[dubbgee]

I bought from the assorted cichlid tank to round out my stock of 11 yellow labs, 2 EB Johanni, and a pleco…I got 5 guys I’m looking to ID they are all just under an inch long. 2 oranges, two albinos, and one that looks like a baby yellow lab but he is sorta white fading into a yellow from mid fin to tail but it doesn’t show well in the photos. I’m posting the best pics I have.

 

[noki]

Orange are OB Zebra
Pink are albino Zebra
Drab one Yellow Lab hybrid, doubt it will ever turn yellow.

Most of your "Yellow Labs" are Yellow Lab X Red Zebra hybrids

 

[dubbgee]

Orange are OB Zebra
Pink are albino Zebra
Drab one Yellow Lab hybrid, doubt it will ever turn yellow.

Most of your "Yellow Labs" are Yellow Lab X Red Zebra hybrids

My Yellow Labs came from the wholesaler Fish Mart…have they been known to misrepresent their stock? If so it sucks but they are still pretty little guys.

 

[noki]

These two yellow Mbuna at the bottom of this pic are hybrids. Yellow Lab mixed with Red Zebra are very common from mass market sources. They are colorful juveniles and sell, and they don't care if they are pure.

 

[dubbgee]

View attachment 142001

These two yellow Mbuna at the bottom of this pic are hybrids. Yellow Lab mixed with Red Zebra are very common from mass market sources. They are colorful juveniles and sell, and they don't care if they are pure.

heard that. thank you

 

[dubbgee]

View attachment 142001

These two yellow Mbuna at the bottom of this pic are hybrids. Yellow Lab mixed with Red Zebra are very common from mass market sources. They are colorful juveniles and sell, and they don't care if they are pure.

makes me wish I had gone to <vendor name removed>

 

[Auballagh]

Hmmmmm.....

makes me wish I had gone to.........

WAITAMINIT, here.
For one, the African Cichlids you purchased were priced substantially cheaper than the 'pure' species you could have sourced out and purchased from an online vendor. Whew....you add the cost of shipping onto that online purchase, and you're into a pretty substantial investment.
For another, those Cichlids look pretty decent to my eyes, at least. I mean, when you looked at them in the tank they were offered for sale with - they didn't look like hot garbage or something did they? NO!!! They looked colorful, pretty and seemed like they would make nice additions to your aquarium.
And lastly, be true to your own intent. I mean is the point to get 'pure' species African Cichlids of a proven provenance, so you can sell the babies or something later? Trust me on this, it's doubtful at the scale you will bring with a home aquarium, that you will clear enough cash in the sale of those babies to even cover the annual costs of providing electricity and food for that tank! No one (not even the 'BIG GUYS' makes the so-called 'Big Bucks', selling tank-raised African Cichlids).

Do these colorful, healthy fish make you happy? Great! Enjoy 'em! And no.... I would NOT distribute any of the babies produced by that tank to anyone. But, that may not be the point of this aquarium, right? So, just enjoy the colorful and happy Cichlids you have now, in the nice-looking aquarium you've set up for them to live in. Seems simple enough to me.

 

[DJRansome]

Another view. If you buy a number of fish for a tank as opposed to a couple of fish online vendors are actually cheaper. Price/fish can be half prices at LFS. It does not take many fish to cover the shipping.

If you buy hybrids, you don't have a clue how they will behave. It is said hybrids are often more aggressive than pure fish. And if you ever decide to get out of the hobby and/or swap out a species to try something new, you can't sell or give away hybrids.

And if you do want to stock a mixed gender tank...what type of females do you get? No way to know.

If you DO buy from an LFS never buy from the assorted tank. The LFS should label the tanks with the scientific name (genus, species and ideally collection point) if they are telling you the fish are pure.

 

[dubbgee]

Hmmmmm.....

WAITAMINIT, here.
For one, the African Cichlids you purchased were priced substantially cheaper than the 'pure' species you could have sourced out and purchased from an online vendor. Whew....you add the cost of shipping onto that online purchase, and you're into a pretty substantial investment.
For another, those Cichlids look pretty decent to my eyes, at least. I mean, when you looked at them in the tank they were offered for sale with - they didn't look like hot garbage or something did they? NO!!! They looked colorful, pretty and seemed like they would make nice additions to your aquarium.
And lastly, be true to your own intent. I mean is the point to get 'pure' species African Cichlids of a proven provenance, so you can sell the babies or something later? Trust me on this, it's doubtful at the scale you will bring with a home aquarium, that you will clear enough cash in the sale of those babies to even cover the annual costs of providing electricity and food for that tank! No one (not even the 'BIG GUYS' makes the so-called 'Big Bucks', selling tank-raised African Cichlids).

Do these colorful, healthy fish make you happy? Great! Enjoy 'em! And no.... I would NOT distribute any of the babies produced by that tank to anyone. But, that may not be the point of this aquarium, right? So, just enjoy the colorful and happy Cichlids you have now, in the nice-looking aquarium you've set up for them to live in. Seems simple enough to me.

While I agree with you, the problem with the breed being mixed is I may not have the docile Labs I thought I was getting. As to the beauty though they are some very pretty fish.

 

[dubbgee]

Another view. If you buy a number of fish for a tank as opposed to a couple of fish online vendors are actually cheaper. Price/fish can be half prices at LFS. It does not take many fish to cover the shipping.

If you buy hybrids, you don't have a clue how they will behave. It is said hybrids are often more aggressive than pure fish. And if you ever decide to get out of the hobby and/or swap out a species to try something new, you can't sell or give away hybrids.

And if you do want to stock a mixed gender tank...what type of females do you get? No way to know.

If you DO buy from an LFS never buy from the assorted tank. The LFS should label the tanks with the scientific name (genus, species and ideally collection point) if they are telling you the fish are pure.

The Labs were labeled as Labidochromis Caeruleus but as to what roki said now I wonder if they are not of the stock they say. I never planned to breed and do believe all my fish are males…everyone is starting to get egg spots, but the problem is I am starting to see aggression from my biggest Lab Jerry…it started with just one territory and now the whole 4ft of the tank. I added about about 15 amazon swords for more hiding spaces. My electric blue johanni have been shimmying and yesterday had muted colors…I dont want any stress deaths. I dont have another tank to move him to. Auballagh makes a great point especially since I dont plan to breed but as you said aggression can be an issue and is seeming to begin. I have been keeping a close eye on him.

 

[dubbgee]

they labeled the assorted tank as pseudotropheus sp. and that was it.

 

[dubbgee]

updated tank photos

 

[DJRansome]

If you are going for an all male tank, you would want one of each and no look alikes. Egg spots are not a reliable indicator of gender. If they were sold to you as Labidochromis caeruleus and you want Labidochromis caeruleus then I would return them. Labidochromis caeruleus have a black dorsal stripe...at minimum.

All male is a difficult tank with peacocks and haps...even more so with mbuna. It is natural for fish that look alike to be aggressive with each other unless you have one male and four or more females.

 

[dubbgee]

I really have my work cut out for me. Jerry has been getting very aggressive not only with the yellows but the blues as well.