CanadianCray wrote:
Those fish shouldn't be mixed together!!!!!!!!!! TOTALLY different water
requirements!!!! Aswell as diet.

"Larry" wrote in message

I have a 26g now with two keyholes, a golden ram, a few serpae tetras,
rasboras and one yellow. I had two but one died a few weeks ago.
Most are juveniles. I'd like to get another lab for a "buddy".

First of all do I need another one(not interested in breeding), or
will this one be happy with it's tank companions. Was pretty shy, but
is now joining in with the others.

I think I have a female. If I did get a male will it upset the
"ambiance" of my tank?

TIA


Such a helpful post from Cray. And even top-posted to break my
newsreader. True, yellow labs prefer hard water, and the rest of the
fish soft. But you're wrong about foods. Yellow labs are insectivorous
open-water fish so will be fine on the same diet as rams and keyholes.
And why holler uselessly about an established tank?

Larry,
First, you might see if you can figure why your yellow lab died. You
may have soft or acidic water which great for all your fish except the
yellow lab. If your water is at or below pH 7, I wouldn't add another lab.

You can try adding a male to your tank. It shouldn't be a problem while
the fish are small, However, expect some chaos if the labs decide to
breed despite your intents. They're mouthbrooders so they don't wreak
quite as much havoc as other mbuna but they do get aggressive nonetheless.

Cichlids don't generally need a "buddy" though. They are quite happy as
the king or queen of their own tiny little world. And you don't have to
worry about a lone lab pairing up and breeding.

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