40 Gallon Malawi Tank

[katatoniq]

i just did a 50% water change.

all the nyererei are chasing each other, and i was given "2 males and 4 females" but im scared i have more males as there's evidence of red on four of them, and all seem to have a BIT of aggression each.

so i have a few questions. do the females all have NO colour?

also my two most aggressive, very coloured males chase each other for ages, then sit head to tail on the sand, slowly spinning around. it looks like they are having sex. what's the go there? are they gay or something?

 

[katatoniq]

here's a video of the weird action

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=bodHqxFQJH8

 

[katatoniq]

i added a 100g bag of purigen at 9pm and the next morning at 6am when i got up the water was CRYSTAL clear. I highly recommend this product!

I swapped out my p. nyererei for some ps. saulosi. they look great! I have 9 at the moment, waiting to see how the m:f ratio turns out, then i'll get a couple more. maybe ~12 (2 males)

Does anyone want any p. nyererei in australia ?

 

[kj23502]

I'd like pics of the new fishies

 

[katatoniq]

Photos coming when the tank clears up! (having some real issues keeping the water clear!

Can you recommend another breeding colony to go with the 9 ps saulosi and 3 cuckoos?

Cheers!

 

[katatoniq]

^before i took out the p. nyererei. this was the most developed guy

^one of the little girls (i hope) eating some peas!

^shot from the front

^weeeeeeeeee

^angle shot

^they sure aren't camera shy...

^at all

^... more of the same

^ and again

^ my most developed male. you can see some blue stripes starting to form if you look real closely.

 

[aaronnorth]

lovely tank, looks ,much larger than 40g. Mine looks tiny (and it is the same size!)

 

[katatoniq]

well thank you very much! (however i think it's probably due to the fact that my biggest fish is 4cm!)

 

[katatoniq]

http/www.ratemyfishtank.com/friendemail.php/21710 please vote

 

[SharonCC]

I wouldn't feed Mbuna bloodworm...it gives them "bloat"...

 

[Rick A]

Your tank looks great now. However, stick with what you've got and DON'T be tempted to add more. The reasons for this are:

1. You have a good chance of breeding the fish successfully - avoiding hybridisation and aggression problems with other Malawis.
2. They will grow, and once mature, you won't have space for anything else - lack of room and hefty bioload.

If you want to expand your 'empire' later, you will have to get a bigger tank. Then you're really 'hooked'!

Keep an eye on your PH levels, as the bog wood not only discolours the water but also has a tendancy to lower the PH - if this becomes a problem then remove it. You could try a bit of Baking Soda and Epsom Salts in your water changes to stabalise things, but I would recomend reading these first:

http/mchportal.com/fishkeeping-mainmenu-...-chemistry.html

http/www.mchportal.com/fishkeeping-mainm...-chemistry.html

I wonder how long the plants will last...

 

[katatoniq]

thanks rick thats some of the most valuable information i've heard in a while.

i already want to get a 6x2x2 but there's just no room unless i go garage, which is outdoors and here in melbourne it gets down to about 2degC in winter and up to 43degC in summer so i don't think it's viable at all.

i'll stick with what i have. you're right. does anyone have any idea what the max amount of saulosi's i could squeeze in there with the filtration i have? i want to grow the fry up in that tank so i'm not too sure if it'll work.

as for the driftwood, i have stuck a bag of purigen in there which took the tanin straight out within about 12 hours and is crystal clear since. the pH hasn't changed at all from 8.0 but I am keeping an eye on it because of the bogwood.

cheers!

 

[Ace Of Spades]

Some of your fish look like they are bad quality, but I love your synodontis petricola, they are the sexiest fish on the market , whole set up has improved greatly. Nice job mate

 

[katatoniq]

AOS: they're actually synodontis multis

which fish look bad quality. i have no ability to judge quality and i had a feeling that they might not come from the best breeder because my LFS is a bit dodgy.

please let me know so i can take them back or something.

i feel sick inside now knowing that they might be poor quality/hybrids or something

 

[katatoniq]

wooooooooooo!