Nebwie Requires Some Advice

[grewanham]

Hi there guys,

I am just getting into the hobby of fish keeping, but i wish to become a breeder eventually. I am a young Icthyologist but have never studied freshwater fish in detail (I have always dealt with marine species).

We have set up our tropical tank, and i would like to begin keeping Cichlids of some variety, preferably Malawis, and learn to look after them with a view to eventually breeding the same fish. I don't want ones that are particularly easy to look after or breed, i am looking for something more intermediate.

It would also be nice if i could put other fish in the same tank, as i think it's too big to be wasted on just one species (150 L). the Cichlids would be my mian concern with the breeding plan, but it would be nice to have others there for aesthetic reasons. I am coming to you for advice, as i have found it very hard to find information on the web without already knowing species Latin names.

What do you guys think? Do you have any species suggestions, for me to research? Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[kj23502]

hmm...so you are thinking fish that are rare? It's not to hard to get them to breed. Seems they do it on their own w/out us trying to make'em.

 

[Nick16]

personally as a first tank i wouldnt go for malawis, especially not the slightly more agressive ones.

 

[grewanham]

Why not? Reasons for this would be good, alternative suggestions are also welcome. lets make this a constructive advice session

 

[Mystil]

I can tell you about Mbuna but I dont have any experience with the other types (Tanzinika/haps/peacocks/lake victoria).

I would say a 150 litres in not enough to keep even the easiest Mbuna as they need at least a three foot tank as they can hassel each other to literal death and so need the space lengh wise to be able to get away from each other.

I have just bought a 180 Rio and I was told this is the absolute minimum tank size you can have for Mbuna, and even then some peeps were saying that was not enough.

If you do go and buy some of the more smaller fishies (shell dwellers etc..) my adivce would be: Start with the easier ones and learn from you mistakes with them before going onto the more rarer fish, that would be my advice. I personaly kept normal tropical first and that was a good beginning for me.

Unfortunatly Malawis are not as easy to keep as normal tropical fish as they can be a pain in the Butt and tempramental!
The main problems include:
Insuring that all your fish get on as much as possible (species wise)
Aggression.
Over filtration is needed as the tank will be overstocked to spread said aggression (a couple of external filters are good for this).
Ensuring no hybridisation occurs.
Unfortunately probably not what you wanna hear.

What is your tap water parameters?

 

[kj23502]

What are the dimensions of the tank?