Malawi

[Mystil]

Hello guys
Well I have bought a new tank (A rio 180 litre) and I am thinking of going malawi with it (havent really decided 100% yet).

Problem is I have NO experience what so ever with this type of set up. When I bought the tank the person I bought it off of had Malawis and they were lovely and really active and I want to ideally try something different.

Can you give me some pointers?

I have one 200 watt heater running in the tank.
A Eheim 2217 (already running and mature). Will i need another filter?

What type of substrate/Rocks? I have at the moment put in argos sand.

Whats the Ph needed? My water runs at 7.4. What temp do they need?

How easy are the fish/tank to maintain?

Could I put my bristlenose in with them? or is that a no no?

ANY HELP/GUIDANCE is appreciated.

Thanks
Liza

 

[Pleccy]

Hi,

I would stick with the more peaceful species, such as Labidochromis, Pseudotropheus and Iodotropheus. Avoid Melanochromis, Labeotropheus, Astatotilapia and certain Metriaclima species. Your tank should be able to hold around 20 fish.

Rift valley cichlids need a high pH level of around 8.0, this can be achieved by using a buffer, either in a powder or liquid form, or you could mix some coral sand with some standard silica or play sand, at a ratio of about 40:60.

The filtration sounds fine. As for decor this is down to personal taste but remember that these fish need rocks, so I would choose some large cobbles or slate, both of these are inert (in other words they won't alter the pH). Don't use lava rock as this is quite abrasive and could damage the fishes mouths as they pick algae of the rocks.

Since you have to overstock the tank to disperse the fishes aggression plenty of water changes are needed, I would carry out a 50% water change every week.

For feeding I would go with a malawi mix, I make my own, which contains a mixture of prawns, spinach, spirulina, gelatin powder and peas, this will need to be frozen and when it comes to feeding just break off a cube and allow it to defrost. If you feed dry food make sure the protein level doesn't exceed 40% (this will be displayed on the nutritional information on the packaging) and limit the feeds to 2-3 times a week. Don't feed too much dry food or bloodworm, as these are known to cause bloat.

Many hobbyists keep bristlenoses with malawi cichlids, however I wouldn't recommend it as they have different water quality requirements and the cichlids are quite aggressive. I would never make any compromises when keeping fish.

So long as you keep the water quality good and feed them on a good diet they are quite easy to keep. For further reading I would recommend Ad Koning's book, Back to nature guide to Malawi cichlids, 2nd edition.

 

[Mystil]

Thanks Pleccy.
The more info I have now the better I can prepare for this.

 

[Mystil]

Rift valley cichlids need a high pH level of around 8.0, this can be achieved by using a buffer, either in a powder or liquid form, or you could mix some coral sand with some standard silica or play sand, at a ratio of about 40:60.

You mean a ration of 40 of coral sand and 60 of play sand?

Thanks

 

[Pleccy]

Rift valley cichlids need a high pH level of around 8.0, this can be achieved by using a buffer, either in a powder or liquid form, or you could mix some coral sand with some standard silica or play sand, at a ratio of about 40:60.

You mean a ration of 40 of coral sand and 60 of play sand?

Thanks

Yes.

 

[Mystil]

Thanks Pleccy

Also what are the most common diseases they get? Are they like any other tropical fish in that respect? I just want to start thinking about buying all the right things to set myself up and if any problems occur.

Have ordered the book you recommended but I think it is an american one so my local library is having to order it in from another county.

Also what about Tufa rock for the tank? Is it any good?

 

[Pleccy]

They can get all the common aquarium diseases, but so long as you look after them they are quite disease resistant. One of the most common problems is bloat, which is caused by feeding too much dry food or bloodworm. You should be able to get the book from Amazon.co.uk or www.aquatics-online.co.uk.

Tufa rock would be suitable but it is rather soft and it shows up all the algae growth.

 

[Mystil]

Do you think the coral sand would do the trick of upping the PH to 8ish without the tufa rock?

How much is the rock normally (cost wise for a Kg) and also how much would I need for a 180 tank in Kg just in case i have to go down that route?

I am trying to avoid using any chemicals as I am sure that I would forget to do it one day and something bad would happen. The less work the better I feel.

 

[Pleccy]

The coral sand should be sufficient to raise the pH and you can adjust the amount depending on the pH of your tapwater. As for rocks it depends on what you want, for example a bag of river cobbles should cost around £10-£15. Try here.

 

[Mystil]

The re-directing did not work. I am uesless with those things as they never do what you want them to do!
I have alot of beach rocks in my garden from when they were moving earth around as someone at one time had a rockery and I think pinched them from the local beach! would this do?

Also 20 fish seems alot to me and other people on this site say that 12 fish for a 180 litre would be okay (from searching past posts). Would 20 be too many or okay?

Thanks for all your help so far pleccy.

Just trying to figure out what fish I will eventually want.

Also would you recommend using egg crates to stop the rocks from cracking the glass at the bottom? and would you think gluing the stones together would be a good idea?

 

[kj23502]

The re-directing did not work. I am uesless with those things as they never do what you want them to do!
I have alot of beach rocks in my garden from when they were moving earth around as someone at one time had a rockery and I think pinched them from the local beach! would this do?

Hey hey Mystil welcome to the African Cichlid World

You could use those rocks provided they aren't contaminated with any chemical that may have been in the ground.

Also 20 fish seems alot to me and other people on this site say that 12 fish for a 180 litre would be okay (from searching past posts). Would 20 be too many or okay?

20 fish. That's over the top, imo!!!
180L=46 usg and for mbuna(if that's what you're doing) I recommend 3.5 gallons per fish at the very most. That gives us 13 fish at the most

That also goes along the moderators guidelines. Although, sometimes my quotes are a pinch higher than what he'd say...I think. From what I've from him anyway. I asked him about squeezing a few extra fish when I set up my 75 gallon and he said it was very easy to taking overstocking to a bad level.

Also would you recommend using egg crates to stop the rocks from cracking the glass at the bottom? and would you think gluing the stones together would be a good idea?

It sounds like most euro tanks don't have tempered glass on the bottom. If the bottom is tempered don't worry about it. If not use egg crate. Just stack the rock stable and you shouldn't have to worry about it falling over. Do the bump test. Place a rock and tap it to see if it wiggles. If so, try another rock or adjust one of the bottom rocks. It takes time, but in the end you're better off. Sometime in the future you'll probably want to rearrange your rocks so I wouldn't glue them together.



Kj

 

[Ferris]

KJ touches on my opinion on Mbuna stocking with the main point being that most people stock their tanks initally based on juvenile or sub-adult size. I have 14 full grown adult Mbuna along with 2 large Synos and a large adult Plec in my current 4 foot 65 gal tank - filtration isn't an issue, even with the Plec, the tank is massively over-filtered - something in the order of 15x tank volume per hour.

However 14 adult Mbuna, regardless of the catfish is a pretty busy full tank and i wouldn't dream of adding more even though i could - whilst overstocking is sensible for Mbuna, it's easy to take it way too far. I see people quoting 20-30 fish in a typical 4 foot tank, which is ridiculous IMO - sure it can be done but can adult fish have room to move and behave naturally - i think not.

A typical Mbuna tank setup usually involves a 55gal tank and the most adults i have ever kept in a 55 gal is 15 and for me that was over-crowded. The main point i am making here is try to imagine what the tank will look like with ADULT fish - it's a whole different world keeping adult Mbuna when compared with juvies and sub-adults - i can't stress that enough.

 

[Mystil]

What do you mean by tempered? Do you mean with metal around the edges?

Also where would I buy egg crates in the UK?

I am thinking of a ratio of 1 male: 3 females. So maybe three or four species.
Trouble is I dont want all the same colours in the tank. I want them to be as different as possible for each species.

I was thinking
The yellow labs
Aceis
Saulosi
Likoma
I got these Ideas from a website quoted on here.

What do you think and what are the ones you would recommend for begginners thay would be readily available?
Also what would you pay for Tufa rock in Uk?

Thanks again.

 

[Pleccy]

Have any of you ever heard of Mary Bailey? She is a cichlid expert that has given me quite a bit of advice on Malawis. Twenty adult Malawi cichlids will be fine in a 180 litre tank, the trick is to carry out regular water changes and provide plenty of filtration. Also this will disperse their aggression. If you have kept Malawi cichlids then 20 fish certainly isn't over the top, and most people recommend stocking their tanks based upon the adult size of the fish.

Also check out this tank, it is just under twice the size of your tank yet it holds at least 50 fish: [URL="http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...k.php?upload=84"]http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...k.php?upload=84[/URL]

 

[Mystil]

What do you mean by tempered? Do you mean with metal around the edges?

Also where would I buy egg crates in the UK?

I am thinking of a ratio of 1 male: 3 females. So maybe three or four species.
Trouble is I dont want all the same colours in the tank. I want them to be as different as possible for each species.

I was thinking
The yellow labs
Aceis
Saulosi
Likoma
I got these Ideas from a website quoted on here.

What do you think and what are the ones you would recommend for begginners thay would be readily available?
Also what would you pay for Tufa rock in Uk?

Thanks again.

Anyone?