My Malawi's

[Richard Dbn]

Hey guys I need some advice as per usual.... Have had my malawi's for about 3 months now and the 5 were getting on well in my 2ft tank. Of late one of them has really taken over and killed my fire peacock and another smaller malawi.

WTF I am seriously thinking of ditching them at my LPS and changing to discus (they are apparently calmer). I really enjoyed the colours and energy the malawi's give off...

Any idea's or suggestions...http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/images/icons/icon6.gif

[neilh]

Get a bigger tank for one. They aren't small tank dwellers and thats probably why you seeing deaths

[Richard Dbn]

The 2ft is temporary.... Saving for a 4ft.... The fish are still small, and should, from what I was told be fine..... I would need to buy around 20 for the 4ft tank.... I just dont understand...

[neilh]

Define small? And what species are they? Depending on what species you get 20 is also way too much for a 4ft

[TankMaster]

Okay, if you're getting rid of them . . . send them this way . Might have a good deal for them.

Here's some info I need:

What filtration are you running?
What size are these malawis?

You can successfully keep them in a 2 foot provided you have a 400L/h internal filter and a 300L/h HOB.

I would simply tell you to get a few more malawis but that wont be the case this time. 5 malawis will cost you another R200 . .

Invest that R200 and get a 3ft. If you don't have the space and want to keep cichlids with a lot of color . . .I can get you something special . . .

You cant keep a discus alive in that tank very long . . .:( . .as much as I want you to be happy . . .I'm thinking more about the fish . .

Again, im in Durban . . PM me.

TM

[fishcrazy]

Hey Richard,my opinion there's two ways to keep malawis(from MY experience)1 is to overcrowd your tank up until your fish start to knock the 10cm or so bracket then you have to start to ween your tank...the benefit is that you can observe which species get along
2.Go by the book and stock according to volume as per adult size of fish(pref keeping maybe 2-3 species) with rocky decor....plants that one can put in these tanks are crinium nathans,java fern or the anubias species

And lastly KNOW YOUR FISH

[azurekoi]

Malawi's are generally split into the mbuna(rocky areas at side of lake where lots of competition for habitat exists) ant utaku(open water or sand dwelling....) - mixing these in such a small tank is a recipe for desaster as generally a mbuna will become hyper agressive in trying to assert a territory....my oppinion...2foot just to small to mix species,even maybe breeding groups of single species...Save up for thatbigger tank mate and sorry to hear about your loss....

[Richard Dbn]

Thanks for the advice, typical, lps just sells sells sells, don't really give a *&??!! about what happens to the fish afterwards.... Is a 2ft big enough for discus???

---------- Post added at 06:10 ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 ----------


Okay, if you're getting rid of them . . . send them this way . Might have a good deal for them.

Here's some info I need:

What filtration are you running?
What size are these malawis?

You can successfully keep them in a 2 foot provided you have a 400L/h internal filter and a 300L/h HOB.

I would simply tell you to get a few more malawis but that wont be the case this time. 5 malawis will cost you another R200 . .

Invest that R200 and get a 3ft. If you don't have the space and want to keep cichlids with a lot of color . . .I can get you something special . . .

You cant keep a discus alive in that tank very long . . .:( . .as much as I want you to be happy . . .I'm thinking more about the fish . .

Again, im in Durban . . PM me.

TM

Thanks tank, I am seriously thinking of getting rid of these... What are blue dolphin moori's like?

[neilh]

Thanks for the advice, typical, lps just sells sells sells, don't really give a *&??!! about what happens to the fish afterwards.... Is a 2ft big enough for discus???

---------- Post added at 06:10 ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 ----------



Thanks tank, I am seriously thinking of getting rid of these... What are blue dolphin moori's like?

Discus in a 2ft tank, short answer is no.
Cyrtocara Moorii ie Blue Dolphin gets to 20cm, so not even a 4ft is big enough...

[Richard Dbn]

[QUOTE=neilh;77662]Discus in a 2ft tank, short answer is no.
Cyrtocara Moorii ie Blue Dolphin gets to 20cm, so not even a 4ft is big enough...[/QUOTE

Eish......................... There goes that idea..... Any other suggestions

[Zoom]

Betas
Guppies
Cory's
Small tetras.

(Not all are compatible... just suggestions of small fish)

[mydummyname]

my wife was serious that what she wanted was a malawi tank.. we've had good success keeping one.

so far we've had only 1 death and that was when adding a smaller additional fish to the group at a later period.

from what we've learned:

your tank will need to be quite overstocked to spread the aggression

i would say if you going to get a 100L / 900mm long tank put 15 fish in there, and swop them out for smaller fish when they get too large for the tank.

malawis are expensive at +7cm long, so you can sell them at a reasonable price and buy a new younger batch with this money and have change while still giving someone a good deal on the bigger fish :)

they grow very fast for the first few months then growth rate slows down a bit.

rather add all the fish at once, but, make sure the tank is fully cycled, use filter media from your old tank to get this going.

you will need good filtration, her tank has a gutter system filter built into the hood with bioballs and filter matting/floss as well as an internal filter, to deal with the overstocking.. consider converting your 2ft to a sump for your new tank.

good aeration is vital.

25% water change once a week, with a good dechlorinator, we use the Aquamaster Safe Guard 5. it eliminates chlorine, chloramine and ammonia.

(http://www.peninsulapetsupplies.com.au/Aquamaster-Safe-Guard-5.html)
the tank will need to be big enough/long enough to give them room to hide / run when being chased, this way a dominant fish will start out chasing one fish and end up chasing another, eventually give up the chase while loooking very stupid lol. very effective.

lots of decorations, specifically tall cave like ornaments with openings and hidey holes. tallish ornaments mean they dont always see each other so they not always in each others face. curbs the aggression nicely.

a very thick layer of substrate, minimum 5cm thick, they will dig out there own caves and landscape the tank for you. beware of falling ornaments!

crushed coral mixed with fine silica sand works well as substrate, because as i said, they love digging in the fine substrate and the landscape of your tank will change every few days lol

if you going to use crushed coral only, its gonna get very expensive..

just my 2c, hope you get it to work, but you will have the most beautiful tank if you follow these basics.

[erratiC]

I started with a community tank with guppies and angels, etc. then got bored of them and swapped them all for malawis.... NEVER will i ever go back again lol. I've just had 11 little babies as well from my yellow labs so my tank is growing.

My advice is to follow mydummyname's advice and push through the tiny issues that you're having now... eventually it pays off.

[scotty]

Hi, Don't ever buy Aulonocara and mix with either Mbuna or Haplochromis species as they do tend to be the softer of the species in the Lake.
Keeping fish teaches one PATIENCE. If you don't want to be patient then be prepared to pay!!!
I would never sell Malawi's to be put into a "what foot tank"? Smallest should be a 3ft with plenty of rocks and filtration. Rocks preferably piled into two heaps, one at either end. These are lesson I have learnt over the past 5-6 years of keeping around 60 species.
The ideal smallest tank should be a 1,2m with around 1,500 litre per hour total filtration. Together with this you should be diong a 20% weekly water change!