# Yellow african or frontosa cichlid having babies



## AL-PAYSOs (Sep 24, 2010)

So today i was looking at my tank and i seen how the left corner of my 125 gallon was being dominated by one of my frontosas and a yellow african cichlid so i started really looking into the tank and i seen a baby swimming by a flipped rock that one of my frontosa flipped the other day ,I have a lot of coral rocks in my tank with crush coral on the bottom So now i am trying to figure out which one is the female . .I tried taking the rocks out fast and see if i seen any babies but they disappeared so i am hopeing none of the other fish ate the babie As for now i put all rocks back in left corner and the yellow and frontosa is still defending the corner So how do i get babies out of tank ??? Or can they make it in the tank ???? A lot of hiding space i have pictures in album 
i have-
- 3 blues 
- 2 leporinus 
- 2 upside down cat fish 
- 2 frontosas 
- 2 oranges 
- 2 yellows 
- 1 green spotted puffer 
I need helpppppppp !! LOL !!


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

What did the fry look like?

Yellow lab fry and frontosa fry will resemble their parents. By the way, how big is the frontosa?

Although the fry was in the same corner as the front and lab were, it doesn't mean either of them is the mother. Fry will seek refuge under any protective object such a rock, and they are mobile. The fry you saw can potentially be the offspring of any other female cichlid in the tank. African cichlids are also inherently territorial fish so the observed activity in the corner is not necessarily associated with the fry.

Most african cichlids have broods number one dozen to over three dozen. When left in the main tank most get eaten by the other tank residents (which is probably what happened to the fry's siblings).

Extracting fry from a main display tank can be challenging. For one, they will dart out if you happen to uncover the rock they are under, and two, that will make them extremely vulerable to any fish that sees them. To avoid that you will have to know where the fry is and ensure no larger fish are in the vicinity and then, simultaneously try and catch the fish (no easy task). I've done it before using a large net to shield the small fry.

If you leave them be there is a slim chance they will fend for themselves and survive long enough that they are no longer small enough to be eaten and will eventually become members of the tank.


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## AL-PAYSOs (Sep 24, 2010)

The frontosa is 2 inch 
Yellow lab is 1 1/2 inch 
I only see one baby, The baby is really small swimming in a good hiding spot between rocks


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

Well, the frontosa can be ruled out, a 2" frontosa is still an immature juvenile not yet of breeding size or age.

The yellow lab is on the small side as well (immature specimen).

What* color* is the baby fish you're seeing?


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## Mbuna Keeper (Dec 24, 2010)

Sorry to take this off topic, but a quick question to Kay b. Is that a demasoni in your avatar?


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## e048 (Dec 23, 2010)

that happend to me when I bought my very first batch of africans, all were around one inch to tow inches and three months later I discovered four fry living in the driftwood cavern. and my yellow labs were about the same size


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

no, demasoni have dark tails. C. afra or P. elongatus?

I've had yellow labs have fry at that size (only 1 or 2 in a mouthful). I'm also assuming the 'oranges' aren't fruit, but red zebras. IME labs are more likely to breed small.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

Mbuna Keeper said:


> Sorry to take this off topic, but a quick question to Kay b. Is that a demasoni in your avatar?


The mbuna in my avatar is a type of zebra. Specifically, it is a male Metriaclima sp. Zebra 'Chilumba' (Luwino Reef). The common name they go by is Black-barred Zebra, or BB Zebra for short. 

It's one of the larger species of zebra (they max out at about 7" or 8"). They're also fairly aggressive. I have one residing in a tank with over 20 pseudotropheus demasoni's and this zebra completely rules it due to sheer size and temperment. I've got about 15-20 BB zebra's distributed in my other tanks. As juveniles these zebra's are near solid purple; they undergo a color transformation as they mature (most significantly among the males).

A larger photo of one can be found at the bottom of the following link which I posted some years ago (a demasoni is also on the page for comparison):
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/178396-post10.html


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

cool. I haven't seen a BB zebra for decades. I used to keep albino BBs. People keep asking me why these OB, solid red, white, and blue fish are 'zebras'.


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