Stocking Amount Question

[creg]

my lake malawi tank will be ready to stock next week and i have no clue what fish im geting or how many i can have.

lets say the fish im geting are all an average of 5 inches, how many total will be suitable for my 47.5 us gallon tank

(will be running 2 external filters and doing 25% water change every week)

 

[SensesFail]

my lake malawi tank will be ready to stock next week and i have no clue what fish im geting or how many i can have.

lets say the fish im geting are all an average of 5 inches, how many total will be suitable for my 47.5 us gallon tank

(will be running 2 external filters and doing 25% water change every week)

With the malwais its always best to overstocked somewhat to limit the aggression. I have a uk 190l tank which works out 42ish uk gallons and around 50US gallons if my memory plays me correctly! I can't really say how many as I'm new but I thought I'd tell you what I have in my tank quantity wise and with you running two filters that's excellent! I only run one external filter and so far so good!

Fish wise I have 16 African Cichlids and 6 synodontis catfish. I'm hoping to get 2 more cichlids and that me done. Having one filter I do 2 water changes a week of 60L each time. someone with experience will be able to advise you an exact number soon with any luck!

 

[creg]

thanks for the help mate, i definately want 1 or 2 synodontis catfish but other than that i dont know what to buy and whether the 1 male to 3 female per species rule is really important

 

[SensesFail]

thanks for the help mate, i definately want 1 or 2 synodontis catfish but other than that i dont know what to buy and whether the 1 male to 3 female per species rule is really important

When I bought mine the yellow labs and the rusty cichlids the guy in the store couldn't sex them due to their size so I had to just buy them and hope for the best so far so good on that front they do chase each other and things but they look ok and have had no wounds or bitten fins etc so fingers crossed!


I have a syno petricola and the cuckoo catfish which are beautiful have a look at my fish if you have time there is a link in my sig to the my fish section on the forum with loads of pics and a video may give you some ideas etc while we wait for someone with experience to arrive. I went with what people on here advised yellow lab and rusty wise and the rest I trusted the LFS for compatibility which isn't always advised from reading n here but so far so good hope I don't have problems in the future. The cats just keep themselves to themselves

 

[creg]

any stocking suggestions would be very much appreciated, preferbly some common species i will be able to find

 

[bullit]

get a delivery off one of the malawi guys off aquarist classified. im sure they would help aswell.

 

[creg]

http/www.midlandsmalawis.co.uk/

these people seem like a good source, plus nottingham is not too far from me

 

[bullit]

yeah theres a breeder down notts way. One of lads on here used to go there but cant remember the name. Whether that them i couldnt tell you.

 

[creg]

i emailed midlands malawis for advice they said..


Most mbuna will live togather,the only problem with them is they can cross breed
therefore i would recomend not keeping fish that look similar. I would also recomend have a even amout of males and females or more females than males as a male heavy tank doesnt tend to work.

i would think your tank can hold 25
fish no prob.

 

[SensesFail]

i emailed midlands malawis for advice they said..


Most mbuna will live togather,the only problem with them is they can cross breed
therefore i would recomend not keeping fish that look similar. I would also recomend have a even amout of males and females or more females than males as a male heavy tank doesnt tend to work.

i would think your tank can hold 25
fish no prob.

25 sounds about correct I'd say as long as you have plenty of caves and hiding places/places for them to dart around when being chased. I'd try and add as many as you can to start with (taking that everything has been cycled and readings are all ok) so that they all have equal footing in marking their territory. If you get them gradually you may need to alter things in the tank to achieve this and set them all back to square one

Then if u get cats I'd maybe go with 20 cichlids and 5 cats? I think the ratios on the yellow labs and rusty is 4 females to one male

 

[Squidward]

Approx 190L is quite small for Malawis.
But it might be ok for the more peacful ones. Rusties and Yellow Labs come to mind.

Look in Aquarists Classified.
There is a chap called Mal Rimmer. Very knowledgable and helpful. I got my fish from him by courier. No probs.

 

[creg]

i emailed midlands malawis for advice they said..


Most mbuna will live togather,the only problem with them is they can cross breed
therefore i would recomend not keeping fish that look similar. I would also recomend have a even amout of males and females or more females than males as a male heavy tank doesnt tend to work.

i would think your tank can hold 25
fish no prob.

25 sounds about correct I'd say as long as you have plenty of caves and hiding places/places for them to dart around when being chased. I'd try and add as many as you can to start with (taking that everything has been cycled and readings are all ok) so that they all have equal footing in marking their territory. If you get them gradually you may need to alter things in the tank to achieve this and set them all back to square one

Then if u get cats I'd maybe go with 20 cichlids and 5 cats? I think the ratios on the yellow labs and rusty is 4 females to one male

i have mature filter media i can use but not sure that will allow me to fully stock straight away, might go with 9 to start with then 9 more a couple weeks later then 4 catfish. will buy them as juvi`s too.

gonna buy slate from local garden centre and stack it to make loads of holes/caves

 

[SensesFail]

i emailed midlands malawis for advice they said..


Most mbuna will live togather,the only problem with them is they can cross breed
therefore i would recomend not keeping fish that look similar. I would also recomend have a even amout of males and females or more females than males as a male heavy tank doesnt tend to work.

i would think your tank can hold 25
fish no prob.

25 sounds about correct I'd say as long as you have plenty of caves and hiding places/places for them to dart around when being chased. I'd try and add as many as you can to start with (taking that everything has been cycled and readings are all ok) so that they all have equal footing in marking their territory. If you get them gradually you may need to alter things in the tank to achieve this and set them all back to square one

Then if u get cats I'd maybe go with 20 cichlids and 5 cats? I think the ratios on the yellow labs and rusty is 4 females to one male

i have mature filter media i can use but not sure that will allow me to fully stock straight away, might go with 9 to start with then 9 more a couple weeks later then 4 catfish. will buy them as juvi`s too.

gonna buy slate from local garden centre and stack it to make loads of holes/caves

Are you currently doing the fishless cycling using ammonia adding and waiting? What reading of ammonia/nitrite are you getting after the 12/24th hr?

 

[creg]

i emailed midlands malawis for advice they said..


Most mbuna will live togather,the only problem with them is they can cross breed
therefore i would recomend not keeping fish that look similar. I would also recomend have a even amout of males and females or more females than males as a male heavy tank doesnt tend to work.

i would think your tank can hold 25
fish no prob.

25 sounds about correct I'd say as long as you have plenty of caves and hiding places/places for them to dart around when being chased. I'd try and add as many as you can to start with (taking that everything has been cycled and readings are all ok) so that they all have equal footing in marking their territory. If you get them gradually you may need to alter things in the tank to achieve this and set them all back to square one

Then if u get cats I'd maybe go with 20 cichlids and 5 cats? I think the ratios on the yellow labs and rusty is 4 females to one male

i have mature filter media i can use but not sure that will allow me to fully stock straight away, might go with 9 to start with then 9 more a couple weeks later then 4 catfish. will buy them as juvi`s too.

gonna buy slate from local garden centre and stack it to make loads of holes/caves

Are you currently doing the fishless cycling using ammonia adding and waiting? What reading of ammonia/nitrite are you getting after the 12/24th hr?

nah not doing it, didnt do it with my first tank either. did the add fish and wait before adding more method and it worked lol.

ive got a test kit so i can keep an eye on the water quality though, pretty sure i`ll be ok with my mature media

 

[SensesFail]

i emailed midlands malawis for advice they said..


Most mbuna will live togather,the only problem with them is they can cross breed
therefore i would recomend not keeping fish that look similar. I would also recomend have a even amout of males and females or more females than males as a male heavy tank doesnt tend to work.

i would think your tank can hold 25
fish no prob.

25 sounds about correct I'd say as long as you have plenty of caves and hiding places/places for them to dart around when being chased. I'd try and add as many as you can to start with (taking that everything has been cycled and readings are all ok) so that they all have equal footing in marking their territory. If you get them gradually you may need to alter things in the tank to achieve this and set them all back to square one

Then if u get cats I'd maybe go with 20 cichlids and 5 cats? I think the ratios on the yellow labs and rusty is 4 females to one male

i have mature filter media i can use but not sure that will allow me to fully stock straight away, might go with 9 to start with then 9 more a couple weeks later then 4 catfish. will buy them as juvi`s too.

gonna buy slate from local garden centre and stack it to make loads of holes/caves

Are you currently doing the fishless cycling using ammonia adding and waiting? What reading of ammonia/nitrite are you getting after the 12/24th hr?

nah not doing it, didnt do it with my first tank either. did the add fish and wait before adding more method and it worked lol.

ive got a test kit so i can keep an eye on the water quality though, pretty sure i`ll be ok with my mature media

Have you added the mature media or is it sitting in a tank with fish in or an ammonia source?