Malawis,

[phillips321]

Hi guys,

Currently i have 5 malawis in a 30litre hexagon tank. I did have seven but the were both beaten to death by one of the bigger malawis, how can i prevent this from happening?

The guy in the fish shop said i need to get more so there is lessing bullying on one specific fish. He didnt really say how much my tank could cope with.

He said i need to overstock my tank to get the most out of the malawis as thats how they do best.

He also said i migth need to increase the filtration.

How much of this is true?

Should i add an underground filter aswell?

Please help

Matt Phillips

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

your tank is way too small for malawis, whoever said you can keep them is wrong.
if it was a shop, take your fish back and demand a refund, otherwise the other 5 fishwill be reduced to just 1. have a look at the african cichlid section on this forum for more help.

it seems to me that the guy at the shop just wanted to make a quick buck out of you and is telling you all the wrong advice!!

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

your tank is way too small for malawis, whoever said you can keep them is wrong.
if it was a shop, take your fish back and demand a refund, otherwise the other 5 fishwill be reduced to just 1. have a look at the african cichlid section on this forum for more help.

it seems to me that the guy at the shop just wanted to make a quick buck out of you and is telling you all the wrong advice!!

Yes. It makes me angry when some LFS workers just make stuff up as they go along too...

 

[freddyk]

Yep

 

[Mr Miagi]

The fish keeper is right in some regards though, pack your tank full of malawis and they dont become as aggresive, but he is dredfully wrong in other areas, sorry to say this, but your tank is grossly inadequte for your fish.......sorry.

Try a bigger tank!

 

[yvez9]

you need to overstock malawis.
However, I believe nothing smaller than a 29 gallon should be used with malawis as they need to swim and they grow to at least 5 inches. Overstocking your tank will then require you to filter adequatly.

A 30 litre tank is like 6 gallon. WAY too small from any kind of cichlid!

 

[tank212]

a 30 liter? my god i wouldnt even put mollies or guppies in that small of a tank those ifsh must be so crowded that guy that told u to add more is so wrong i noticed someone at my petstore the other day buying three oscars no big deal right? well she turned around and showed the fish guy her tank IT WAS A 1 GALLON TANK and the fish guy sold themto her anyway 3 oscars!! anyways its hard to come across lfs workers who know much about fish thats why i try to read up as much as i can about what fish i want before i go get them funny thing tho i as many fish in a 55 gal tank as u do in a 6 gallon

 

[freddyk]

I believe nothing smaller than a 29 gallon should be used with malawis

I'd go even further and say nothing less then three feet long.

 

[loafybones]

Pleeease don't put cichlids in a 30litre! The most you could have in there is a betta and a couple of frogs. If you really want to keep Malawis and have them be happy and show all of their lovely colours, get a nice big tank with lots of rocks.

 

[loafybones]

Oh and it's not your fault, just incase you think I'm having a dig at you. Get your lfs to fire the bloke who let you buy those fish!