Malawis, Good Fish Or Bad Fish

[LJEV]

Hi all
I'm having a 500 litter tank fitted into my kitchen wall and really like the look of malawis ( the colour variations are stunning. Are they an easy fish to keep and what other fish can be had with them as my lfs classes them as "nasty" fish and to be stocked with their own kind ?
Also if anyone would recommend a better way to stock a 500 litter I'd love the input ( I know this gets asked a lot ) I want the tank to be really colourful.
Thanks

 

[Timmy_Bee]

i havent kept Malawi's so im no expert, but i have always wanted to.

They really should be kept in a species tank, apart from maybe some pleco's.

I would stick with the Malawi idea. I think they look great, and i love Malawi tanks with loads of rock (their natural habitat)

 

[KittyKat]

Same as anything else, some are very easy, some are quite difficult.

Yes, they can only be kept in biotope tanks. Yes, they are mean, bad #16##### fish, but they're also more able to put up with the attitude than community fish. You should keep Malawis only with other African Rift Lake fish, but not even all of those are suitable. They are also compatible with plecos. If you go for Malawi, I would recommend keeping only Malawi and one or more plecos.

I keep the, and they are great fish. I also keep planted tanks and marine tanks, those are very different, but also great.

So, if you want an alternative suggestion.. how about a themed Geophagus set-up?

 

[rdp50734]

I have read they are very aggressive hence the reason why people overstock their tanks to spread out aggression. The tanks are predominately rockwork as to create retreats for weaker fish. I think they are very nice looking and I am planning to set up a mbuna tank soon. I believe they are as hard to keep as most fish so with a bit of experience should be easy enough! Like said above people do keep some catfish and plecs with theirs!

 

[Squidward]

I have read they are very aggressive hence the reason why people overstock their tanks to spread out aggression. The tanks are predominately rockwork as to create retreats for weaker fish. I think they are very nice looking and I am planning to set up a mbuna tank soon. I believe they are as hard to keep as most fish so with a bit of experience should be easy enough! Like said above people do keep some catfish and plecs with theirs!

Hi,

Malawi setups are fantastic to look at. Mine was really nice.
But the constant aggression was just so annoying. So I eventually packed it in. There were fish that I had for 2 years, since I set it up that I never saw. They would come out at feeding time. Gulp down some flake, and then flee back to their hidey hole.
Also, bear in mind that once stocked up, it is very difficult to add anything new afterwards.

But I wouldn't say they are hard to keep. In fact, pretty easy.

 

[LJEV]

That's very helpful as when they said they were nasty to other fish and to keep them with other malawis I never thought they would attack each other. You just see them in the shop all together getting on great. I think I'll still give it a go but its just a big tank to get wrong.
I'll do some good research on setting up a good habitat for them. The lfs has some at the minute, some electric blues and some yellow ones that simply couldn't be more yellow (so vivid) which would look fantastic together.

I have read they are very aggressive hence the reason why people overstock their tanks to spread out aggression. The tanks are predominately rockwork as to create retreats for weaker fish. I think they are very nice looking and I am planning to set up a mbuna tank soon. I believe they are as hard to keep as most fish so with a bit of experience should be easy enough! Like said above people do keep some catfish and plecs with theirs!

Hi,

Malawi setups are fantastic to look at. Mine was really nice.
But the constant aggression was just so annoying. So I eventually packed it in. There were fish that I had for 2 years, since I set it up that I never saw. They would come out at feeding time. Gulp down some flake, and then flee back to their hidey hole.
Also, bear in mind that once stocked up, it is very difficult to add anything new afterwards.

But I wouldn't say they are hard to keep. In fact, pretty easy.

I don't suppose you have any old pics of your Malawi tank do you ?

 

[Squidward]

That's very helpful as when they said they were nasty to other fish and to keep them with other malawis I never thought they would attack each other. You just see them in the shop all together getting on great. I think I'll still give it a go but its just a big tank to get wrong.
I'll do some good research on setting up a good habitat for them. The lfs has some at the minute, some electric blues and some yellow ones that simply couldn't be more yellow (so vivid) which would look fantastic together.

I have read they are very aggressive hence the reason why people overstock their tanks to spread out aggression. The tanks are predominately rockwork as to create retreats for weaker fish. I think they are very nice looking and I am planning to set up a mbuna tank soon. I believe they are as hard to keep as most fish so with a bit of experience should be easy enough! Like said above people do keep some catfish and plecs with theirs!

Hi,

Malawi setups are fantastic to look at. Mine was really nice.
But the constant aggression was just so annoying. So I eventually packed it in. There were fish that I had for 2 years, since I set it up that I never saw. They would come out at feeding time. Gulp down some flake, and then flee back to their hidey hole.
Also, bear in mind that once stocked up, it is very difficult to add anything new afterwards.

But I wouldn't say they are hard to keep. In fact, pretty easy.

I don't suppose you have any old pics of your Malawi tank do you ?

Hi,
Can't remember if I had any photos of my old set up. Will check later at home.

Two main reasons why Malawis look quite calm at the LFS are:
They are usually juveniles. And also, the tanks are bare, no rocks, so there are no territory issues.