# Blue Cobalt Cichlid



## LabidoStebo (Aug 6, 2005)

Hey,
This sunday i'm picking up 2 6cm blue cobalts to go in my 4ft (55gal, 200litre) tank with my 4 3cm electric yellow labs. what do you guys think, the LFS says they'll go fine but i always prefer to have a 2nd opinion. Theres enough caves to go around. will the electric yellows maybe hurt the blue cobalts when they breed. i read that blue cobalts are semi aggresive so will they be able to look after themselves from some angry prgnant electric yellows. or maybe the male? tell me what you think...

stebo


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## LabidoStebo (Aug 6, 2005)

btw a blue cobalt cichlid is like the one photo in my avatar


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

I also think they will be fine together, espesially since you say they have enough caves. But about the breeding them I don't know. They would make some nice looking tankmates with yellow labs :-D


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## AshleytheGreat (Jul 24, 2005)

It should be fine. I have one In my mbuna tank right now. Gets a long great...very nice addition I'd have to say. I mean there's always going to be aggression when fish breed.


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## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

They will be fine together, even when they breed. I had 4 Cobalts, 4 Johanni's, 4 Labs, 2 Red Zebras, and 1 Ob in my 120 when I started the tank. They bread like wildfire. When I changed the tank tp haps & peackocks I counted 22 fry in there.


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## AprilRain (Aug 10, 2005)

I agree. I have yellow labs and cobalts together with a few other species and they are just fine. Of course, they are mbuna, so there's going to be bickering and fussing. But, that's what makes them fun! If you're getting a male/female pair, be ready for lots of babies! All mine do is eat, dig, chase, and reproduce! LOL

April


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## LabidoStebo (Aug 6, 2005)

good news everyone, i'm picking up my 2 blue cobalt cichlids today! i can't wait to bring them home and seat for hours watching them interact with my electric yellow labs.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

Congrats!! Maybe you can put yours as your avatar :wink:


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## LabidoStebo (Aug 6, 2005)

i would but i'd need to resize it and i havn't been able to do that. But i'll try.


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## LabidoStebo (Aug 6, 2005)

welll they're home and they love there new enviroment, i think, lol. One seems to be getting along with the Yellow Labs but the othe is just hiding under a rock. We'll see what happens.


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## LabidoStebo (Aug 6, 2005)

i came home today and one of my electric yellows was dead  i think it was the largest of the blue cobalts because i've seen him chasin around the other fish abit, just thought you should know, any suggestions?


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

do you see any aggression in the tank now? maybe they were fighting over territory. is there enough caves??


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## Pareeeee (Jan 22, 2005)

the male blue cobalt I used to have (the one that died from malawi bloat  ) grew extremely quickly - from being the size of my young labids to half that size again...and he became a bully and chased all my other mbuna - including my more-aggressive cyaneorhabdos...


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## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

Occasionally that can happen, like I said above I had those same fish but were in my 120. They were always jockying for territory, just make sure that there are enough caves and hiding spots. It seems to me that yellow labs do not grow as fast as blue cobalts as Charicin gal explained above. I do not believe that y.l. are as aggressive as the b.c. I would also check for other signs than just fish aggresiveness though. 5 of those in a 55 should not be a problem at all. What gender of y.l. died and what are the two that are left. It could have also been comp. between the labs also.


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## Orbital (Jun 11, 2005)

Yellow labs and Cobalts should do ok together in that setup. I would add more then just two of the Cobalts though. I would shoot for around 1 male and five females if possible or the two cobalts could single one another out, depending on their temperment. If they end up to be both males, ruh roh. :lol: My male was pretty aggressive when I kept them in my 55 gallon. I had around 4 females if I'm not mistaken.


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## LabidoStebo (Aug 6, 2005)

the largest B.C is still showin a bit of aggression but only to the other blue cobalt. and there is plenty of caves, even some that only the yellow labs can get into. now there is 3 y.l and 2 b.c. i'm not sure of what gender the y'l are, i bought them when they were small and the LFS gave me 4 that all looked like females and he said taht theres a chance of gettin a male, which is what i wanted, but now i think they're all males and the one taht died was a female.


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## Orbital (Jun 11, 2005)

Yellow labs are impossible to sex by eye unless you vent them. I've kept them for 4 years and thought I could tell the difference, and wham one of the males (so I thought) was holding. Look up vent sexing cichlids if you want to know the sexes for sure. Males do tend to grow faster, but not always accurate.


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## AprilRain (Aug 10, 2005)

I suggest you get more fish in there. Five isn't enough to spread out the aggression. When you overcrowd them, they aren't as likely to beat the crap out of each other. I've got 13 adults and a mess of juvies in my 55. I've yet to have any real aggression problems. My big male cobalt is the KING of the tank, but there's so many other fish in there that he get's distracted and loses his "target". 

I'm also running to huge HOB filters and doing weekly water changes to keep the water quality up. 

April


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