

Good food, good care (lack of stress), and time should reveal labs from a legit source.

 

[myselfdotcom]

Hi...nice talking with you the other day. Did you check with the guy you got from the parents? Post the pictures of yr fish..maybe someone here can identify for you. Give me a call when you have it setup..maybe i can swing by sometimes...not far from me place..you are near UMBC right?

 

[SpeedFreak]

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to everyone... The internets been screwy and a lot has been going on here.

sean151- I have been feeding them Tetra Cichlid Crisps and the like them along with ocean nutrition Cichlid Omni Forumla so hopefully with the good selection of food they will do well.

 

[SpeedFreak]

First, did you see the father and some of the mothers? And the tank they came from? Were there any red zebras in the tank? Was the father clean and yellow with nice black fins? Those are good things to check when buying yellow labs.

I'm raising a batch of lab fry now that came from a nice strain of males and females at a time when there were no male zebras in the tank.

I also recently obtained some adult labs from an even nicer strain.

To address your concerns: the barring and pale whitish bellies, IME, are probably stress related. The yellow will darken and the bars will fade once they are comfortable in your tank in a month or two. My babies show no barring and the dominant male shows very slight barring in times of extreme stress. Sounds like yours might have a little more than what is desirable.

Regarding the lack of black on the fins, there are times when you can't see it if you just glance at my fry, but don't forget, they can "turn off" their colors when they feel threatened. I know all my fry have the black fins because I have seen it at other times. It can be really hard to see but look for at least a black dot at the top of the dorsal. If that's not there, you may have hybrids.

Turning off colors is not limited to maturity and any fish who is nervous at any age can and will do it.

Good luck!

yes I did see the dominant male and the other fish. He sent me pictures on here of them. Same thing for the tank. I dont think there were any red zebras in the tank. pretty sure he just has demasoni and labs. I'm glad to hear they can turn their colors on and off. I'm just disappointed i figured they would love the tank and get use to everything right away. The labs have gotten brighter now if the demasoni would just get there black/dark blue back...lol as far as the black on the labs i can see a small amount of black on all of their dorsal fins and the two that were very pale have gotten a lot nicer to look at and its only been since thursday that they were dropped off in a plastic container. my next question is can you see the black on there anal fins too? I think you can only barely see that on the darkest/biggest one i have. is that something that should develop later? thanks for your time
-shawn

 

[SpeedFreak]

First, did you see the father and some of the mothers? And the tank they came from? Were there any red zebras in the tank? Was the father clean and yellow with nice black fins? Those are good things to check when buying yellow labs.

I'm raising a batch of lab fry now that came from a nice strain of males and females at a time when there were no male zebras in the tank.

I also recently obtained some adult labs from an even nicer strain.

To address your concerns: the barring and pale whitish bellies, IME, are probably stress related. The yellow will darken and the bars will fade once they are comfortable in your tank in a month or two. My babies show no barring and the dominant male shows very slight barring in times of extreme stress. Sounds like yours might have a little more than what is desirable.

Regarding the lack of black on the fins, there are times when you can't see it if you just glance at my fry, but don't forget, they can "turn off" their colors when they feel threatened. I know all my fry have the black fins because I have seen it at other times. It can be really hard to see but look for at least a black dot at the top of the dorsal. If that's not there, you may have hybrids.

Turning off colors is not limited to maturity and any fish who is nervous at any age can and will do it.

Good luck!

yes I did see the dominant male and the other fish. He sent me pictures on here of them. Same thing for the tank. I dont think there were any red zebras in the tank. pretty sure he just has demasoni and labs. I'm glad to hear they can turn their colors on and off. I'm just disappointed i figured they would love the tank and get use to everything right away. The labs have gotten brighter now if the demasoni would just get there black/dark blue back...lol as far as the black on the labs i can see a small amount of black on all of their dorsal fins and the two that were very pale have gotten a lot nicer to look at and its only been since thursday that they were dropped off in a plastic container. my next question is can you see the black on there anal fins too? I think you can only barely see that on the darkest/biggest one i have. is that something that should develop later? thanks for your time
-shawn

 

[SpeedFreak]

First, did you see the father and some of the mothers? And the tank they came from? Were there any red zebras in the tank? Was the father clean and yellow with nice black fins? Those are good things to check when buying yellow labs.

I'm raising a batch of lab fry now that came from a nice strain of males and females at a time when there were no male zebras in the tank.

I also recently obtained some adult labs from an even nicer strain.

To address your concerns: the barring and pale whitish bellies, IME, are probably stress related. The yellow will darken and the bars will fade once they are comfortable in your tank in a month or two. My babies show no barring and the dominant male shows very slight barring in times of extreme stress. Sounds like yours might have a little more than what is desirable.

Regarding the lack of black on the fins, there are times when you can't see it if you just glance at my fry, but don't forget, they can "turn off" their colors when they feel threatened. I know all my fry have the black fins because I have seen it at other times. It can be really hard to see but look for at least a black dot at the top of the dorsal. If that's not there, you may have hybrids.

Turning off colors is not limited to maturity and any fish who is nervous at any age can and will do it.

Good luck!

yes I did see the dominant male and the other fish. He sent me pictures on here of them. Same thing for the tank. I dont think there were any red zebras in the tank. pretty sure he just has demasoni and labs. I'm glad to hear they can turn their colors on and off. I'm just disappointed i figured they would love the tank and get use to everything right away. The labs have gotten brighter now if the demasoni would just get there black/dark blue back...lol as far as the black on the labs i can see a small amount of black on all of their dorsal fins and the two that were very pale have gotten a lot nicer to look at and its only been since thursday that they were dropped off in a plastic container. my next question is can you see the black on there anal fins too? I think you can only barely see that on the darkest/biggest one i have. is that something that should develop later? thanks for your time
-shawn

 

[SpeedFreak]

The ultimate proof is seeing the parents, but I had a similar experience. I bought several labs from a trusted breeder, and at first I was really uninpressed. White bellies, weak black markings...

...and then 4 months go by and holy cow! The worst looking one ended up my vibrant all-yellow male. It also helped he was essentially the boss of the tank.

Good food, good care (lack of stress), and time should reveal labs from a legit source.

yeah i just took the whole time thing as hours or a few days and not as a couple months.

 

[SpeedFreak]

Hi...nice talking with you the other day. Did you check with the guy you got from the parents? Post the pictures of yr fish..maybe someone here can identify for you. Give me a call when you have it setup..maybe i can swing by sometimes...not far from me place..you are near UMBC right?

yeah give me a shout i'm home all day for the post part. dont have a job yet and havent started school. the tanks up and running. 6 labs and 18 demasoni right now. just pm me or give me a call. umbc is less then a 5 min ride. i'd like to come and see your fish/tank. just let me know
-shawn

 

[myselfdotcom]

Hi...nice talking with you the other day. Did you check with the guy you got from the parents? Post the pictures of yr fish..maybe someone here can identify for you. Give me a call when you have it setup..maybe i can swing by sometimes...not far from me place..you are near UMBC right?

yeah give me a shout i'm home all day for the post part. dont have a job yet and havent started school. the tanks up and running. 6 labs and 18 demasoni right now. just pm me or give me a call. umbc is less then a 5 min ride. i'd like to come and see your fish/tank. just let me know
-shawn

ya...maybe after I come back from my trip this week...anyway, try the New Life Spectrum food. It seems pretty good food, a little pricy but i am still trying to find a few people to get bulk

 

[SpeedFreak]

Hi...nice talking with you the other day. Did you check with the guy you got from the parents? Post the pictures of yr fish..maybe someone here can identify for you. Give me a call when you have it setup..maybe i can swing by sometimes...not far from me place..you are near UMBC right?

yeah give me a shout i'm home all day for the post part. dont have a job yet and havent started school. the tanks up and running. 6 labs and 18 demasoni right now. just pm me or give me a call. umbc is less then a 5 min ride. i'd like to come and see your fish/tank. just let me know
-shawn

ya...maybe after I come back from my trip this week...anyway, try the New Life Spectrum food. It seems pretty good food, a little pricy but i am still trying to find a few people to get bulk

ok let me know when you get back and we can talk about it. i would consider buying some in bulk. bulk always saves in the end