# Seriously????



## PBrods (Dec 10, 2011)

I find it really strange that EVERYONE says that you should have 3 or so FEMALES to each MALE....BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOBODY knows how to identify a male OR female... I had 6 yellow labs...one was killed...then another was killed and now I'm down to four. The four left are always going at each other. I think that they are all male but again...NO way of telling!!! I'd trade three in and buy three females but nobody knows the difference so I'll probably let them kill themselves off and then just buy different fish


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Males will have a dark black stipe on top fin, some females have lighter stripes and some don't have one at all


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## PBrods (Dec 10, 2011)

susankat said:


> Males will have a dark black stipe on top fin, some females have lighter stripes and some don't have one at all


The thing is, is that they can BOTH have the stripe so it doesn't give a definative answer


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

taken from aquahobby

I have 2 male and 2 female the sexes are fairly easy to tell apart. Males have the black on their dorsal, pelvic and abdominal ventral fins. Also I have noticed that the males have a horizontal black marking on their eyes were as the females usually do not. Females are also with out black on the pelvic and abdomen ventrals. Although some might have a light charcoal marking on the pelvic and abdomen ventrals. These markings are beautiful and very striking. Yellow Labs are a harty fish and are easy to care for. They can and do breed easily in the right tank environment. Ideally there should be one male to two or more females. This way the male will be able to divide his attention and not terrorize or pick on one lone female. Dropping the water level by doing a water change and temperature changes can bring on a spawning drive.



Sexing


Both male and female of this genus exhibit bright coloration unlike many other cichlid species. One way to tell if your fish is male or female is to look at the pectoral and anal fins. Are the pectoral fins black? Does your Electric Yellow have a black stripe running the length of its anal fin? If the answers to both of these questions are yes, it is a male specimen. Once you have figured out the difference between the sexes be sure to keep just one male for every 3 to 4 females. One male needs choices for breeding because he may be ready to spawn before the female is. Without an alternative female for distraction he may become violent toward her and cause harm.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Yellow labs are one of the gentlest Malawis - so I don't keep Malawis no matter how pretty they are. If you have multiple males, the fish will solve that. They will simply murder their way to a perfect ratio. It can be a little hard to take.

Susankat's posting is brilliant, and is the kind of thing we should all read BEFORE we get the fish - however, before we get the fish we usually don't realize how serious the behavioral issues are....


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