Kel asked:
Hey guys, I have become interested in have an Electric Yellow in my freshwater community aquarium. I’ve herd that they are the friendliest of all the Cichlids and will go with the rest of my fish with the exception of my Neons being questionable but not impossible. Has anyone has any experiences with that?
Also, I keep getting fluctuating answers on the pH level for this fish (I keep hearing between 7 - 9, but I can’t get a tangible answer on that) Will around 7 be ok?
Please don’t just guess an answer if you don’t know - a fishes life is at hand.
Thank you so much for your time!
Take care.
Thanks everyone for your answers!
Thank you Jon V for your answer, my tank is 3 foot by 14′ and 18′ high; full of plants, driftwood and rocks.
Yes, I do have a few neons. If it helps I’ll tell you what I have: 12 Neons, 2 Angel Fish, 2 bristlenose, 2 Dwarf Gourami, 2 Kuhli Loach, 2 Clown Loach and a Guppy. There’s still room left for the Electric Yellow to keep for himself.
Hey guys, I have become interested in have an Electric Yellow in my freshwater community aquarium. I’ve herd that they are the friendliest of all the Cichlids and will go with the rest of my fish with the exception of my Neons being questionable but not impossible. Has anyone has any experiences with that?
Also, I keep getting fluctuating answers on the pH level for this fish (I keep hearing between 7 - 9, but I can’t get a tangible answer on that) Will around 7 be ok?
Please don’t just guess an answer if you don’t know - a fishes life is at hand.
Thank you so much for your time!
Take care.
Thanks everyone for your answers!
Thank you Jon V for your answer, my tank is 3 foot by 14′ and 18′ high; full of plants, driftwood and rocks.
Yes, I do have a few neons. If it helps I’ll tell you what I have: 12 Neons, 2 Angel Fish, 2 bristlenose, 2 Dwarf Gourami, 2 Kuhli Loach, 2 Clown Loach and a Guppy. There’s still room left for the Electric Yellow to keep for himself.
I’m still some-what new to this hobby.
January 4th, 2009 at 7:25 am
based on my research The electric yellow cichlid, Labidochromis caeruleus, is a freshwater perciform fish, a cichlid. It is also known as lemon yellow lab, the blue streak hap, the electric yellow African, and is called the yellow prince in the Philippines. It is endemic to the central western coastal region of Lake Malawi, at the Lion’s Cove and Nkhata Bay areas, in East Africa. It has become a popular commercial fish for aquarium enthusiasts.
Their bodies are strikingly bright yellow, having sometimes dark black streaks on their dorsal, pelvic, and ventral fins. While specimens kept by aquarists are generally bright yellow with black markings, specimens from different areas of Lake Malawi exhibit different coloring. In fact, their quality is determined mostly on appearance, with brighter yellow, less white, and minimal appearance of the bars along their broad side making a better cichlid. Males and females are sexually monomorphic with most males exhibiting black ventral fins and broader black dorsal stripe, though the best way to sex them would require examining their vents, while behaviour can provide reliable hints (females tend to be smaller and less aggressive). In their natural habitat, electric yellow grow to about 7 cm in length, and have been known to reach 15 cm in captivity.
This species is a maternal mouthbrooder, meaning the eggs are carried, hatch, and develop in the mother’s mouth (buccal cavity), for about three weeks. These fish are ovophiles and the male will excavate a pit in the sand within his territory, in which the female lays the eggs; the female then takes these eggs into her mouth for fertilization.
i hope you like my answer…
January 6th, 2009 at 2:40 am
chichlids are my favorite
January 6th, 2009 at 8:39 am
someone lied to you big time yellow labe are anything except frendly there is no question about the neons the labs will enjoy having them for dinner ph isn’t a big deal either I have had them breed in high ph of over 8.4
the lab is as mean as most aferican cichlids don’t add it unless your ready to have your community tank become dinner
the only way to have a community tank with yellow labs is the have a cichlid community
if you want a cichlid for your tank thing blue ram
January 7th, 2009 at 11:55 am
never kept them befor….
January 8th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
They prefer a pH of upper 7’s, harder water since they come from hard waters, anything close to 7 isn’t recommended for them therefore it is not suitable for a FW community. African Cichlids are almost always aggressive. African Cichlids should be kept with similar sized Africans.
Check out this link for some great accurate info.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Electric yellows are one of the more peaceful species, but they are still cichlids. They can get aggressive and will eat anything that can fit in there mouth (including neons). Electric yellows usually work great in community tanks until they don’t, they could get along great for a year or two and then you wake up to a massacre.
A stable ph is more important then the “right” ph, chances are the cichlids will be adjusted to the ph level in your area.
January 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am
All my African tanks are actually community tanks. No you weren’t lied to, you just may not have been well informed is all. Labidochromis Caereleus is very mild for an African Cichlid, and anyone that wants to generically brand the words “African Cichlid” as a nasty killer or whatever doesn’t know what they are talking about. I keep and breed both Mbuna and Haps. Aggression is NOT that simple to factor.
This is the first thing I need to know. What is your tank size. It’s nice that you list the PH, but if we are going to go into that, what is your hardness as well? Africans prefer the higher PH but as well with a higher hardness too. My guess is at 7 it’s not the best for an Electric Yellow, but if you drip acclimate it, then you could work this out. Before we go into that though, like I said, what is the size and footprint of this tank.
Yes you can keep them with neons. It’s not something I advise, but the truth is yes, it can be done. Now if you were asking about keeping Neons with something like a Kenyi or Auratus, I’d flat out say no way and don’t even try. If you have a large enough footprint, and keep enough rocks, slate, driftwood around, and keep females only, you shouldn’t have an issue. THAT is the truth.
I’ve kept and bred this species along with four others varying from other Mbuna and Haps. In my tanks, I keep them with Cories, and that’s supposed to be a big no no. My footprint though is 72 x 24, and I utilize the space effeciently. I keep Rainbows and Tetra’s in with my Mbuna in my juvenile tank with no issues as well. So long as you create your boundries properly, the Yellow’s will be fine. The neons, being a tetra is a schooling fish, so keep that in mind too. You aren’t going to have much success keeping a solo neon, let alone trying to combine with a cichlid if you don’t at least have them in the proper schooling groups. Follow up with your tank size, and lets see what we can do from there.
FOLLOW UP:
It looks like you have enough of a footprint to try this. If at all possible, try to get females though. I suspect what you’ll see is a few of those neons drop off either way. I mean they really are just that delicate. If you start losing more then three, then you’d want to look at the Yellow’s doing it.
However, that being said, seeing your listing of Angel’s I think that’s going to rule it out though. Angels are cichlids as well. Angels are South American’s and you’re definetly going to have to drip acclimate your Yellow’s if you get them. I would not. Africans and South Americans really need different types of water. You could easily raise that PH by raising your hardness slowly over time, but then your Angels would suffer. If you have a way to rehouse the angels, that would be your best option, and you’ll need to bring that tank up to African levels slowly.