Newbie Questions?

[OzzieGirl]

Hi There,

I've read a few posts and the fantastic sticky thread on setting up an mbuna aquarium. I have kept tropical fish for about 3 years, and I am finally moving out of my parents home and have already purchased a bigger tank ready for the house. I fancied something different and I would really like to keep these kind of fish, but don't really know too much about them. Except all the fish seem to have really long, hard to pronounce names

I've been to my lfs and done a bit of investgating and he reckond the tank I have bought (125litres) would be fine to house about 10 malawi fish. Firstly I wanted to check with you lot to make sure that he's not lying, cause I had this problem when I first set my topicals up.

He also advised that I should cycle the tank firstly with something like danios, and then put all the 10 fish in at once.

How does all this sound? Thanks for your replies in advance.

Steph

 

[Angel Lady]

I dont go by liters how many gallons would that be. I dont want to go adding off the top of my head this morning. I have learned this much with keeping the cichlids the more fish you have means less fights. I have to keep my 55 gallon over stocked or I get that trouble all the time. I have 15 in my 55 gallon at the moment and I think I am going to have to buy a few more because the fighting is getting bad again.

 

[OzzieGirl]

Hi there,

sorry Ive just done a conversion and it 33 gallons.

Thanks

Steph

 

[wrs]

33 gallons is to small for the mbuna. You can do tangs in there though. Maybe some mbuna liuke yellow labs, but usually mbuna need a 55 or larger.

 

[OzzieGirl]

Again another stupid question probably, but what about other kinds of malawi fish, would any be suitable for my tank? (like the stripey ones)

Thanks

 

[gixer]

how long is this 33galoon tank?

you may be able to keep some less agressive mbuna.

 

[OzzieGirl]

It's 3ft wide

 

[gixer]

only less agressive mbuna then like yellow labs, rusties and acei really.


or a good excuse for a bigger tank

 

[freddyk]

Ozziegirl

33 gallons is a nice tank for some mild mbuna.

The three mentioned above are good specimens to look at, as well as pseudotropheus Saulosi.

These smaller tanks work best if you go with less species in larger numbers. Something like 5 Labs and 5 Acei, 6 labs and 4 rustys - the numbers are up to you. You can also do a Saulosi species tank which would be very nice because the males are blue and females orange. Two males and eight females would be very cool.

If you go with Labs and Rustys you can even add a male Aulonocara specimen (peacock) since both those fish are mild enough for the peacock and their diets are similar (they have meatier diets then other mbuna). I can assure you that you can maintain a successful setup in this tank if you stick to these species.

Consider a fishless cycle instead. Danio's may get ignored at first but they'll look tasty once the mbuna grow big enough so you'd need to find another home for them. You'll also want to start with more juveniles in order to get the appropriate m/f ratio's, so make sure your lfs is willing to take some back - and decent one would afaic.

You can cycle with the mbuna if you're careful. To do this you would need some filter media or gravel that you can place in your own filter in order to get your bio-filter started. Perhaps you know someone who can help you out, or maybe the lfs will do you a favor. The tank is pretty much instantly cycled now, and you can begin adding the fish a few at a time and stock gradually.

It's recommended to stock them all at once to avoid aggression, but it's not as much of a concern with these mild ones. Plus you'll be adding them gradually, but not over enough time for them to grow into adults.

 

[Ferris]

Yellow labs, Iodotropheus Sperengerae or Pseudotropheus Acei would work in your tank. I wouldn't go with any other Mbuna though because of agression. If you picked 2 of these species, you could keep 4 or 5 of each quite comfortably.

 

[OzzieGirl]

Thats great guys, thanks for your help. I'll probably be back in a couple of weeks once Ive set it all up.

Going to check out some pics of the speices that you've mentioned. I'm excited already

Steph

 

[OzzieGirl]

Actually just thought of another question, obviously this part of the forum iss for African Cichlids, but there are other Cichlid sections, are those cichlids much different?

BTW checked out some of the pics of the fish youve all mentioned, and they are beautiful but I particulary like the pseudotropheus Saulosi.

Ferris, what type of cichlid is the one in your avatar?

Steph

 

[vantgE]

The other cichlids are alot different, cichlids are a very diverse group. But mbuna are a great choice

Ferris has a pseodotropheus demasoni in his avatar I think, but if you klike it the souliosi males look very similar, If you find some other mbuna then mentioned in your lfs they may also work in a smaller tank such as the 33 gallon but it's best to check here first

 

[OzzieGirl]

Fantastic. Thaks for all the advice guys.

I think these are the fish for me!

 

[Ferris]

Ferris, what type of cichlid is the one in your avatar?

Yep, Pseudotropheus Demasoni.....my favourites

Lovely fish, very agressive but stunning looking.