The Decline Of The Malawi Cichlid....

[Squid]

They are pretty hardy..

They are colourful..

You can overstock (with good filtration)..

They are active fish..

They suit the local water..

so why aren't they popular in this area......

Do people think they are going to be more complicated than they are???

Any ideas.

Squid

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hmmm there seems to be a bit of a market for them around here, but cos there's a few rift lake cichlid specialists in the area they don't sell at all from 'normal' fish shops. we closed down our tang tank (ok i know it's not malawi but nearly there!) a little while back and traded them in at the lfs, we can still go visit them as most of the fish are still there a few months on

 

[Soaup]

How does that prove that theres quite a market for them in your area? Your fish have been at the store for months? I usually dont have a problem finding cichlids around here. There are plenty of stores in the city that have fish whether its mom and pop stores, specialists or just chain stores such as petland or petco.

 

[jumpman]

They are pretty hardy..

They are colourful..

You can overstock (with good filtration)..

They are active fish..

They suit the local water..

so why aren't they popular in this area......

Do people think they are going to be more complicated than they are???

Any ideas.

Squid

I think that has more to do with your LFS than the area. Certainly in many Surrey and SW London stores there are always plenty of Malawis, and plenty of private breeders that I know of advertising many of these cichlids. I keep tangs, and there are far far fewer of those around....

 

[Nick Sw]

I agree with Miss Wiggle there seems to be plenty of people interested in our area (yorkshire) but a lack of quality fish/suppliers it`s a shame.
Standard LFS`s seem either ignorant to quality of breeding, water params. and stoking issues or simply don`t care.
Miss Wiggle I`m guessing you took them to the former "Living Death" ? I may of seen them !

 

[Squid]

[

I think that has more to do with your LFS than the area. Certainly in many Surrey and SW London stores there are always plenty of Malawis, and plenty of private breeders that I know of advertising many of these cichlids. I keep tangs, and there are far far fewer of those around....

Thats good to hear.. i'm looking at setting up a cichlid tank, and would be interested in knowing of any good places in surrey that would make a good supplier for me.

Squid

 

[jumpman]

[

I think that has more to do with your LFS than the area. Certainly in many Surrey and SW London stores there are always plenty of Malawis, and plenty of private breeders that I know of advertising many of these cichlids. I keep tangs, and there are far far fewer of those around....

Thats good to hear.. i'm looking at setting up a cichlid tank, and would be interested in knowing of any good places in surrey that would make a good supplier for me.

Squid

There are plenty of places in Surrey in the back of PFK magazine....the one nearest to me I would recommend is Maidenhead Aquatics in Morden. have also had contact with a couple of breeders through this website in your area:

http/www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/boks.php

hth

 

[boshank23]

"poor mans marine"
i think the decline of malawi is due to marine keeping becoming easyer to get into, the equipment prices have droped dramatically and more LFS have started to have marine sections.

the information available on marines has become more comprehensive, i gave up my malawi in favour of a marine tank.

a few years ago i wouldn't have attempted to keep marines.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I agree with Miss Wiggle there seems to be plenty of people interested in our area (yorkshire) but a lack of quality fish/suppliers it`s a shame.
Standard LFS`s seem either ignorant to quality of breeding, water params. and stoking issues or simply don`t care.
Miss Wiggle I`m guessing you took them to the former "Living Death" ? I may of seen them !

oh god no chance, i won't even go in that place!! they're in paws for thought on york rd

what i meant is with a couple of rift lake specialist shops there must be a market for them in the area, but becuase of the specialist places people don't buy them from 'regular' fish shops.

 

[adambrum]

I think its to do with the "species only tank or specialist" labels most seem to put on the tanks, and if you ask the staff they all seem to go look for the "cichlid expert" .Most people don't even know what they are but they do know tetras and stuff so they go with what they know.