Buying Malawies

[oscar crazy]

Hi guys ive been into fish keeping for around 6 years now had a lot of fish but now i am getting malawi cichlids.

3 weeks ago i bought a jewel rio 180 for the cichlids and am gtin some on saturday

do you have any tips of the trade which would be useful to be about malawies?

 

[Nick Sw]

Research the fish you are buying and get a picture in your head of what a good specimen should look like.

Don`t feel like you have to buy the fish just because you have an empty tank or are at the LFS.

 

[Ferris]

As above - the best advice is to not impulse buy any African cichlids. See what your local fish shop stocks and go straight home and research the fish you've seen to make sure they're compatible with each other. Try and get the full latin/scientific names as there are way too many different common names used that identifying can prove near impossible without the correct species name.

There are probably as many bad combinations as good ones so research is the key. Post your preferences here for some good advice and tips.

 

[denis coghlan]

A quick tip, unless you have a good eye for individual species and you can pick a fish out of a crowd. I would stay away from the tank in the LFS that says "MIXED MALAWIES". They may be a third of the price as the other fish, but it would do my head-in to have a tank full unidentified fish.

I completely agree with nick and ferris. In fact I would go a step further and don't just get a good idea of it in your head. But actually print out profile pictures of the fish you want and bring them to the LFS. I did this when I stocked my tank originally and it helped both me and the guy at the LFS.

tanks

 

[oscar crazy]

Thanks a lot guys some great advice there which i will take in.

but some people make out malawies are quite hard to care for or is this just a myth?

 

[denis coghlan]

I'm going to say "myth".

I have found malawies relatively easy to keep, its just a matter of getting the stocking correct. If you ask questions, research and carry out good aquatic "husbandry" you should never have a problem that you cant deal with.

 

[Squid]

Hi guys ive been into fish keeping for around 6 years now had a lot of fish but now i am getting malawi cichlids.

3 weeks ago i bought a jewel rio 180 for the cichlids and am gtin some on saturday

do you have any tips of the trade which would be useful to be about malawies?

I'm new to this too, but I was advised that you may need additional filtration to that provided by the standard Juwel internal filter that comes with the tank. To control aggression the tanks are often fairly stocked. To control the stocking requires good filtration. I have removed the Juwel filter, and I have an eheim filter instead.

but..

as i said, i am new to this, and so I would wait for one of the more experience people to respond my comments.

Cheers and good luck,
Squid..

 

[Ferris]

They are not hard to care for in gerneral health terms, most are in fact very hardy fish. The problems are simply aggression and compatibility, which are relatively easy to cope with given the proper research.

 

[oscar crazy]

ok cheers squid and ferris yeh i wasnt to keen on the jewel filter but i like the idea of it being heated as it comes out of the filter.

p.s. i love the panda picture squid lol

 

[KingKenny]

Also take into account that 'Malawi's' is a very general term. There are different groups of fish in this lake which have different dietary requirements and also require vastly different aquascaping of the tank.

For instance there are the rock dwelling Mbuna usually found around Malawi's shore, and then there are the Haps that inhabit the open water and so need a tank with greater swimming room. There are also the Peacocks.

The best advice I can give you is not to mix these different groups, but more importantly never impulse buy an Afircan Cichlid. Before you buy make sure you are aware of it's temperament and it's eventual size.

Although this may be harsh on some Local Fish Stores, I wouldn't trust their advise on what to stock. The internet is an invaluable tool of research. You won't get away with the wrong choices on the back of bad advise with these fish.