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  L# Sexing Electric Yellows
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SubscribeSexing Electric Yellows
FishMan10005
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male usa us-southcarolina
Ive got 5 yellow labs (electric yellows) in my 29g. I would like to attempt to breed them but i need to know how to sex them?? Please help

Thanks.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 12:01Profile Homepage AIM MSN PM Edit Report 
nano reefer
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male uk
You can sex them by looking at them and the fins under there belly. The males should have back ones nad females have yellow ones good luck with your breeding!
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 12:01Profile Homepage MSN PM Edit Report 
just beginning
 
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female australia au-queensland
Electric yellows are very difficult to sex. Sometimes there are signs such as the black pectoral, anal and dorsal fins, egg spots and aggression, but there have been fishkeepers who've had aggressive females with the black fins and passive males with yellow fins and no egg spots! Venting is really the only reliable way to tell, and you have to be quite experienced to do that. Other than that, you will surely know when your females start holding!

The good thing about yellow labs is they are not so fussy about colonies as other mbuna; granted, there should still be more females to males but often they breed even if there isn't, and males are more tolerant of each other than other species. So I'd say the best thing to do is wait and see what happens when they reach maturity.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 12:01Profile Homepage PM Edit Report 
AndyCLS
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male usa
There seems to be a pervasive myth, be it spread in forums or by fish stores, that labs can be sexed by simply looking at the black on their fins. This is only somewhat true, and is highly inaccurate. There have even been a few FP members who have been absolutely vehement in defending this method as some sort of guarantee of sex in Labs.

Okay okay - I can look in my tank and immediately point out my Alpha Lab, but only because it is extremely obvious because of certain visual characteristics. I have at least two other males (fairly certain, but not 100%) which have a very ambiguous appearance. One of my females, whom I know is a female because she's been holding a couple of times now, actually has more black on her fins than all of the other labs save my Alpha Lab --- weird, huh?

If I were to go into an LFS, I probably would have a hard time telling them apart. Especially when their sub-2", they all look so similar that you can really only guess... sometimes with adults it's easier, but again, ambiguity prevails. <Insert reiteration of Just Beginning's post]

All in all, breeding is not difficult to establish with Labs. They will breed so long as there are at least 1 male and 1 female. You have 5 Labs, so there's probably a very good chance that you are already set up for breeding. Just let them do their thing. There's really no intervention needed, unless you want to save the fry, in which case it's good to remove the female into a temporary tank until she releases her fry. Or you can strip the fry, but that's a more advanced topic which you can read about here:
Stripping Fry - A Pictoral Tutorial

I usually don't bother with the fry. I leave my holding females in the tank until she releases them - and then nature takes it's course and I'm guessing they get eaten. I've yet to see one make it. Odds are eventually I suppose I'll get one that'll manage to stay alive...but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Pardon the cliche.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 12:01Profile PM Edit Report 
FishMan10005
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male usa us-southcarolina
Thanks everyone, yall were very helpful!!!

From the information yall gave me, i believe i have 2 males nad 3 females.
Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2006 12:01Profile Homepage AIM MSN PM Edit Report 
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