Yellow labs . QUESTION/ Need Help

[peter.s]

Hi,  not sure what I should do, I have a very aggressive male yellow lab that is constantly chasing two of the females to the point they hide up by my filter tubes all day...both the females are holding eggs... there are two other males in the tank who are never a problem, both a little smaller.  What should I do,  I don't want these females stuck up by the tubes all the time... on the other hand, the dominant male is one of the best looking ones that i have...)about 3 inches, 2 yrs old..
Any suggestions. I would be willing to sell the nice male is this is the way to go. 
I have lots of other hiding places for them to go, not sure why they go by the filter tubes up high.. I also have overcrowded the tank, 5 labs, 3 peacocks, 3 others .. most are 3 + inches... a few around 4 in. Total tank size is 48 gallon

[Demasonian]

Hey - I think you have a number of options depending on the situation. What are the dimensions of your tank? What are the other inhabitants? How much rockwork do you have? Stressed fish commonly hide by filters because they are usually as far physically as they can get from the territory of the aggressor...

1) If he's really beating on them, then an immediate solution is to move either him or them to another tank until the females spit. Give them time to recover physically from their self-imposed starvation (and any wounds they may have endured) and reintroduce the removed fish to the tank once again.

2) A permanent, but not guaranteed solution, you sell/trade him away. It's not guaranteed because one of your sub-dominant males will fill his shoes and could potentially be even meaner to the females!!

3) Option three, and this is the course I would recommend for the long term (potentially in conjunction with option 1), add more females and remove the extra males. Bring the total population to 8 labs, preferably 1-2 males and 6-7 females. Make sure you have plenty of rockwork. With mbuna, even the so-called peaceful ones like labs, you can't have enough rock!

[peter.s]

Thanks for the answer.  I'm going to give it a bit more time,  I think part of the reason the females are hiding and staying by the top of the filter is because their holding their babies.  The guy at Big Al's mentioned they often hide and stay quite reclused at this time.  If things continue after the babies are out then I'll have to consider your options.  See what happens.
Thanks

[jenn_zep]

the guy at big al's is probly right. my females always hide for the entire time they are holding. they come out for a bit but then hide again. unless he is actually taking bits of thier fins off and causing real bodly harm i would wait it out untill they spit thier babies. 
jenn

[Rob Labonte]

anytime my yellow labs are holding they are hiding behind my filter tubes.


the males will harass them to breed whether they are holding or not.


unless they are getting beat up...(fins torn and such) I wouldnt worry.

[peter.s]

Thanks for all the info.  That's good to know.  They are aren't actually losing fins, etc so should be ok