Convicts with Yellow labs?

[PamelaDee]

Can these two live together?:yes: :no: Or would it be fatal?

[Pamelajo]

Not sure Pamela, but hopefully some one will be along shortly to answer your question.

[susankat]

They would till the convicts start breeding then they are nasty little buggers.

[GaryofMontreal]

I always found a scale of aggression:
1) African lake cichlids;
2) African river cichlids and central American species
3) South Americans.

A rough central American usually got its clocks cleaned by a medium aggressive African Lake fish. Convicts are CA cichlids, while labs are gentle lakers. I dunno - it could work in a three foot tank, but why bother? Central American and African cichlids communicate poorly as the long time they've been apart has meant the evolution of different body language. So the behavior between the cichlids from the different regions is all messed up, and behavior is most of the fun with cichlids.

[thegrandpoohbah]

And don't forget that they have drastically different water parameter requirements. While you might get away with keeping them together, one species or the other will not be happy about it.

[Malibu]

Generally, you should try to keep cichlids together by their origin - for the African Cichlids, this means right down to the region - for example, Lake Malawi fish should be kept with Lake Malawi fish, etc.

They really do not mix well with cichlids from other locations.

[PamelaDee]

So much information to take in!:wideeyed: I've only have the yellow labs for about a week, but love the look of cichlids. The little guys are awesome to see....but not so fun to watch. They just hide! Is this normal for them? I thought maybe adding a few more would better my chances of seeing them! I read about male to female ratio and since I can't get a clear picture of them, and can't tell male from female, I thought it might be safe to go with a different species. I can't trust the pet store guys anymore so thank you everyone for replying with info!

[hp10BII]

Give them time to settle in, some of my cichlids took a month to settle in until they were swimming, eating well and breeding. Do you have other tank inhabitants? Maybe dither fish to draw out the labs from their hiding spots?

[PamelaDee]

I did have a poor angel fish and a pleco that came with them but I have rehomed them. So if a female has babies (in her mouth?) would her mouth be slightly open all the time? I think I possible have a male and female. I am an inpatient person so waiting is SOOO hard! But I really love the look of this fish so I guess it's worth it! Some one said to put tetras in there because the labs would chase them. Think that is a good idea?

[thegrandpoohbah]

Some one said to put tetras in there because the labs would chase them. Think that is a good idea?
No! Once you go with African cichlids, you are pretty much stuck with an all cichlid tank. They do not mix well with others as a general rule. As mentioned, you shouldn't even mix cichlids from the 3 different lakes (Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria). How big is your tank? It it usually not recommended to keep African cichlids unless you have at least a 4' long tank as they tend to be aggressive and territorial.

[PamelaDee]

Hmm, but there are other cichlids I could put with them then? I have them in a 33 gallon so maybe I should change my tanks around.

[hp10BII]

You could refer to the "cookie cutter" suggestions for various sized tanks. These are suggestions for a 55 gallon cichlid, just scroll down to mbunas:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php

Tried to find a smaller tank size using labs as one of the cichlids in a cichlid community tank, but the smallest tank size is a 55. Sorry, I don't keep Malawi's so can't offer other suggestions.

For my other African's I keep dither fish for a single cichlid species tank. I'm using furcata rainbowfish, endlers & bn plecos, many have used danios.

[PamelaDee]

Thanks so much. That is exactly what I am looking for!