New Malawi Set Up

[minimat]

Well ive just moved from a community tank into the wonderful world of chichilds. Theres so much to learn that i thought id start here

Ive just set up a 48 by 18 by 24 inch tank approx 350 litres with a view to keaping malawi's etc.

Ive used coral sand as substrate and various rocks to provide cover/features all on the advice of fish inc. sheffield. Its currently running 2 300watt heaters, tetratec ex1200 and fluval 305 filters. Its also got an air pump and 2 air stones.
Ive used 180 litres of water from the old tank and the rest fresh, also both filters are matured so it should be good to go in a few days

My question is what fish should i start with. I want plenty of colour and am aware that you have to overstock to control the agression but wich ones?

Im not good with scientific names so pictures would be good so i know what im looking at

Thanks in advance

mat

 

[dthoffsett]

First of all, welcome to the wonderful world of mbuna, be warned it's very addictive and you'll likely never leave.

You've got a great tank to work with, and I'd suggest aiming for a total of 20 - 25 adults with adequate filtration (you'll want a total tank turnover of 10 times per hour or more). Or you could stock a bit lighter at around 15 adults.

As for what species to recommend, it really depends on what you like and what you have available to you. I'd suggest going to your lfs, writing down all the names of the fish you like, researching them here , and then post and we can help you with compatability. Just in general though, I'd suggest avoiding any of the melanochromis species and metriaclima lombardoi (commonly sold as the Kenyi cichlid) due to their highly aggressive natures.

As for scientific names, I'm afraid you'll have to get used to them when dealing with mbuna (or most cichlids for that matter) as common names are unreliable and can cover many different species depending on who's selling them.

Any other questions you have feel free to ask. -Dawn

 

[minimat]

thanks for the reply.

ive got a total a 2200lph turnover with the two filters im currently running and may add a 3rd small internal if anyone has any recomnedations. theres the usual media in the two im currently using (foam, ceramic, bioballs and carbon) so think i should be ok with stocking young fish and taking it from there.

il post some pics soon

mat

 

[minimat]

how about this as a start:
yellow labs
pear labs
elongatus mphanga
aurora
afra redtop
johanni

a pair of each maybe (thoughts welcomed)

mat

 

[minimat]

been to lfs and the above were all confirmed as good to go with so i now have 2 of most and trios of some.
anyway heres the tank

thoughts welcomed ( i no i need more rock)

mat

 

[kj23502]

Are the pear labs albino yellow labs? That's where common names really freakin suck and why scientific ones are important

That cynotilapia afra red top looks great And setup looks good

 

[minimat]

thanks for the positive comments mate. im not sure bout the pearl labs. thats what i bought them as but they may be albino yellow ones. il ask when i go back as they really know there stuff

and yeah the cynotilapia afra red is probably my favourite so far

mat

 

[dthoffsett]

The pearl labs are probably Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt", it's generally not recommend to mix labidochromis species due to the probability of interbreeding, however, if you don't sell them, it's nothing to worry about.

Also wanted to point out that mbuna aren't pairing fish, they are harem breeders where a single male will breed with as many females as possible, so you'll want to aim for a ratio of 1m/3 or more females. When kept in pairs, males will usually harass a female constantly leading to injury, disease, or death. L.caruleus is generally the exception to the rule and multiple males can be kept together successfully in most cases. Since your tank will easily hold 20-25 adults, you could go for 5 species of 4-5 individuals each. If you're not wanting an overly aggressive tank, I'd give the melanochromis johanni a miss, though the least aggressive of the melanochromis species they are still aggressive by mbuna standards.

And to get you started on your scientific names:
yellow labs - labidochromis caeruleus


pear labs - likely labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt"

elongatus mphanga - Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Mpanga", another fairly aggressive species, especially towards
species with similar coloring

aurora - metriaclima aurora

afra redtop - cynotilapia afra (can't remember which varient is the redtop)

johanni - melanochromis johanni

 

[electric yellow]

Lovely tank Nice back ground too. I need a new one.

My lfs doesnt have the scientifc names up on their tanks...only the common names so im always having to cross reference the names with pictures. Frustrating. We have 9 cichlids in our tank, and feeder fish used as live food that they never ate lol. Id like to stock up some more but i think i will need to rearrange rocks first.

 

[kj23502]

Lovely tank Nice back ground too. I need a new one.

My lfs doesnt have the scientifc names up on their tanks...only the common names so im always having to cross reference the names with pictures. Frustrating. We have 9 cichlids in our tank, and feeder fish used as live food that they never ate lol. Id like to stock up some more but i think i will need to rearrange rocks first.

Ask them for the scientific names.

And if they don't know...I wouldn't buy They are supposed to know.

 

[minimat]

yeah my lfs has the scientific name on them all and common names on some, im forever writing down there proper names lol.

Ive added a fluval 4+ internal taking the total to 3200lph turnover so i think im good to go with 25 adults. All the fish have been in a week and so far touch wood no problems.

Ive added a bit more rock and had a bit of a change around

will post pics soon

mat

 

[kj23502]

Are the water parameters testing well also? Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

 

[minimat]

gh and kh both around 180 mark
ph is 8
nitrite is 0
mitrate is 40 but coming down slowly

all the fish seem happy so im looking at getting a few more and maybe a few catfish

mat

 

[kj23502]

Yep, I saw that. When you already have a current thread going you can add questions to the thread instead of starting other topics