African Cichlids Garage Display Tank

I'm looking at doing something similar! Looks great. Any updates?

 

Hi guys

Had some major aggression issues even though the tank is overstocked, so sadly had some losses. Also my PB Peacock is a mafia boss.

I had to replace those artificial rocks as well as they are hollow so dirt collects inside and causes nitrate issues even though this tank runs over 4000lph filtration.

Its now more natural with aquascape rock and driftwood. I've upgraded the wavemaker. Plan to add some anubia and java ferns.

Planning a bit of an upgrade for this tank, will go a bit longer and higher. I am restricted with the width due to the cabinet I am using. Will post a pics later today.

 

Look forward to the pictures @Breado
Sounds nice from your description

I love a colourful Malawi tank, in fact when i started up again after a short break, i started with Malawis but i couldnt sort out the aggression, also kept having losses due to it and Im a bit of a softie, i panic when fish start fighting.... i prefer a peaceful tank so i gave upon the Malawis!

 

Hi @Breado your tank looks great and I cannot wait to see what you've done with it now.

With regards to the aggression in my experience OB peacocks are even meaner than mbuna and for this reason I've avoided them in my tank altogether. I notice you have a mix of mbuna, haps and peacocks. I have quite the same but choosing by color is very important for mbuna and choosing peacocks that are much larger than the Mbuna seemed to have worked for me ( followed the advice by Jon @ kg tropicals ). I have quite the mean crew but aggression seems at bay as their colours are far apart so they usually don't bother everyone and only males that look like them. This has worked for me well and with an overstocked tank it takes much longer for 2 fish to cross each others path often enough for them to harass the other.

With regards to dirt being stuck under the rocks, I use a hose to fill the tank. Halfway through my water change I turn the hose on as face it into the rockwork which stirrs it all up and then I continue syphoning out the water with the mess. This way my nitrates on water change day is around 50

 

That is a very interesting theory

@Breado , the dirt under the rocks can also be avoided by placing 1 or 2 wavemakers in the right places
You just need to put them in place and then play around a little with the direction you need to turn them until you happy

 

It seems to have worked with my tank.
I have the following fish which are mbuna

Kenyi - males are a brown yellow and females blue with grey bars
Red zebra - a tangerine fish with males having a whitish hue
Demasoni - males and females are a dark blue with very strong black bars and fins
Socolofi - powder blue with a torpedo shape and I have albinos of them
Yellow labs - name says it all.
Auratus - males are black with a gold and white horizontal stripe and females gold with a black and white stripe

I have big numbers per species and if ever there's an issue it's with a Demasoni and kenyi.

All my peacock's are line bred dragon bloods who are on the more aggressive side so they can hold their own. The largest peacocks are the typical alocanara species and due to size they left alone

 

Thats awesome, i have certainly learn a lot about Malawis in the last couple of weeks!!

 

That's what I love about spending my time on this site. So much of information transmitted here in so many different parts of the hobby.

 

That is very true, we have an amazing and caring membership base that doesnt hold back and share their knowledge freely with everyone which is awesome

 

Hi guys

Made some progress with the upgrade and added more fish from a friends shutdown, hence the crazy mix

Volume is almost double of the previous tank

 

Looks great!

 

Looking great.. I see a frontosa there too

 

Thanks guys Appreciate the positive feedback.

@Shabir - yeh, those are F1 Samazi frontosa. I got them at 3cm and had them in their own tank to grow out and somehow the tank cracked on the back pane. Fortunately the tank had black vinyl on the back that prevented the tank form emptying out quickly, so they were saved and I was forced to put them in with the big guys. Funny enough they started growing faster and no other fish bothers them at all. There are also two male brichardi in there - also the bosses of the lower part of the tank

Want to add a few more plants and maybe one or two others cichlids that Ive wanted for a while esp since aggression is much less now.

 

Omg that's amazing to hear about their growth spurts. I guess it's coz they're forced to bulk up due to competition. F1s though I'd imagine would be a little tricky in this mix but I guess it comes down to the individual fish. Your brichardi are males or is it possible you could have a pair? If so is dangerous because they can become very notorious when breeding, especially to another species

 

@Whoknows - thanks - yeh, I did upgrade the tank.

The other was a standard 4ft, this one is 1500*550*700 and had a side sump. the display section is 1400*550*600.

@Shabir, the Brichardi are males fortunately. I would like to breed them, but then I need to get them out there (which will be quite the challenge )