Help Pls

[dave1987]

im getting some malawi fish and dont have a clue what food to get for them i no they got to have loads of veg in there food like spiriluna but still dont have a clue could some one put some links on here for me pls if its not to much trouble
T.I.A

 

[kj23502]

Hi ya!!

It really depends on the species your getting. There many different types of Malawi Cichlids in the 3 groups (haps, peacocks, mbuna)

Some are carnivores, some omnivores and some herbivores.

So what species are we talking?

What size tank are you planning? Have you researched filtration methods also? We're here to help so give us as much detail as you can

 

[dave1987]

ok iv done alll my research ( i had a tropical community tank for 2 years got rid of it 3 months ago when i moved so im not a complete noob lol) but il go over it again with you i have a 200 litre tank this is what im getting or got
. 50kg ocean rock
. mature water and filter media (so i dont have to cycle)
. sand
. aquapro sp4 i think ( filters it about 8X over at the moment will be getting another one when i have all fish fully grown)
i have all the other stuff air pump etc and water testing kit as for fish here goes
. 5x Labidochromis Caeruleus
. 4x Metriaclima Caillanos (cobalt blue zebra)
. 2x afra mbenji (breeding pair)
and hopefully im getting some estherae excuse spelling if wrong lol..
iv tested my tap water and the PH is 7.6 so im all good there
T.I.A

 

[kj23502]

Ok, thanks
This is what I use to raise the PH, it's higher in the African Lakes and really easy to raise it. Your water is aceptable, though. Just pointing out that there is a difference in acceptable and ideal.

Read this post # 64, although note the green cichlid staple is supposed to be the white bag. That reads down further into the journal a couple posts.

About 14 or 15 fish in there would be good. Assuming I did my calc right and it's 52 usg.

It'd be a good idea to have 1 male and 3-4 females per species you put in. This doesn't matter as much with yellow labs(labidochromis c.) The males are very boisterous and it prevents only one female from getting battered to death by an overly excited male when you have a few females to 1 male.

As long as you have enough surface agitation, you don't really need an air pump. They are for asthetic purposes mainly. The bubbles go the surface to fast to put any real oxygen in the water.

*I'm not to sure what an aquapro is. sorry! I've only ever had 1 hang on back filter and 2 eheim canister filters.

 

[dave1987]

ok thanks for the great advice my tank is about 50 USG do you no were i could buy that food of the internet

 

[dave1987]

[post="0"]is this food ok for my malawis?[/post]

 

[dave1987]

bump

 

[kj23502]

umm. your link gives me an error message

 

[dave1987]

oh ok havnt worked out how to do it yet then thought i did lol the ebay id is 250256535903 sorry for the inconvinience thank you very much

 

[kj23502]

It will probably be good. Use an algea pellet/flake as a base though. Spirulina can be high in protein.

--edit
i'm in the USA so can't really comment on where to get it in Bristol. I'm assuming that's not in the USA.

 

[dave1987]

ok thanks i bought it now lol but il buy other stuff to and just mix it in thanks

 

[kj23502]

You're welcome!!

one more thing. I have protein pellets b/c 2 of the 3 species are carnivores. The third is an omnivore. To much protein in a fish that's a herbivore can cause bloat and kill them.

 

[dave1987]

i cant find omega 1 on ebay is omega 3 anygood? what ones was the protein pellets in you link to the thread

 

[kj23502]

the protein one has the purple lid!

 

[dave1987]

oh the omega 1 lol i have fount some algae pellets there contents are

ANALYSIS

CRUDE PROTIEN 8% (Minimum)

CRUDE FAT 0.5% (Minimum)

CRUDE FIBRE 10% (Maximum)

CRUDE ASH 25% (Maximum)

MOISTURE 11% (Maximum)

is this high in protein? also im buying 250g Hikari Cichlid Excel Mini Pellets... i have bllodworm pellets, tropical flake and now spirulina pellets aswell
what feeding regime would you reccomend for this and would i need anything else?? thanks so much youv been a great help