Yellow Labs

[Thumpya]

Just a few questions.  Do yellow labs tend to occupy the bottom of the tank?  What's a good tank mate to add that won't get picked on? (That might be too general) What other cichlids would be a good tank mates for them? (and I don't mean for mating lol)

[Demasonian]

Hi Thumpya,

Do yellow labs tend to occupy the bottom of the tank?

Yellow labs will typically occupy the mid to lower portions of your tank, likely swimming in and out of any rockwork you might have.

What other cichlids would be a good tank mates for them?

This one is a bit subjective and depends to some extent on how many labs you have/want to have and how big your tank is. In particular, what are the dimensions?

As a general rule of thumb, labs will do well with other mbuna. They are usually one of the most passive mbuna, meaning they are more likely to be the victims of aggression than the aggressors themselves.

You should probably stay away from other labidochromis or similar looking fish to the lab (e.g. saulosi, red zebras) if you want to avoid the possibility of hybridization and/or conspecific aggression.

I've heard of (but not tried myself) people successfully mixing labs with some of the more mild mannered Africans, like peacocks and some Tanganyikans...fish that are normally put off by the aggressive antics of mbuna. That said, my personal view would be to keep them with mbuna for the best chance at a successful tank.

[Elariel]

I have a couple yellow labs living with a desmasoni (mind you this is hit and miss as I have another desmasoni who would rather kill a yellow lab as live with one....unfortunatelydescovered via dead lab). I also have a jewel cichlid in that tank, she is an absolutely beautiful fish and the labs leave her alone and visa versa.