Which Malawi?

[johnnybravo]

Im in the process of setting up a 200 ltr / 45 english gallons tank for malawi
The tank consists of built up ocean rock with lots of hide outs / caves and was thinking about sand but i have a submersable pump which pumps the waste through the filer in the hood of the tank (sorry i dont know what these type of filters are called) but anyway would it suck up the sand? and is sand ok for malawi?

Im wanting to choose specific malawi that i can have the most variety, compatability ect in other words i want to vary the type of malawi and not just have a load of the same type if possible so anyone suggest anything suitable? its the first time ive kept malawi as well so any tips be grateful, thanks

 

[darrel69]

Im not sure what kind of filter you mean, but im sure sand is ok with most, if not all kind filters i know of. And sand is preffered with Malawi's as they like to dig... alot, and make dens and what'not..

There's plenty of variety to choose from Malawi's, and its usually best to overstock for aggression issues. Assuming its Mbuna your wanting to keep, have a look HERE to see which fish take's your fancy.

But try to keep away from any of the Melanochromis genus and M.Lombardoi (kenyi) as they're top of the list when it comes to aggression.

A few good ones to start of with are Cynotilapia afra, Labidochromis caeruleus, Metriaclima estherae, Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"....

Good Luck

 

[mr oscar]

Im not sure what kind of filter you mean, but im sure sand is ok with most, if not all kind filters i know of. And sand is preffered with Malawi's as they like to dig... alot, and make dens and what'not..

There's plenty of variety to choose from Malawi's, and its usually best to overstock for aggression issues. Assuming its Mbuna your wanting to keep, have a look HERE to see which fish take's your fancy.

But try to keep away from any of the Melanochromis genus and M.Lombardoi (kenyi) as they're top of the list when it comes to aggression.

A few good ones to start of with are Cynotilapia afra, Labidochromis caeruleus, Metriaclima estherae, Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"....

Good Luck

agreed avoid melanochomis auratus very nasty, also i think your tank is a little small for a malawi tank, you need to stock quite heavily to avoid fighting, and need lots of hiding spaces, it may be ok but i would recommend larger

 

[kj23502]

Well it's about 52 us gallons(i've read 55 gallons minimum so it's close)....I've been following what I learned when I set up my 125 usg tank. About 3.5 to 4 gallons per fish...so you can have about 13 at the very max.

Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" would be a good choice, I think! In general they are only supposed to be mildly aggressive. They generally have blue body with a yellow tail.
I think these others would be good as well!

pseudotropheus acei-both sexes are colorful "aka yellow tail acei

metriaclima callainos-both sexes are colorful "aka cobalt zebra or pearl zebra"

pseudotropheus socolofi-both sexes are colorful "aka ps. pindani,

Labidochromis Caeruleus-again both sexes are colorful
There may a few more choices for ya, but this is what I found off hand!
Sand(or fine not sharp gravel) is best for malawi cichlids, as they like to "move it around" when they build their nesting spots.

 

[johnnybravo]

wow now thats what i call choice! ill take your advice though. 13 sounds plenty
i like the look of the rock kribs i saw in the lfs but it looked a bit aggressive round that cucumber, are these mbuna?

heres the filter running through the hood

and this is the tank ill be using, you can see what i mean with the filter, will it be ok for sand?

 

[kj23502]

The ones i listed are mbuna and are generally cosidered to be less aggressive than others. Kribs are not mbuna and I think they come from the victoria basin?!. I've read they can be really aggressive when breeding, often chasing the other fish to the other side of the tank?! I don't know much more about them at all, as I've not read about them a whole lot.

 

[kj23502]

wow now thats what i call choice! ill take your advice though. 13 sounds plenty

I'd prob do 5 of one species and then 5 of another.

heres the filter running through the hood

and this is the tank ill be using, you can see what i mean with the filter, will it be ok for sand?

I'm not sure, but you may be better off using a finer aquarium gravel rather than sand to be on the safe side.

 

[kj23502]

Another peice of advice for ya.... just tell me if you want me to shut up

It's better to take tank pics at night after turning off all the other lights around and then leaving your tank light on. Experiment with turning the flash off on your camera.

By doing this you may not get as much glare and reflections. You may already know this and sorry if you do, but just thought I'd share!