Malawi Tank

[minnnt]

How's best to setup a malawi tank? Wanting ocean rock, but should I go with coral sand aswell? Currently have unipac limpopo sand.

Going for a species only tank of P. Salousi.

Tank is 4ft and 260-270 litres. How many can I have?

Thanks.

 

[Malawi MaD]

Good sized tank, 20 to 30 will easily be achievable. Noo you dont want ocean rock go for something like sandstone,granite or limestone looks soo much more natural but you could have the coral sand thats upto you

 

[njstockley]

How's best to setup a malawi tank? Wanting ocean rock, but should I go with coral sand aswell? Currently have unipac limpopo sand.

Going for a species only tank of P. Salousi.

Tank is 4ft and 260-270 litres. How many can I have?

Thanks.

This is a great idea for a setup minnnt...I'm with MM on no ocean rock - I would try and find some nice, natural looking stones that will make the setup look really authentic - I'd also stick with current substrate, as the yellow/orangey females would stick out against the dark, whilst not being too dark that you wouldn't see the males. That said, Rifty sent me a picture of this old peacock/hap tank and that had sand with large slate pieces and that looked great too. But judging by your other setups, it will be a great end product and you wont need much advice on the way!

I'll leave to others to suggest ratio as I've only really recently started looking into Malawis and drifting away from the new world - but it's a step I'm happy to have taken!


Have you thought about filtration? There's a great external called an EX1200 that might be up to the job. Not sure if you'll have noticed them around..! (I hope no-one thinks this last comment is serious - it was you that showed me the light in the first place...TeamTT!)

 

[michaelh]

I hate to be the odd guy but i love ocean rock... I have it from left pane to right pane across the centre of my tank built about half way up. It gives great depth,tonnes of holes and cracks to hide in and looks fantastic. Also helps that PH (not that its too important with all these tank bred's im sure). Be carfull not to use a too light substrate so as not to wash out colours though(im sure you know anyway.). Nice size to work with (mine is a 4'x18"x18"). Tetratec are great filters. Theres a member on here who always raves about them. (LOL). What lighting you thinking of? I use white LED's and blue LED'S. Look great when their on together in the evening.

 

[minnnt]

Lol. Never heard of the tetratec ex1200, will have to look into it.

Funny you say that ocean rock is not a natural look... I always think other rock looks out of place in a malawi setup. Maybe you could post some pics of them to convince me otherwise?

Ph is around 7.5 from the tap.

I'm impressed with the number you think I could stock!

Thanks!

Lighting is 2 30w t8's. May go with 1 white and 1 actinic blue.

 

[michaelh]

Led's use less juice so unless im planting i use them. Definatly try a blue tube in there. My yellow labs look great under it.

 

[minnnt]

Can't be bothered with changing it. Its built in so will just replace them when I find the right tubes etc. I have used led's before though. Very crisp.

 

[trippytrance]

I'm another for not having ocean rock in a malawi tank, think there more nicer looking rocks for your tank.

Get down to your local garden centre and see whats availableand they are cheaper than LFS.

Your current sand will be fine.

 

[Malawi MaD]

I have got some pics of a friend that has had so many Saulosi species only tanks. Ocean rock IMO is just no where near as nice as other stone's available nor as natural. Ratio wise 3 to 6Male will look good and the rest female or (here's a good idea ) you could do a locale species tank consisting of 2 species from Taiwan Reef, so the Saulosi are from this area which is good then find another species you like. These locale species set-ups always look's amazing IMO.

Here's a few pics to tempt you away from the standard ocean rock and coral sand.

 

[minnnt]

Hmmm, interesting. What would you suggest then to go with them? Completely new to this malawi malarky.

The last 2 pics are great, very inspiring indeed.

 

[riogal_11]

I love the natural looking tanks with the matching rocks, but I was very limited as to the kind of rock available in my area. So, I used about 30lb of ocean rock and about 30 lbs of Tufa Rock. The colors don't match (which is my biggest problem with it), but I'm hoping some algea growth will help blend it in.

But, I tend to like ocean rock a lot, but they are right, it isn't as natural for Malawi's.
MalawiMaD - That second to last picture is bad #16#####! (oops, can I say that on here) Seriously, stunning!

 

[minnnt]

Actually, now i'm looking at the pics on the computer i like number 1 the best.

 

[minnnt]

What are peoples thoughts/experiences of Demasoni's?

Very aggressive from what i have read? But worth it?

 

[Malawi MaD]

Any of the above look nice i think (im even been big headed and think my tank looks good ) the 1st pic does look awesome, that's vinny's a friend of mine on a malawi forum hes certainly good with scaping the african tank's. They are all nice in there own way though.
Demasoni's can be a pain yes but not always, They are best kept in a larger group's as you probs know but even then many people still tend to loose the odd one or 2 to aggression. I personally have never tried a larger group i did have 6 Juvis in a rena 350 a couple of years back and they got on ok for the time i had them. Gave them to a friend as they grew to add to his existing large group. I think its a hit or miss kinda thing Minnnt you could be lucky and have a good successful breeding group or you could have a group of thugs (lol) that cause you nothing but problems . Wouldn't keep them with the Saulosi though due to the black and blue similarity.

 

[Malawi MaD]

I love the natural looking tanks with the matching rocks, but I was very limited as to the kind of rock available in my area. So, I used about 30lb of ocean rock and about 30 lbs of Tufa Rock. The colors don't match (which is my biggest problem with it), but I'm hoping some algea growth will help blend it in.

But, I tend to like ocean rock a lot, but they are right, it isn't as natural for Malawi's.
MalawiMaD - That second to last picture is bad #16#####! (oops, can I say that on here) Seriously, stunning!

Like your tank riogal, like you say get the algae growth it will look class
Yeah that's a beautiful tank ill try the pics of the guys other's, they look even better than that.