Dieses Madchen 55G Tank Journal

[Malawi MaD]

Nicee just remember though, more filtration

I over filter as it is. The filter I bought for the 55g filters tanks up to 90g, and I have a smaller filter for a 40g that I can add on as well The heater also heats up to 90 gallons, but I have extra heaters as well

Bet your excited for the new tank though, just think more fish

I can increase the size of the groups of the fish we chose

Yep and most probably have an extra species

I am think:
6 x Pseudotropheus demasoni
10 x Pseudotropheus saulosi
6 x Pseudotropheus flavus
5 x Pseudotropheus socolofi

Do you think this stocking will work? Or should I choose a different species? I know your are the one to ask when it comes to Malawis

They should be fine. The demasoni are really the only problem as they are the more aggressive species and can cause trouble in your set-up if their not kept in the right number's and ratio's. Its either keep 1 by its self, a larger group consisting of 15 to 20 or do a species only tank. They could be ok keeping a group of 6 but the saulosi males look similar to demasoni's and could be very aggressive to the less aggressive saulosi. They will be the only problem in that list of species. So if you would want to change them for something else id recommend it(but its entirely upto you ) At least your not loosing out as the male saulosi's look similar so your still going to have that nice black and blue barring colouration. So the list is more or less perfect its just the demasoni, they could work but i know they can be a nightmare.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Nicee just remember though, more filtration

I over filter as it is. The filter I bought for the 55g filters tanks up to 90g, and I have a smaller filter for a 40g that I can add on as well The heater also heats up to 90 gallons, but I have extra heaters as well

Bet your excited for the new tank though, just think more fish

I can increase the size of the groups of the fish we chose

Yep and most probably have an extra species

I am think:
6 x Pseudotropheus demasoni
10 x Pseudotropheus saulosi
6 x Pseudotropheus flavus
5 x Pseudotropheus socolofi

Do you think this stocking will work? Or should I choose a different species? I know your are the one to ask when it comes to Malawis

They should be fine. The demasoni are really the only problem as they are the more aggressive species and can cause trouble in your set-up if their not kept in the right number's and ratio's. Its either keep 1 by its self, a larger group consisting of 15 to 20 or do a species only tank. They could be ok keeping a group of 6 but the saulosi males look similar to demasoni's and could be very aggressive to the less aggressive saulosi. They will be the only problem in that list of species. So if you would want to change them for something else id recommend it(but its entirely upto you ) At least your not loosing out as the male saulosi's look similar so your still going to have that nice black and blue barring colouration. So the list is more or less perfect its just the demasoni, they could work but i know they can be a nightmare.

I would be more than happy to replace them with a less aggressive fish. What are some species that would go good with the other fish on the list? I may do a species tank of the demasoni's when I set of the 55 gallon that is now extra

 

[Malawi MaD]

Nicee just remember though, more filtration

I over filter as it is. The filter I bought for the 55g filters tanks up to 90g, and I have a smaller filter for a 40g that I can add on as well The heater also heats up to 90 gallons, but I have extra heaters as well

Bet your excited for the new tank though, just think more fish

I can increase the size of the groups of the fish we chose

Yep and most probably have an extra species

I am think:
6 x Pseudotropheus demasoni
10 x Pseudotropheus saulosi
6 x Pseudotropheus flavus
5 x Pseudotropheus socolofi

Do you think this stocking will work? Or should I choose a different species? I know your are the one to ask when it comes to Malawis

They should be fine. The demasoni are really the only problem as they are the more aggressive species and can cause trouble in your set-up if their not kept in the right number's and ratio's. Its either keep 1 by its self, a larger group consisting of 15 to 20 or do a species only tank. They could be ok keeping a group of 6 but the saulosi males look similar to demasoni's and could be very aggressive to the less aggressive saulosi. They will be the only problem in that list of species. So if you would want to change them for something else id recommend it(but its entirely upto you ) At least your not loosing out as the male saulosi's look similar so your still going to have that nice black and blue barring colouration. So the list is more or less perfect its just the demasoni, they could work but i know they can be a nightmare.

I would be more than happy to replace them with a less aggressive fish. What are some species that would go good with the other fish on the list? I may do a species tank of the demasoni's when I set of the 55 gallon that is now extra

There you go then the 55G for demasoni will be excellent Once you start keeping malawi's id be very surprised if you don't have another tank as they do become very addictive fish especially there character/nature. There is some really nice species that would go well just depends if you can get hold of them Here is a few:

Pseudotropheus minutus Lupingu
cynotilapia afra cobue
cynotilapia afra jalo reef
metriaclima estherae
labidochromis caeruleus
labidochromis mbamba
labidochromis hongi
metriaclima greshakei

There is a big list really , all depends if you can get hold of the fish, if you can get hold of the Tropheops species these are my favourite look awesome

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Nicee just remember though, more filtration

I over filter as it is. The filter I bought for the 55g filters tanks up to 90g, and I have a smaller filter for a 40g that I can add on as well The heater also heats up to 90 gallons, but I have extra heaters as well

Bet your excited for the new tank though, just think more fish

I can increase the size of the groups of the fish we chose

Yep and most probably have an extra species

I am think:
6 x Pseudotropheus demasoni
10 x Pseudotropheus saulosi
6 x Pseudotropheus flavus
5 x Pseudotropheus socolofi

Do you think this stocking will work? Or should I choose a different species? I know your are the one to ask when it comes to Malawis

They should be fine. The demasoni are really the only problem as they are the more aggressive species and can cause trouble in your set-up if their not kept in the right number's and ratio's. Its either keep 1 by its self, a larger group consisting of 15 to 20 or do a species only tank. They could be ok keeping a group of 6 but the saulosi males look similar to demasoni's and could be very aggressive to the less aggressive saulosi. They will be the only problem in that list of species. So if you would want to change them for something else id recommend it(but its entirely upto you ) At least your not loosing out as the male saulosi's look similar so your still going to have that nice black and blue barring colouration. So the list is more or less perfect its just the demasoni, they could work but i know they can be a nightmare.

I would be more than happy to replace them with a less aggressive fish. What are some species that would go good with the other fish on the list? I may do a species tank of the demasoni's when I set of the 55 gallon that is now extra

There you go then the 55G for demasoni will be excellent Once you start keeping malawi's id be very surprised if you don't have another tank as they do become very addictive fish especially there character/nature. There is some really nice species that would go well just depends if you can get hold of them Here is a few:

Pseudotropheus minutus Lupingu
cynotilapia afra cobue
cynotilapia afra jalo reef
metriaclima estherae
labidochromis caeruleus
labidochromis mbamba
labidochromis hongi
metriaclima greshakei

There is a big list really , all depends if you can get hold of the fish, if you can get hold of the Tropheops species these are my favourite look awesome

There is a LFS near my house that is locally owned and run by EXTREME fish hobbyists.....they have about 50-60 different types of cichlids

 

[Malawi MaD]

That's good at least you will be able to have a good look and choose the right ones

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Oh yes. They have a wonderful assortment. They have a beautiful green terror(i know its not a malawi) that I will have.....one of these days lol

 

[Malawi MaD]

Oh yes. They have a wonderful assortment. They have a beautiful green terror(i know its not a malawi) that I will have.....one of these days lol

Yeah me to id like to have green terror's firemouth's severum's etc. never kept anything like that so i think ill have to do it one day.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

They are very striking fish

I am slowly but surely getting past the beginner fish lol. I love my livebearers, but its going to be nice to do something different.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

So I know I haven't added to this in a little while, but I finally got some time to get some of the hard work done. Things i learned today: Cleaning sand sucks I took some pictures of what I was working on today. I am pleased so far, but I know now that I do not have enough rocks. Guess I am going back to the cliffs at some point to get more. Here is what I have so far......I am getting so EXCITED!!!!

Sorry for the poor quality on some of them, my camera is not the greatest

 

[karawr]

I've used that exact brand of play sand for all my tanks.

Looking good! And yay for the 75g upgrade.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I've used that exact brand of play sand for all my tanks.

Looking good! And yay for the 75g upgrade.

I was lucky enough to get the sand for free . Buying substrate for a large tank can get rather pricey, so heck yeah I am using the free stuff! I also like the fact that it is relatively smooth, as some cichlids enjoy a good dig. I also plan on using it when I set up my next tank. I think the mass shoal of cories I plan on having will enjoy it, even more than the smooth gravel they have now.

 

[cynic]

Things i learned today: Cleaning sand sucks

I know your pain took me 3 hours till i was happy with mine, mind you its worth it to have sparkle clean water when the fish start routing round in it.

Total cost of sand, a fiver

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Things i learned today: Cleaning sand sucks

I know your pain took me 3 hours till i was happy with mine, mind you its worth it to have sparkle clean water when the fish start routing round in it.

Total cost of sand, a fiver

Shoot, they want almost 10 buck for a 10lb bag around here! 50lbs would have cost me 50 bucks! It took me about an hour and a half to clean it all, as I only used one bag. After I fill it up, I think there may still be some cleaning to the sand, but it wont foam, and a couple of water changes will finish the job.

 

[cynic]

Nah, rats to that. Get all the cleaning done outside the tank then if there are any problems its easy sorted. The thought of killing £100 worth of external filter due to sand

I cleaned my sand to the point i can drop a handfull into the tank and it doesent cloud the water just drops straight through to the bottom. Like i said took 3 hours to clean around 60lb of sand untill i was happy with it.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Nah, rats to that. Get all the cleaning done outside the tank then if there are any problems its easy sorted. The thought of killing £100 worth of external filter due to sand

I cleaned my sand to the point i can drop a handfull into the tank and it doesent cloud the water just drops straight through to the bottom. Like i said took 3 hours to clean around 60lb of sand untill i was happy with it.

Like i said, there may be. I cleaned until the point where it was a very light brown....it was a little difficult and I was working in a very small basement trying not to get sand and water everywhere lol. My aparment complex doesnt have waterpouts on the outside of the building I am sure I looked quite funny sitting in my basement with a 5g bucket, stirring it like a witch stirring brew, dumping water down a 3 inch drain lol. I still have a ways to do until I get my tank ready to cycle. I am not turning on my filter until I am 100% happy with EVERYTHIGN