My Johanni Had Babies!

[jgray152]

In my tank I have one Johanni and about 4 weeks ago I notice her chin was big like my female yellow lab's when she s pregnant. I have about 10+ baby yellow labs in my tank swimming around and about 10more in my 30gallon. yikes. anyways, I don't know who the Johanni mated with. I have a male aratus which is actually doing fine without the female aratus in the tank anymore. Im guessing maybe them 2 mated?

Is it normal for Johannis to mate with other different fish?

 

[WaterBender1995]

hybrids need to be culled.

 

[dthoffsett]

It's not unusual for hybrids to occur when there aren't enough females for a male, as long as you never sell, or rehome the hybrids I see no problems with keeping them in your tank, if you let her spit in the main tank they'll most likely be eaten anyway. If you are interested in breeding for profit/rehoming, I recommend catching and stripping the johanni, and destroy the eggs/fry.

 

[jgray152]

It's not unusual for hybrids to occur when there aren't enough females for a male, as long as you never sell, or rehome the hybrids I see no problems with keeping them in your tank, if you let her spit in the main tank they'll most likely be eaten anyway. If you are interested in breeding for profit/rehoming, I recommend catching and stripping the johanni, and destroy the eggs/fry.

Well the way I have my rocks, the babies usually survive. I suppose as long as I keep the adults fed.

Im not going to try and sell or rehome them. Well, my friends is getting a tank and wants to do Mbunas so maybe I will give them to him if they survive. I have plenty of yellow labs but I don't want inbreading so I may give them to the LFS for some credit

 

[kribensis12]

You can sell them to the lfs as long as you clearly state they are hybrids and who there father was. By the way, CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LuckyCricketMafia]

Cull them

 

[ihasanzongi]

You can sell them to the lfs as long as you clearly state they are hybrids and who there father was. By the way, CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

i think he means that he is going to sell the yellow labs to his lfs not the hybrids.

 

[kribensis12]

I know, i am just saying that you can sell hybrids as long as the lfs and the perspective buyers know that they are hybrids.

 

[jgray152]

I know, i am just saying that you can sell hybrids as long as the lfs and the perspective buyers know that they are hybrids.

Well it looks as though she let the rest of her young out but I have yet to see the rest of them. I only saw one before, that one I can't find any more but there are plenty of places to hide and where I can't see so its possible they are stil alive. I do think they will survive since 3 batches of yellow labs have survived.

We'll see though.

I think the father is the aratus but I will have to wait till and if the grow bigger.

 

[Ferris]

IMO Hybrids should be kept out of the trade completely - there are far too many already, especially Mbuna. Obviously keeping them in your own home is fine and has nothing to do with anyone else. (i have 2 myself)

 

[jgray152]

IMO Hybrids should be kept out of the trade completely

How come some people are against hybrids? If the fish are not born deformed and can eat and funtion correctly, what would be the big deal? Even if they were at the LFS, as long as they are labeled as example (Aratus, Johanni Hybrids) I don't see a real issue. Some may like the looks of them, if the they look different, then again they may have a bad attitude as well.

 

[dthoffsett]

IMO Hybrids should be kept out of the trade completely

How come some people are against hybrids? If the fish are not born deformed and can eat and funtion correctly, what would be the big deal? Even if they were at the LFS, as long as they are labeled as example (Aratus, Johanni Hybrids) I don't see a real issue. Some may like the looks of them, if the they look different, then again they may have a bad attitude as well.

It's hard enough to find quality mbuna as it is, then you add hybrids in and say they breed and eventually badly dilute the bloodlines, and you end up no where near what a wild fish looks or acts like. Not to mention that aggressiveness can very greatly with mbuna and with hybrids in the trade you have no way of knowing if that pretty little fish you bought will become a homicidal maniac and kill everything in your tank. Say you sell your hybrid to your LFS and tell them who the parents are, most likely they'll put it in a mixed african tank, then say the hybrid breed with the other fish in there while waiting for a home (we've all seen holding females in LFS tanks haven't we), then some unsuspecting person comes along and buys up a couple of fish from that mixed tank. Now that person has no way of knowing what fish they actually have, and the LFS has long forgotten which fish had mixed parentage and who those parents were. It's just irresponsible fish husbandry IMHO and should be avoided at all costs.

Now, like I and others have said, as long as you keep the hybrids in your tank and never sell them, there's no problem with them.

 

[Ferris]

as long as they are labeled as example (Aratus, Johanni Hybrids) I don't see a real issue

Thats exactly the problem - they never are. IME hybrids are nearly always mis-sold to unsuspecting aquarists. Have a look through some of the posts on this forum and you'll read many accounts of dissapointed hobbyists, new and experienced alike, who ask for help with an ID, simply to find that they have been sold a hybrid. I have never (and i mean never) seen a LFS honestly labeling Mbuna hybrids - most probably don't even know that they are.

 

[WaterBender1995]

I wouldnt even rehome them to a friend, you cant promise that your friend will keep them out of the market eventually.

Imagine that you breed champion doberman pincers and you're reputation rest on their bloodlines. then some dalmation jumps the fence and gets to your female, she and all of her litters from then on are ruined. you can no longer guarentee her purity.
why would anyone want to buy a doberman/dalmation for show?

Malawi and Tanganyika AND especially Victoria are volitile states and we're damn lucky we even get the w/c we get now. what if all borders close, they shut down every opperation and we no longer have w/c? are you telling me that you're OK with a muddy bloodline of crappy hybrids in lfs

I for one am not and there are thousands of hobbiest that feel the same. WORLD WIDE