My Malawi Mix

With a confused South American and some other random things.

 

Dude....this tank looks very neat.

Like the saying goes... "No frills, no fuss, just good value"

Cheers
Dale

 

looks great, i'm surprised the plants never get chowed yet

 

Those are very very fake

Yeah, I mean it doesn't really look like a Malawi tank at all with zero rocks, and bloody plants, but it sort of happened on the spur of the moment when I decided to get a pair of convicts.

It was an Oscar tank before, and the two fellows passed away because of stress (at least I think so) due to the tank being moved twice in a short period of time, and heavy construction happening in the house.

The Upsidedown Synodontis that kept the place clean for the big O's is still in the tank, just hiding somewhere.

So I bought the Convicts on the spur of the moment just to get back into the mix of keeping fish, after getting very attached to my two Oscars who were a couple of years old at the time.

Of course having a fairly large tank with two little Convicts, it seemed quite boring so soon enough, when I didn't have my brain about me and forgot that Convicts are South American, I just bought a bunch of these cheapo no-name brand Malawi's, and then later got a little bit more selective.

Which is why it's such a mish-mash of different species, some of which I can't even identify properly.

And I just like Rainbox Sharks, I know it looks weird and all but they just bring a bit of colour to the cleaning crew, which is quite rare.

There is a Synodontis Petricola in the tank as well, but I haven't really seen that oke since the day he went in...once in a while see just a quick flash. Would get a whole school of them going if they weren't so pricey.

 

I originally bought the tank on a whim, because it fit in perfectly to a corner space I had in my room, due to a strange wall construction.

Figured since it met the bare minimum size requirements for full grown Oscars these okes would be comfortable for quite a while before needing to move on.

Believe it or not, all those plants except the tall one, were actually real and lasted almost a year before they decided they were vegetarians.

 

Hey SauRoN
Just a quick question off the topic, i got given the identical tank to yours, do you have a problem with the filter overflowing?
Thanks

 

I did in the very beginning.

Design is somewhat retarded letting water push out the back, instead of back into the tank proper.

Initially I wanted to drill a hole at the top level of the box but there is what I did instead.

You know those black plastic plates that is supposed to sit under the media? Push them out to the sides so that they go underneath the white vertical slats on which the piping rests.

Now put the ceramic media in the bottom, and then put the filter sponge on top of it.

The wee bit of clearance underneath the white slats seems to be the problem, since if you put them all the way down it has no means of flowing out.

Failing that, remove the rubber from the inlet pipe, that way it will overflow there and back into the tank, instead of out the back.



And while you are at it, buy a piece of perspex and cut yourself a condensation plate, because if you look closely at the lip of the tank edge and the lid of the canopy you will notice condensation will flow straight past the lip, down the glass and eventually it will cock up the cabinet as mine has.

Chinese didn't use all their brain cells when they constructed this one, then again I didn't use all my brain cells either when I bought it.

I'm guessing however that a condensation plate was either supposed to be in the box, or an optional extra, since it appears to be designed to house one, since you'll see an inner lip as well as the reason for having that piece of plastic running down the middle.

 

Sarf & Rowland are our Malawi gurus...perhaps they can assist you with the identification of them

Convicts do grow into quite a size as they get older

 

Yeah I believe they do, but then their rate of growth is nothing compared to Oscars and the like.

A lot of these fish were bought unbranded from Panorama Petshop, so I'm guessing if they didn't know then nobody does.

Most are just some or other mix of Hongis.

 

Hey SauRoN

Thanks for that info going to try that tonight, thanks for the info on the condensation that was my next question, i was also about to drill holes in the back of the housing but decided against it, did a temp fix with using silicone to chanel the water away from going down the sides of the tank. had no idea what to do for the condensation, so thanks again for your info.
Later

 

I wish someone would just give me a 1,5m tank with a cabinet and all.

 

I would opt for that option toooo

 

Hi Sauron

I saw on the Gumtree classifieds there is a guy that whats to sell a lot of Malawi.

If I can remember correctly it was about R400 for 100 fish. Very nice colours blue, yellow, allsorts. If your interrested.

 

Price seems very good,but remember,be aware about alot of backyard breeders..ppl have a VERY BAD habit of crossbreeding malawis and calling it a genuine fish

 

nice tank man

 

Thanks JayMeister.

I think I have enough Malawi's for now, wouldn't be able to house a 100 anyway.