Malawi Tankmate Help Needed

[ian in Geneva]

Hi everyone, I am setting up a new tank and I wanted to check the fish I have chosen will work together, any advise is welcomed. The fish I really want are the blue dolphins and I tried to choose others that would live with them. Needless to say there will be plenty of rocks, caves etc for everyone.
I plan to have:
Labidochromis caeruleus - 1 male and 2 females
Cyrtocara moorii - 1 male and 3 females
Metriaclima zebra - 2 females
Otopharynx lithobates - 2 females
Hypostomus plecostomus - just one but I am open to African alternatives

Any thoughts would be great
thanks Ian

 

[Realtree]

Hi ,
I can foresee a couple of possible problems. Your Otopharynx lithobates are primarily preditory carnivores so they will have differant dietry requirements from the rest of your list and of course could/will attack and eat them.
Also your tank size would have to be large for a Hypostomus plecostomus (common plec) as they grow over a foot in length very quickly (which is why you see many large specimens in the lfs (trade ins).
What are your tank dimensions and what filtration are you planning ??

 

[ian in Geneva]

Hi Thanks for the reply, I did wonder if the Otopharynx lithobates would be too aggressive. I can leave them off the list. I've had Plec's before and they do get big, maybe I'd be better off with some 'upside down' catfish?
The tank I have in mind is a 180L 100cm x 40cm x50cm (so not too big). I was unsure about the filter, if to use an internal or an external cannister, I may start with the internal one and switch as the fish grow up.
Does that sound sensible?

 

[Realtree]

Hi Thanks for the reply, I did wonder if the Otopharynx lithobates would be too aggressive. I can leave them off the list. I've had Plec's before and they do get big, maybe I'd be better off with some 'upside down' catfish?
The tank I have in mind is a 180L 100cm x 40cm x50cm (so not too big). I was unsure about the filter, if to use an internal or an external cannister, I may start with the internal one and switch as the fish grow up.
Does that sound sensible?

As far as the plecos are concerned I would recommend Ancistrus temminckii (bristlenose plecs) these grow 4-5 inch maximum and mix well with malawis.
I actually have a 180L running as a growing on tank as we speak. The best idea is to over filtrate by at least 10x the volume - this will at aid you to keep approx 14 adult malawi in that size tank (whilst juveniles I have 41 fish growing on in my tank).
Make sure you have plenty of rockwork both this and the stocking numbers will reduce aggression within the tank.
For filtration I run 2 x fluval 405s external cannisters and a fluval 2 internal ( this is way over the top and will filtrate a tank twice the size for malawis)
Hope this helps you in some way - enjoy your malawis - but be careful they become very obssesive

 

[demasonisrule]

Hmmm just one thing that I would like to add is that instead of having a pleco you could have a syndontis catfish-much more attractive, and do a better job imo.

 

[lalo99]

Hi everyone, I am setting up a new tank and I wanted to check the fish I have chosen will work together, any advise is welcomed. The fish I really want are the blue dolphins and I tried to choose others that would live with them. Needless to say there will be plenty of rocks, caves etc for everyone.
I plan to have:
Labidochromis caeruleus - 1 male and 2 females
Cyrtocara moorii - 1 male and 3 females
Metriaclima zebra - 2 females
Otopharynx lithobates - 2 females
Hypostomus plecostomus - just one but I am open to African alternatives

Any thoughts would be great
thanks Ian

The odd man out would be the zebras. The others all have similar dietary requirements. The zebras need more of a vegitarian diet. The pleco will get huge and can mess up water qaulity, stick with a smaller species like a bushynose or rubberlipped plecos. The biggest problem I see is some of the fish you have choosen all get prtty big. The C. moorii can get to 10 inches. The lithobates can get to 6+ inches. I'm talking about males. The wont be much room left one they get to size. My suggestion would be to look at dwarf species of mbuna. Here are some examples. Cynotilapia afra( only one local per tank, Iodotropheus sprengerae, Pseudotropheus polit, Tropheops sp ( again only one local per tank). Labidochromis caeruleus will also work. They are not considered dwarfs but they tend to be very mild. I would look at 3 species. With one male to 3-4 females. Extra females will be fine. The reason I say only one local is to prevent crossbreeding.

 

[Redrum]

ian in geneva is actually incorrect...
Otopharynx lithobates are preators but so are all the other cichlids you mentioned besides the zebras, whice are vegetarian.
You can still get them though and just feed a generic cichlid food. And with frozen food you can feed mysis shrimp because they are less hard on the zebras digestive tract

 

[ian in Geneva]

Thanks for all the advise everyone, I will upload a pic when I get finished