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Viewed: 298 -- Replies: 10 | ||||||||
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| Posted | Thinking of starting a malawi tank |
| 04-01-2007 19:23 by saz |
I am soon going to have an empty 5x2x2 and we are thinking about setting it up for malawis but am going to need some help as i have never kept these before, eg, what can i keep together, water conditions, sand, gravel, bogwood etc, all help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. |
| 04-01-2007 19:25 by paul stevens |
Aint got a clue...  |
| 04-01-2007 19:28 by saz |
Thats funny, neither have i hence the thread |
| 04-01-2007 20:23 by Linda Chenapa |
Try this web site, it seems to have some good advice.
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/mbuna3.htm |
| 04-01-2007 20:31 by Bogwoodbruce |
I've got malawis their great. They need lots of caves (ocean rock is good) and coral sand gravel. And they like the water hard and alkaline. |
| 04-01-2007 20:53 by Red hook |
speak to keith t hes got rights to a quarry so he might get you some cheap rock,ha ha |
| 04-01-2007 21:19 by Ste |
I have hundreds of malawis and as bogwood has already stated use plenty of ocean rock as it helps to raise the ph and also gives them plenty of places to hide .
when buying your ocean rock buy it by the 25kg bag it works out cheaper than buying single pieces. other than that i have found most species will live together and you can also include plecs and synodontis catfish they will live together fine. Good luck |
| 05-01-2007 10:58 by saz |
Do i need to add anything else other than coral sand and ocean rock to raise the ph and hardness |
| 05-01-2007 13:10 by PaddyD |
The connditions you need are a ph of approx 7.8 - 8.2 and fairly hard. If your local water is high you might not need to use much rocks and decor to raise the pH
Firstly - look into the different types of malawis - Not all should be kept in a rock set up! Also I would avoid coral sand - cheifly because of looks - it is very reflective and the fish may well look better against a darker substrate like standard gravel, silver sand or black gravel. If you are talking about Mbuna, there need to be lots of rocks and a very high stocking level compared to 'normal' fish, this will keep aggression to a managable level. A a good external filter (even better 2, so you can alternate cleaning is great) is required because of this Ocean rock is good, but if you don't need the buffering capacity, slate and big pebbles can look good. The main groups of malawis more or less fit into these types: 1) Mbuna - 4-6" aggressive, need lots of rocks and a high stocking level (approx 5 adult fish per squarwe foot of area - so about 50 fish in your tank) There are some very nasty fish in this group as well as lots of reletively 'peaceful' fish. A good dealer (not easy to find)should be able to help you 2) Small Haplochromines and peacocks 4-6" These are more peaceful and usually will not mix with mbuna. Usually stunning metallic fish, come from generally less rocky set ups with more open sandy areas - generally best not to overcrowd. 3) Big Haplochomines - big (8-10") Larger fish requiring some open swimming space - very impressive includes preditory species like Nimbocromis livingstoni. If you can possibly find a good dealer to show you around and show you the fish avaailable you can see what takes your fancy. |
| 05-01-2007 13:21 by Ray |
Paddy is right about coral sand,avoid it silver sand is ideal or try aragonite as it is a natural buffer.Coral sand will damage the fish as they dig a lot. |
| 06-01-2007 18:26 by saz |
Thinking about central american cichlids, thanks for all the advice all |
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