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Home      Reply		Viewed: 425 -- Replies: 20
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Posted	Malawi cichlids tankmates
29-08-2006 20:26 by keith t	I recently got my malawi set up sorted out after purchasing another tank and putting all my oddballs in that. Just wondering what else i can keep with my mbuna cichlids, was thinking along the lines of crabs or lobsters, would i be able to keep these with my malawis
29-08-2006 20:44 by wymcot	Mbuna are aggressive and most will grow to 4"-6". They will undoubtedly harrass crabs or lobsters and if you have your Mbuna stocking levels correct, will probably end up killing them over time
29-08-2006 20:54 by keith t	i have about 20 young malawi in a 400 ltr tank, looks bare at the mo, but as ive just removed bogwood and gravel and replaced with sand and ocean rock im waiting a little while to get the system settled again. What do you recommend for stocking levels wymcot
29-08-2006 21:07 by wymcot	Given the size of your tank you could have 20-30 adult fish. If yours are still small you could almost double the numbers but be prepared to thin them out as they grow You can get as much advise as you'll ever need on here http://www.malawikeepers.com/index.php
29-08-2006 21:26 by keith t	cheers wymcot, very good site just joined it.
29-08-2006 21:54 by KOBISKYE	keith t , hows you buddy, i used to keep malawi and blue lobsters together, never had issues with them but never found any fish to keep with them except from syno catfish,,stocking levels i was always advised to keep between 10-15 fish per foot of your tank...wymcot will probably be your best advisor he seems to know his stuff,
30-08-2006 06:34 by richard hulley	why cant you keep other malawis with your mbuna like a few small aulonocara i.e cobue or baenschi. these will be ok with what you have so far and they are strong enough to stand their own ground and will also add a bit of variance to your malawi tank.
30-08-2006 08:26 by Malawimad	Aulnocarna dont fair well with mbuna, I learnt that last week on a nice piar of jackofrbegi, Stock the tank as much as you can get in, it keeps the aggression to a minimum, I have 25 fish to 125ltrs, Most are no bigger than 3", butdo have 5 adults, red zebra, scolofi, OB zebras which are roughly 6"..... I keep a couple of Hoplo cats in there and 3 britlenose plecs... They all seem to get on fine
30-08-2006 09:02 by PaddyD	While you can mix stuff, you may get problems Mbuna do not mix with other species at all well.. The best thing to do is just stock mbuna - and stay away from particularly aggressive species like Melanochromis auratus. You want to be stocking at about 6 adult fish per square foot of surface area so probably about 40-50 fish in a tank your size, so ensure you have got plenty of filteration. This stocking level will reduce aggression.
30-08-2006 09:30 by Malawimad	Most Mbuna are nasty, I have a Psuedtrhophius falvus, about 2" but he is th nastiest thing in the tank, anything that goes near his little corner he goes bonkers... Even the bigger OB zebras and large scolofi daren't bother him... I dropped a pair of jackofrebgi in and within 3 hours they we're dead, the mbuna stripped them of fins and just plagued them to death
30-08-2006 09:55 by keith t	cheers guys great help, will post pics of my tank soon when misses brings back my camera from her works, it looks the mutts nuts but i let you be the judges
30-08-2006 09:57 by richard hulley	i have peacocks and mbuna in my tank, albeit an 8x2x2 i dont have an aggression problem. it all depends on how your tank is set up and the size of the tank
30-08-2006 10:00 by Malawimad	My tank is crammed with 40-50kg of ocean rock, few plastic plants here and there... Hiding places are plenty, How's your tank set up Richard? Do u have any pics?
30-08-2006 10:14 by Malawimad	Keith... I am just trying to load a pic of my tank to show u how i've got it set up, i know its going off the original nature of the thread but i thought u might be interested to see it anyway.... The pic was taken a couple of weeks ago!
30-08-2006 10:18 by wymcot	One important fact that has been missed here with mixing Haps & Mbuna is that they have different dietry needs. Haps are carnivours and require protien, Mbuna are vegetarian and high levels of protien can cause Malawi Bloat which invariably has one result, it kill's them. Having said that some Mbuna are onmivoures and can handle a Haps diet as long as there is still a high level of vegetable matter included (spirulina), they are the Labidichromis species of which the Yellow Lab is the most famous In a very large tank, and given a good balanced diet it can be possible to mix some Mbuna but the ratio to Haps must be kept low. In all honesty, and with any tank less than 500ltrs your safest bet is to stick to tanks Mbuna are without doubt the best choice as Haps can grow to very large sizes
30-08-2006 10:25 by Malawimad	This is my tank Kieth!
30-08-2006 10:27 by Malawimad	The tank has changed slightly since this pic, i have built across the two mounds of ocean rock with other large pieces of ocea rock so the tank is now crammed front to back top to bottom with rock... it looks stunning!
30-08-2006 12:32 by keith t	I will post a pic of mine tonight, i think you may be impressed. i have 65 kgs of ocean rock, sand base and the background is internal 3d and roughly the same colour as the ocean rock, if only my misses didnt take my camera, she is having bread and water for tonights dinner
30-08-2006 12:34 by keith t	you have the same fish as me malawimad but yours look bigger and better
30-08-2006 13:11 by Malawimad	Not all the fish ar visible on that one keith, I'll take some bteert ones tonight and drop them on in the morning!
30-08-2006 13:18 by Malawimad	In my malawi tank keith i have the following: 3 x Red Zebras (1 is 6") 2 x Psued Scolofi 6" 3 x OB Zebra's (1 is 5") 2 x Venustus 3 x Psued Flavus 2 x Lambordi 1 x Brichardi 2 x Hoplo Cats 3 x Britlenose 1 x Hongi red top 1 x (some kind of hap, white stripe) 1 x Psued Greshaki There is more, but cant remember without looking, as i said aslo have 40-50kg of ocean rock and loads of livestock... If i've learnt anything with Malawi's its cram them in as much as possible, I now water change twice a week with 50% on this set up as i bought another 3 fish at weekend!

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