So, this is my first Malawi setup, I've previously had community and cold water tanks. I have some questions relating to lighing and looking for some opinions/advice on my plan.
I plan to keep Mbuna malawis.
Aquarium:
I have a Juwel Vision 450, Ext filter/pump. I removed the built in internal pump.
Decor:
Put polystyrene in the base of tank
I am using the previous black gravel I had, it is a really fine gravel.
I have 3 large pieces of live rock in the centre which automatically creates some smaller caves.
Just spent a day breaking up some large blocks of slate into smaller slabs,I'll be stacking them and gluing them together using aquarium sealant to create a large rock scape building off of the live rock.
Lighting:
The Vision 450 comes with 2 Juwel T5 lighting units, total of 4 tubes. With so much dark gravel and slate, a lot of the light is going to get absorbed so I'm a little unsure of which lights to use. I've researched a bit and know a lot of people use marine blue lights but I wouldn't want that much. I was looking around and found the iQuatics 50:50 (white/blue) bulbs,does anyone have any experience with these lamps and cichlids, would 4 be too much?
Obviously I need to achieve a good level of lighting but want to avoid stressing the fish and encouraging excess algae growth, I know the fish will have a good go at a lot of algae but I don't want it to go OTT.
Thanks in advance.
I plan to keep Mbuna malawis.
Aquarium:
I have a Juwel Vision 450, Ext filter/pump. I removed the built in internal pump.
Decor:
Put polystyrene in the base of tank
I am using the previous black gravel I had, it is a really fine gravel.
I have 3 large pieces of live rock in the centre which automatically creates some smaller caves.
Just spent a day breaking up some large blocks of slate into smaller slabs,I'll be stacking them and gluing them together using aquarium sealant to create a large rock scape building off of the live rock.
Lighting:
The Vision 450 comes with 2 Juwel T5 lighting units, total of 4 tubes. With so much dark gravel and slate, a lot of the light is going to get absorbed so I'm a little unsure of which lights to use. I've researched a bit and know a lot of people use marine blue lights but I wouldn't want that much. I was looking around and found the iQuatics 50:50 (white/blue) bulbs,does anyone have any experience with these lamps and cichlids, would 4 be too much?
Obviously I need to achieve a good level of lighting but want to avoid stressing the fish and encouraging excess algae growth, I know the fish will have a good go at a lot of algae but I don't want it to go OTT.
Thanks in advance.
