Lake Malawi 55g

[slurpbro]

Hello. I'm a beginner, but I still want to put a lake Malawi habitat in my 55g. Is this advisable?

Also this is my scheme of things.

2 synodontis njassae (Malawi catfish)
2 electric blue haplochromis
4 zebra mbuna (1male 3female)
4 auratus (1male 3female)

I was told to keep the mbuna and auratis in harems. The catfish eat the fry, too, so this is not a problem.

For my old unused 10 gallon:

10 dwarf pencilfish
4 panda cory.

Does This work?

 

[XxTitleisTxX]

that should work... but i would wait for another person to confirm :]

 

[poppab02]

Don't put the Haps in that habitat. It's highly unadvisable. Just FYI Auratus are one of the most aggressive mbuna species you will ever encounter. I personally won't keep them except in a species only tanks. You may have problems with them bullying the zebras.

 

[AlonelyCody]

Well I am unsure about that type of Ciichlid. i really only know about the ones i have. But, here is a few web sites that might help you, they hepled me. I hope they help you.

(O:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/

http://malawicichlids.com/index.htm

http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/cichlids.shtml

http://species.fishindex.com/186

http://filaman.uni-kiel.de/ComNames/CommonNameSearchList.cfm

 

[slurpbro]

Why not?

I'm at least well informed. I know what I'm getting into. The Haplochromis are predators, so they make a lot of waste and are messy. This can be countered with an extremely efficient filtration system. I was thinking of getting a substrate filter and waterfall filter at the same time. They make combos like that, right? I'm really worried about the expensive predator food. Can I breed my own food for the haps?

Auratus can go. Any Ideas for more Lake Malawi chililids I can put in their place? The alternative would be incresing the zebra harem. Are there any Malawi Julies? Maybe another synodontis... Help! That reminds me, the synos will at least clean up the mess from the haplochromis feeding. I think one more syno and two more female zebras would be best. What do you think?

I'm sorry, I really wanted a predatory fish, especially one as cool as the haplochromis(cool color). I think I'm up to the challenge. I'm actually more worried about overfeeding... I have trouble with that. Any pointers?

Sorry to nearly disregard your advice. I know this isn't the kind of thing a beginner could easily do. Any help would be incredibly appreciated. Thank you all.

 

[FishLover14]

Try Cobalt Blue Zebras or Yellow Labs.

Dan

 

[poppab02]

Here comes the short version of the mbuna vs. haps noncompatibility speech
They have a completely different pecking order. They don't understand each other's forms of aggression or how they are suppossed to react. This leads to deaths. Usually I'll take a pack of mbuna over haps but the electric blue is widely regarded as one of the most aggressive haps, so I don't know who will win. Likely it will depend on size, personality, etc.
Their dietary needs are incompatible. Mbuna=herbivores in wild, Haps=predators in wild, their bodies are set up differently. The problem is mbuna are always hungry, they are always ready for feeding time, thus anything you have to put in to feed the Hap, they are also going to get a piece of. Too much protein in a mbuna diet results in Malawi bloat.
The results of putting Haps and Mbuna together are unhappy and unhealthy fish. I'm not trying to be mean, it's just the truth. Trust me, I understand the desire to put them together. I'm in waiting for my Hap tank since I can't set one up until after I move, which is six months away. My mbuna tank is keeping me happy enough though.

 

[FishLover14]

Try gong with only Mbuna and scip the haps.

Go to http://cichlid-forum.com

You will find beauitiful Malawi Mbuna profiles and piccys.

Dan

 

[Menagerie]

Auratus can go.

Good, because they will rule your tank.
I have never owned electric blues, according to this website, http://www.sydneycichlid.com/sfryeri.html , they eat "the fry of other species and will do so in the confines of an aquarium should the opportunity arise." They will do fine with frozen foods and the fry of thers. Fry are small and unless you want to breed guppies and feed the fry to the blues, stick with frozen foods, brine shrimp or other small live foods, such as micro worms.
Also, two haps may take over the zebras. You may want to go with only haps and catfish.
You will need to invest in a lot of rock substrate for the blues or zebras. Check out my gallery for Malawi habitat ideas.

For my old unused 10 gallon:
10 dwarf pencilfish
4 panda cory.

After a quick search for dwarf pencilfish, I will tell you that tank is overstocked.

 

[poppab02]

Ok, some other things. I love the 55g as a malawi habitat. It's really a pretty good size for them as long as you resist the urge to overcrowd. The key is successful decorating of the tank. You have to have height in your decorations, it's very important because this helps alleviate aggression. When there is nothing in the top of the tank they chase each other mercilously. If you have the money, go get Texas Holey Rock, it's natural and it's probably the best alternative. If you don't have the money, get creative, I personally didn't have the money. I stacked decorations on top of each other amongst other things.
No Julies. Thankfully you know not to mix the different lake varieties of african cichlids.
I'd recommend adding a hardy and aggressive mid sized (6-7") pleco over another syno. 2 syno's should be plenty enough for a cleanup crew of the food and then the pleco will take care of your algae instead of having to scrape it off.
One thing I would say to spend your money on is a good canister filter, you can make a waterfall out of them(I know you talked about that). You shouldn't need another filter with a good canister. You can get them online for a decent price, much less than at the lfs.
Also, your friend is correct on the harem suggestion, if you are intent on buying juvenile or adult fish. Since you have no intention of breeding, that is not necessary as long as you buy the fish at a very young age and raise them together they will be fine. My current 55 g mbuna tank has 8 fish, 4 different species, and only 3 females and is fine(and all are full grown). This is because all were raised together from about the 3/4-1" size. It's cheaper to do this and they are actually very tolerant of one another. If you try mixing them once they are large enough to determine sex they don't do as well together and you most definitely must keep them in harems. Plus if you do this you can space out your buying of decorations and also you don't need to add syno's or pleco until the cichlids are around 2"
Keep the questions coming

 

[FishLover14]

Try a albino gibbiceps pleco for your tank, should be able to hold his own against the cihclids.

Dan

 

[Menagerie]

I forgot about the overfeeding Q. Feed them every other day and also subsitute in veggies once every couple of weeks.

 

[poppab02]

Feeding depends on size, when very small(1") I feed twice a day in small amounts. As juveniles I feed once a day (2-3"). As adults about every other day(4-6").

 

[slurpbro]

Okay, my options:
Mbuna Tank
8 Zebra mbuna
2 Syno
1 Pleco

Haplochomis Tank
2 Electric Blue Haps
2 Syno
1 Pleco
? ????

What else can I put in the hap tank? I dont want to just have the two fish in there. I also really want to keep the haplochromis, so I don't want to just have a Mbuna tank. Problem, yes? I geuss the mbuna would be fine because of my inexperience, but only if there is nothing else I can put in the tank with the haplochromis. That logic doesn't really work, but it is my order of wanting right now.

Platys do for feeder fry? I imagine guppys would breed faster, but I have platys on hand in my 10 gallon. I just wanted some corys as they are one of my favorite fish. So i thought that Panda corys which are smallest, and Dwarf Pencilfish are tiny, too, would fit in a 10g.

How do you breed brine shrimp?

Thanks for the feeding help. That should make my tanks a lot healthier and cleaner. How about another fish that isn't from lake malawi? It would just have to be able to survive in hard alkaline water, and get along with the haps, right? Any Ideas? Or maybe a different species of hap, as long as it is very different looking, otherwise it would be pointless. Maybe more blue haps. Help please. Thanks.

 

[FishLover14]

http://cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=1


Try looking for Haps that you like on that site.

Dan

 

[poppab02]

Well, a 55g is less suited IMO for Haps than Mbuna. With Haps you have to be careful not to select male fish that look alike in any way. You only can have one male Electric Blue in a 55 g, there just isn't enough room for two, they will kill each other. Basically, with Haps, if they don't look alike they may be able to go together. I know much less about Haps than Mbuna but I believe that is generally what to look for. I also think they need larger harems, like 1-5 ratio.

Also, there are alot of other mbunas to choose from besides just zebras. Pseudo. Acei are probably my favorite mbuna and if you aren't keeping Auratus or a Hap they would be a good choice. There's a ton more besides them.

 

[Menagerie]

I also think they need larger harems, like 1-5 ratio.

That's what I was reading about the blues also.

I have a Banded Leporinus in with my Mbuna. He's 6-7' now and can grow to a foot. The tank size is 80 gals with tons of rock. I'm not sure that this fish is an option for your tank, but possiblities are out there.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=982

 

[FishLover14]

Try getting s larger hpa harem around 5 females and 1 male and get a totallt differnt colored differnt species of hap and get 1 male and 5 females.

HTH

Dan