Calling all cichlids breeders??

Question

i wont to breed my pair of electric yellows there in a community tank for about a week (since i brought them) if i leave them in there with electric blues will they breed or should i but them in a tank by them self's

Answer 1

Electric blues are Malawi Haps.  Electric Yellows are Mbuna.  They are not closely enough related to hybridize.

Answer 2

john is exactly right they are totally different. if you have a pair of yellow labs they will breed in a tank with others. they will not breed with haps. I myself never mix cichlids. I have 17 tanks and each has its own species. I have 55 gal tanks with 3 peacocks in them that only get 5 inches each. they are a breeding trio and very happy being in a tank that size. the best thing to do is get 4 to 6 fish at the same time put them in a tank and let them pair off. cichlids are very hard to tell male from female until they are older so its easier to get more fish so when you get a pair you can take the others and sell them or trade for other things you need. that's how i do it.

Answer 3

You need to know how to s*x them first sort of like what birdy said, and yes, these two fish are close enough related, you could end up with a hybrid, but given that the EB's usually get much larger then the Yellows, I wouldn't see this happening.

I've bred this species several times in the past, and have a group of one month old grow outs right now.  Unless you know you have a male and female, the whole question is really moot.  You would be better off not grouping them with the Electric Blues however.

Answer 4

Hi,

Yeah they will breed in the tank and may even hybrid with the electric blues. However i would not say that you have a pair because it is highly unlikely that you will get a male and female out of a tank. Normally if you want to breed a species of fish then you need to startoff with four or more as it is highly unlikely that you will get all the same s*x.