Starting Up A New Malawi Set Up!

[theanchorman]

Hi all, i currently have a 2ft tropical tank set up with a pair of kribs who have bred along with some neons, ive had the tank for about 3 years and as ive moved house ive treated myself to a juwel vision 260. ive bought 40kg ocean rock, sand from the previous owner, a tetratec 1200 filter and a 300w heater i was given and a eggcrate, so almost ready to go and i have a few questions i hope some people can help with.

1) should i / can i use some of the filter media out of the filter in my 2ft tank or can i use one of these kits that adds media (tetrasafe i think?)

2) should i use some of my water from a water change from the current set up to help with cycling

3) stocking! i know people must ask this all the time and i have been researching but want to be sure the fish i get are compatible. i was thinking 3/4 species 1m 3/4f?
yellow labs
acei
demansoni (although i think you need 1 or 12? i like the thought of these as the females are similar in colour to the males?) or another cichlid similar (bright blue with stripes?)
3/4 synodontis

in terms of where i get my fish from ive stumbled across northantsmalawis on the internet as they are close to me and seem reasonable in price or if anyone could recommend me a dealer/breeder around northants?

any help/advice would be much appreciated!

thanks!

 

[Squidward]

Hi,

In response to some of your questions:

1) Yes, you can use some of the media from the old filter. Shouldn't be a problem.

2) Water doesn't contain much in the way of bacteria. Depending on what the nitrates in the old tank are, I would probably avoid using old water. Start from fresh with conditioned tap water.

3) Stocking is entirely up to you and a matter of what you prefer.
Demansonii should be kept in bigger groups of at least 10+.

A ratio of 1 m to 2/3 f is a good idea. But will be tricky to maintain as fish die/are born.

Try and avoid similar looking fish of different species. This will reduce aggeression.

Have a look around on the Net and your LFS and see what you fancy. There are a huge number of species available at the moment.

Hope this has been of help.
Squidward