Malawi Tank Advice

[Edge]

Hi Everyone
My girlfriend and I have been cycling a tank with the intention of keeping Malawi’s for months now, and after being interrupted by broken equipment, emergency fish moving and rock buying, we have finally got it ready to go. It’s a strange shaped tank, measuring 40†x 18†x 24â€, which is around 74 gallons I think. We know the extra height is not much use to Malawi’s so we are going to treat it as a 55-gallon (40 x 18 x 18) and have the extra water capacity as a bonus.
Here is a picture of it, it’s not the best as I was in the process of fixing the lid at the time, also our camera is ridiculously old.

We’ve researched the species we like and tried to narrow it down to allow for us being Malawi newbies, we’re interested in the following:
Labidochromis (Yellow Labs)
Iodotropheus Sprengerae (Rusty Cichlid)
Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"
Cynotilapia Afra

Does the list look OK? We’d welcome suggestions on stocking quantities bearing in mind our tank specs. If we have room for any more species then we also like Pseudotropheus Greshakei and Pseudotropheus Socolofi. (The filter on out tank is an Eheim 2227 Pro Wet/Dry)

The only other thing I’m concerned about is feeding, as I think we’re mixing our omnivores with our herbivores aren’t we? I read the pinned article on feeding and it says it’s OK if care is taken, it just doesn’t go into detail. Any help on all this would be great, thanks a lot
Edge

 

[ASD]

Hi Edge,

You seem to have researched your chosen tank setup fully, so my respect to you. Your fish list is fine IMO, you could even add the extra ones you want with the type of filtration you have (just plenty of water changes).

My only advice to you as you seem to have all bases covered, is try to buy a higher ratio of females to males, maybe 3 females to 1 male?

As for feeding, spiralina flake with the occasional brineshrimp is adaquate.

Good luck

 

[Aprilia997]

Your list looks good. The acei get larger than the other fish but are not as aggressive as the others. If the acei were given a diet with too much protein they can reach to at least 18cm. Feed them with a diet made for saltwater vegetarian fish with some brine shrimp thrown in. Malawi cichlids actually do better if they are crowded somewhat to defuse aggression among more fish.

 

[adambrum]

Its refreshing to see someone doing the research.

Its all about right the only one i would change is the acei as they grow very big very fast.

Your numbers for the fish i would go

6 labs 1m-5f
4 rusties 1m-3f
5 afra 1m-4f

The reason for this stocking is that labs do better in groups of 6 or more the rusties 1m-3f is the recommended minimum ratio for most malawis and the afra i added an extra female as these can be a bit aggressive but are great characters.

 

[Boids-n-more]

you can also add some zebra's to your list if you don't want too many of one fish. do you plan on breeding them or do you want a tank more for show?

 

[Edge]

Thanks guys, I went and got my 6 Yellow labs today, I will be adding the other fish over the next few days. The Labs are only around an inch long, the guy in the shop said I would have to wait until they are a bit bigger before sexing them, is this right? I would really like to give the Acei a go as I have read they like the upper areas of the tank, which would be good for our 24" high set-up. Do you really think they are a bad idea? I figured they would be OK with the Rusties and Labs as they aren't the most aggressive, Would just getting a single Afra be OK, would that help with aggression or make it worse? In answer to your question Boids the tank is more for show than breeding, I've moved a small sofa right next to the tank in our dining room so I can sit there and watch them. I find cichlids incredibly interesting and enjoy the Firemouth and Rams etc we have in our Trigon, but even with just 6 Labs the Malawi’s are fascinating.

 

[adambrum]

The only reason for not including the acei is the size they can get to 7" very quickly, I would not have a single male afra on its own it will cause hell as it will wanting to breed.

There is another way to go which is a all male tank these can be hard to set up but have stunning results without the drab females.

Its impossible to sex yellow labs, acei and rusties until they are nearly 2" as males and females are identical

 

[ASD]

Usually, the male yellow lab will have more black on the dorsal and pectoral fins.

 

[adambrum]

Usually, the male yellow lab will have more black on the dorsal and pectoral fins.

The only way to sex these is by venting them when they get to about 2" visual sexing is impossible even on wild caught let alone on fish that are poor quality which most labs are.