Can This Work

[kflaggs1]

can i put live plants in with my malawie cichlids or will it be a waste of money

 

[fozziebear]

malawi cichlids will probably eat any plants you put in there, they like to munch on anything green, you could try java fern, anubias and java moss, but they might well eat them too.

 

[Lateral Line]

Java Fern would be a good start. There are plants growing in Lake Malawi, although I've not seen those species commonly offered in lfs.

 

[denis coghlan]

As already mentioned, lake malawi cichlid do have a fondness for the old green stuff but I've seen tank with plants growing quite happily with them. Whatever about the plant being defoliated through browsing, in my opinion the most difficult part would be trying to keep the plants anchored. Therefore I would only recommend plants that have a rhizome (java fern, anubis etc..) and can literally be tied down to prevent them being continually moved and dug up. After anchorage, I would consider toughness to be the second most important factor and hence, java ferns and anubis are still great options.

The other great thing about having plants in a heavily stocked african tank is that they will help remove a lot of the excess phosphates and respired Co2 that heavily stocked tanks bring about. The only thing you might have have to add is trace elements in the form or a standard plant tonic to help keep iron levels up etc...