Malawi Cichlid Tank

[JoeyWoodall]

i am going to be purchasing some malawi cichlids for my tank this weekend and was wondering if anyone could offer me any info on this species, just things like what they can be kept in with and what the best envoironment is for them. i have looked on the internet but just as i find an article or page with the info i need i find another one which is disregarding what the first said so i thought i would bring the topic here and see if anyone could help me.
thanks, Joey

 

[Lufbramatt]

you need:

-very hard, alkaline water (pH 8+)

-at least a 55 gallon, fully cycled tank with a mature filter

-sand substrate as they're diggers, coral sand can be used to buffer the pH

-lots of rockwork with caves and hiding places, made from piled up slate, limestone, granite etc.

-decent filtration with about 8-10x the tank volume turned over per hour as the tank needs to be overstocked to stop individual fish being singled out by dominant fish.

-spirulina based foods as malawi cichlids are usually vegatarian and susceptable to bloat and intestinal tract issues unless fed the right foods.

-can be kept with african synodontis catfish, and thats prtty much it. Malawis have specialist water requirements, a careful diet, and are very aggressive so lesser fish won't last long. Avoid keeping CA, SA or tanganyikan cichlids with malawis!

Malawi cichlids can be difficult to stock due to aggression levels so fish of similar colours should be avoided. Lots of books available on the subject, worth reading up before you buy fish to help avoid complications later.

 

[JoeyWoodall]

you need:

-very hard, alkaline water (pH 8+)

-at least a 55 gallon, fully cycled tank with a mature filter

-sand substrate as they're diggers, coral sand can be used to buffer the pH

-lots of rockwork with caves and hiding places, made from piled up slate, limestone, granite etc.

-decent filtration with about 8-10x the tank volume turned over per hour as the tank needs to be overstocked to stop individual fish being singled out by dominant fish.

-spirulina based foods as malawi cichlids are usually vegatarian and susceptable to bloat and intestinal tract issues unless fed the right foods.

-can be kept with african synodontis catfish, and thats prtty much it. Malawis have specialist water requirements, a careful diet, and are very aggressive so lesser fish won't last long. Avoid keeping CA, SA or tanganyikan cichlids with malawis!

Malawi cichlids can be difficult to stock due to aggression levels so fish of similar colours should be avoided. Lots of books available on the subject, worth reading up before you buy fish to help avoid complications later.

Thanks Luffbramatt, thats really helpful, however these fish seem to be more adapted to the more experienced fishkeeper i see, on the other hand to this, can you recommend a more suitable fish that is the same sort of size? if not maybe a little bit smaller, what i really want to stay away from is the likes of the guppies ect. Would gouramis be suitable to house with other species of fish, around the same size? if so, what kinds? i want my fish to be really colourful, i really want my tank to have the wow factor when people look in. oh and i have live plants in my aquarium.
thanks

 

[Lufbramatt]

Malawis will make short work of most plants!

Really it all depends what your water parameters are of your tap water. Soft water, low pH, you could try south american cichlids with an amazon biotope type setup, loads of tree roots and broad leaved plants, angels and apistogramma dwarf cichlids are stunning, along with bigger tetras, plecs etc, neutral/hardish water, central american cichlids like Convicts and Jack Dempseys are cool.

Don't forget groups such as Rainbowfish are interesting too and a step away from the norm of guppies and neon tetras.

 

[JoeyWoodall]

thanks, how can i tell if my water is hard or soft? i really like the rainbow fish, at the moment i have 5 congo tetra and 5 red eye tetra, i was going to be giving them back to my lfs but if i am not going to get the milawis then i will keep those. Will the angels, south american cichlids, apistogramma dwarf cichlids, rainbows and assorted gouramis all go in together? and i really like the sound of the amazon bio type, i think its the look i want for my aquarium.

 

[JoeyWoodall]

also, whilst on the topic, what fish would people recommend to put in with an assorted species of Gourami? i would really like a very colourful and vibrant tank?

 

[Malawi MaD]

What size tank do you have and do you own a test kit??

 

[JoeyWoodall]

i have a 180 ltr tank. and no i do not have a test kit. how much are these usually and what should my reading look like?

 

[Malawi MaD]

Need to get one if you can

Ideally:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40ppm or below (ideally)
PH 7.8/8+
7 to 14 KH
10 to 20 DH
temps from 76°-82°F