Malawi Tank

[Miss Wiggle]

went to see a tank one of my workmates wants rid of last night, were going to be just taking a few fish off her hands..... surprise surprise were taking the whole tank, equipment, fish etc etc couldn't have seen that one coming

Anyway our favourite option for it is to turn it into a malawi tank..... had a read of the v helpful post at the top, got a few more questions though, any help gratefully received!

The tanks aprox 120l, but 4 foot long...... so I think it's big enough, got an external Eheim filter with a built in heater (not sure what model, will do some research when I get it!).

So what I've gathered we need to do so far is, put loads of rocks in, build it up high so they use the top of the tank too, sand as a substrate (make sure the rocks go straight onto the glass then the sand so they don't dig them up and get squished). The filters already mature so once we've redistributed the current fish we'll get it decorated and some fish straight in.

The malawi's at my lfs are £28 ish each, and ranging in all different colours, patterns, sizes etc is that a reasonable prices or should we shop around.... any suggestions of places in yorkshire that's good for them would be good too. They're all just sold as 'assorted malawi's' so I've no idea what any of them are, any species to look out for as good/bad starter fish....... cos at the moment I'm just going for the ones I think are prettiest which probably isn't the best way to do it!!

As for stocking, so your meant to overstock slightly, any idea how many fish we should be aiming for in this tank, or how many fish inces? Also if your overstocking do you need to overfilter as well to make up for it?

Erm, thats all I can think of for now, any helpful hints would be good!

Thanks

 

[CAC]

one of my LFS's has "assorted Malawis" lol. they are not named either, but £28 each is a rip off because you dont even get their names. my LFS sell assorted for £4.20 which is cheap but you dont get the names, £28 sounds a little dear...

 

[Zebbydog1]

£28??? that is a right rip off.I see you are from Leeds.Where in Leeds did you see these prices?I was in Tingley Tropicals in Leeds last week and they are selling named fish at an average of about £6 each

 

[Miss Wiggle]

aye it's not the cheapest shop for anything, but the fish are all healthy and the staff are good so normally I don't mind spending a quid or two extra to have that peace of mind...... but I'm not gonna pay £20 over the odds for each fish!!!

£28??? that is a right rip off.I see you are from Leeds.Where in Leeds did you see these prices?I was in Tingley Tropicals in Leeds last week and they are selling named fish at an average of about £6 each

thats an tong garden centre, I'll get myself down to Tingley Tropicals then, do you know the address?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

£28??? that is a right rip off.I see you are from Leeds.Where in Leeds did you see these prices?I was in Tingley Tropicals in Leeds last week and they are selling named fish at an average of about £6 each

cheers for the tip, just went down and I'm v impressed, never knew about that shop before. definately be stocking from there

 

[SamUK]

ooo ooo wheres this? lol

not far away myself.


have you been to the massive aquatic shop near kirkstall/armley? cant remember the name...

most stock ive seen anywhere so far and its kewl jus to go look cos they have arrowanas and BGK.



is this Tingleys?


Tingley Fish Bar
Bridge St, Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS27 0EN

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ooo ooo wheres this? lol

not far away myself.


have you been to the massive aquatic shop near kirkstall/armley? cant remember the name...

most stock ive seen anywhere so far and its kewl jus to go look cos they have arrowanas and BGK.



is this Tingleys?


Tingley Fish Bar
Bridge St, Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS27 0EN

ha ha no love that's a fish n chip shop!!!

it's on the bradford rd (a650)

please dear lord tell me your not on about the living death in armley........... I live just down the rd, it's the most atrocious shop I've ever been in, saw a full tank of dead fish in there the other week and thats just the start of it

best places I've found round Leeds are Paws for Thought on York Rd in Leeds, QSS on Wakefield rd in Bradford and now this Tingley Tropical.... although I'll reserve judgement until I've bought something from there but it looks v good on first impressions

 

[SamUK]

really?

ive only been once and it was ok then. only a couple of dead fish but there was a guy down there working at the time and he could of jus sorted it.


i kno they were done ages ago for being crap but i thought they would sort it out after that. thats why i went to have a look.

shame.

Stephen H Smiths in Otley is good. No dead fish and a good selection. Ive been there more than once too lol.

didnt realise paws for thought would be good. thought it was a pets@home type place.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nooooooooo living death is simply awful, they know nothing about fish and frankly don't care. NEVER EVER EVER shop there again.

nope staff in paws for thought are v knowledgeable and helpful, rarely any dead fish and if there are they don't stay for long. We went in there literally as they were opening the other week and spotted a couple, the bloke working also did, scooped them out and we saw him doing water tests straight away. Can't ask for more really, any shop is going to have some casualties, so long as they deal with it appropriately you can't complain. Pretty good selection too, not amazing, but decent

I'll try that place in Otley, what road's it on?

 

[SamUK]

i wont dont worry. hate shops like that.


the addy for the place in otley is


Waterworld
Pool Rd, Otley, West Yorkshire LS21 1DY
Tel: 01943 850200

its a garden center called stephen h smiths and waterworld is at the back of it.

they have alot of meds and equipment too.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

cool ta, will check them out

were after a decent price on a new filter so might go down n have a look tomorrow

 

[Nick Sw]

Tingley Tropicals is the best I`ve come across as well, I`m sure they are well recommended.

Living World / Dying World / Living Death has to have the worst Reputation around although I`ve heard it`s new owners since and is now called Pet and Garden or something, I`m sure they were once on Watchdog or similar program they also had a live crocodile in the aquatics section ! Maybe they are worth another go?

Stephen Smiths / Waterworld is nice and the staff are helpful only a limited number of Cichlids but they do look good and healthy. Paws for Thought the same.

Tong Garden Centre is decent but expensice and limited for Cichlids but worth a visit maybe.

There is a guy in Dewsbury that advertisers on the Aquarists Classified web site that is meant to be really good as well.

Tingleys Fish Bar that made me laugh !

 

[SamUK]

well i did wonder about the Bar word lol.


only one on yell.com tho.

 

[Nick Sw]

I`d just like to add to my comments above , I haven`t actually bought my tank or fish yet ! I`m running away with my self giving advice on local fish shops !
I think it`s all correct anyway but my opinion is that of a newbie and what I have heard/read elsewhere.

Thanks Nick

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Living World / Dying World / Living Death has to have the worst Reputation around although I`ve heard it`s new owners since and is now called Pet and Garden or something, I`m sure they were once on Watchdog or similar program they also had a live crocodile in the aquatics section ! Maybe they are worth another go?

aye they got new owners and were supposed to have sorted it all out...... all rubbish though, went in just the other week and it's as bad as ever....... don't think they have the crocodile any more tho