Malawai Cichlid Tank

[wonkey]

After getting myself a second fluval 240L and two external filters, I want to set this up with some cichlids, after reading around on the net its left me with a few of which are ( or so im led to believe) compatable species.



• Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"(msuli)
• Labidochromis caeruleus

• Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty Cichlid)
• Cynotilapia afra : Afra Edwardi

What I cant seem to be able to pin down is ratio and what the minimum group would be for each type ?

Im looking at having 3 species and about 12 fish in total.

any help would be appritiated.

 

[Malawi MaD]

What external filters are they? Are they adequate enough to do a good job at turning over your water volume a few times over? As for species All the above could be kept together without a problem , only thing i would say is the Acei can get a little large and may need a bigger tank as they grow. Having 12 fish in total is no where near enough fish for mbuna, Its better to keep the tank quite busy (overstocked to a certain extent)so each of the species listed above could have 4 to 6 of each as long as you have a good amount of filtration and excellent water quality/maintenance. This is how id have the species you want (ratio's/numbers)

1to3Male/6Female Pseudotropheus Acei msuli
1to3Male/6Female Labidochromis caeruleus
1to3Male/6Female Iodotropheus sprengerae
1Male/4 FemaleCynotilapia afra Afra Edwardi

With the top 3 species known to be less aggressive multiple males kept together will be ok as long as enough hiding places/ territory's are provided. That's the numbers and ratio's i would recommend for the species you want, i would maybe concider choosing another species to replace the Acei as personally i think they will get to large for the tank. Hope this helps

 

[wonkey]

Thanks for the reply thats exactly the info i was looking for !

Well the filters are going to be stripped from the other tank which is the ehiem 2213 and a fluval 305, although im considering running two ehiems.

1to3Male/6Female Labidochromis caeruleus
1to3Male/6Female Iodotropheus sprengerae
1Male/4 FemaleCynotilapia afra Afra Edwardi

the above is the lot i will stick too, expense is the only issue, I cant afford to buy the whole group at once so which would be the best starting number ?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

You cuold start by adding one species at a time, but you want to make sure you have the correct ration to start with to make sure you do not run into problems. I read in a book about Malawis that it is best to stock all at once, but if you cannot add all the fish you want at once, then before you add more, re arrange the decor right before you add new fish to reset the territories. If you add new fish when the territories are set, then you may be looking at aggression issues. (someone correct me if I was misinformed by this book)

 

[rifty]

good choice of fish i agree the acei could get too big!
i would add one type at a time acei labs rusty and finishing with the afra no issues as im assuming you wont be buying adult fish? so domanance will be much easier to manage
i also think if you went for adult fish you could buy pairs of the rusty and afra not issue and as the labs and acei both males and females look stunning id go for 1-3 mf ratio

 

[Dieses Madchen]

A good subsitute for the Acei would be pseudotrohpeus saulosi. They are a lovely smaller species. The males are a nice blue, with stripes, and the females are bright yellow. Very lovely looking fish that wouldn't get to big for your tank.Pseudotropheus Socolofi would be another good one.

 

[wonkey]

Im hoping to get young ones but where I live there arnt many sellers so im having to just get hold of what I can.

Unless anyone has a good online store to recommend but im still unsure of buying fish I cant inspect first.

Also im saying I cant afford to buy all at once but im unsure on the total value, also I guess thats quiate a sudden load on the filter thats only been cycled on a community tank.

 

[jonnyuk]

i've read the best way to introduce new fish is to actually remove a fish, put the new ones in, then the old fish back in.

re-arranging the rock causes more stress because you are upsetting all the fish not just a few.

+ 1 on the pseudotrohpeus saulosi. really nice fish, i've got 3 in my tank (lost 2 because of gill flukes), the males are stunning and the females provide a nice contrast.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

i've read the best way to introduce new fish is to actually remove a fish, put the new ones in, then the old fish back in.

re-arranging the rock causes more stress because you are upsetting all the fish not just a few.

+ 1 on the pseudotrohpeus saulosi. really nice fish, i've got 3 in my tank (lost 2 because of gill flukes), the males are stunning and the females provide a nice contrast.

That is good to know. I have not actually gotten any fish yet. I still need to do a fishless cycle. I had read in a book that reaaragning the rocks will undo the territories. Good to know that it actually causes stress. Now I won't go that route.

 

[wonkey]

remove all the old fish ? hmm that seems more stresfull to the fish to me ?

Im actually in love with the yellow labs/ yellow whatever ( so many names for the same fish) I may end up choosing a single species tank.

Hopefully im getting my first batch by this weekend providing my not so local fish shop has any good looking ones.

wow looked up : Pseudotropheus saulosi

its pretty awsome as the males and females look like you have two totally differnt species!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

remove all the old fish ? hmm that seems more stresfull to the fish to me ?

Im actually in love with the yellow labs/ yellow whatever ( so many names for the same fish) I may end up choosing a single species tank.

Hopefully im getting my first batch by this weekend providing my not so local fish shop has any good looking ones.

wow looked up : Pseudotropheus saulosi

its pretty awsome as the males and females look like you have two totally differnt species!

that is what caught my eye when I saw them. My husband was in love with them. I cant wait till i get my fish. It probably won't be till december though as I need to cycle my tank.

 

[Malawi MaD]

Wouldn't remove all the fish personally. When you introduce the new fish as long as you add at least 6+ fish at once everything should be Ok. At least then a single fish wont get singled out and targeted.

 

[jonnyuk]

if you add in numbers then its fine, i was more meaning the odd fish or a couple.

for example i had to remove 1 fish because it looked like it had malawi bloat where as the rest of the tank had gill flukes. i treated the single fish and it recovered. 6 days later i re-introduced it and all hell broke loose for about a day, fish fighting, locked mouths etc. the single fish i re-introduced thought it would try and be boss (was put in his place eventually).

i was thinking about taking 3 fish out but could not bring my self to break my tank down to do it, what it did show me was adding 1 or two fish is never a good idea.

 

[FreshyGirl27]

can you mix labs with demasonis?

 

[rifty]

yep would work well