New to cichlids - stocking Malawis

[Daven]

Hey guys. I will now be getting a 75 gallon going soon so that opened me up to the possibilities of larger more aggressive fish. I love the colours of many cichlids, and am leaning towards a lake Malawi based tank from what I've seen so far. I am only experienced with housing small peaceful community fish, so I need some help. Can you guys give me some pointers on where to start with stocking? How would I go about adding fish so they aren't attacked for invading territories? Am I limited to all cichlids in my tank, or are there others like bottom feeders that could be an option?

I like bright coloured fish like the electric yellow labs and some peacocks. Suggestions are definitely welcome!


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[PoppaRyno]

welcome to the cichlid world. there are lots of things you can add with them, bottom feeder wise that is. plecos are fine. synos are fine.lots of loaches are ok. i breed peacock cichlids and keep synos and loaches and plecos in with them.

 

[sinibotia]

welcome to the cichlid world. there are lots of things you can add with them, bottom feeder wise that is. plecos are fine. synos are fine.lots of loaches are ok. i breed peacock cichlids and keep synos and loaches and plecos in with them.

I strongly, strongly disagree with the bolded statement Plecos and synos I can agree with.

I'll just throw this article in here and bail http://www.loaches.com/articles/why-loaches-should-not-be-kept-with-malawi-cichlids

 

[PoppaRyno]

well for me, i guess i should say, it does work. i keep 4 diff types of them with 4 diff types of peacocks. so 4 diff types might not be lots....

 

[Daven]

Thanks guys! Too bad about the loaches. And I would have loved to get some corries before, but that's obviously far out of the question ere. Idk what synos are, so I'll try and look into those. I've only seen a couple plecos before. They seem pretty boring to me, sitting alone hiding and only moving when a fish came too close. Both times they were housed alone in too small of a tank, so that might have been why. How do you guys find plecos to be?


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[PoppaRyno]

sorry for bad pics. i just took them and the tank lights are off. my clown loaches live with my German Red peacocks. 4-7" each on the clowns. !group of 20 hillstreams live with my Red shoulder blue baenschii peacocks. dojo loaches live with the lemon jake peacocks. Border Loaches live with the apache peacocks.

 

[PoppaRyno]

synodontis catfish

 

[sinibotia]

Fishkeepers do things differently.... All I can say is that I wholly agree with the article I linked and I don't think loaches and african cichlids should ever be mixed. But Popparyno is also a pretty world-class fishkeeper and a good friend, so his advice is good.

 

[PoppaRyno]

Fishkeepers do things differently.... All I can say is that I wholly agree with the article I linked and I don't think loaches and african cichlids should ever be mixed. But Popparyno is also a pretty world-class fishkeeper and a good friend, so his advice is good.

Sini, you big lug.... I was about to say the same abt you andd your advice on loaches.... Thats why i changed it to it works for me. Lol. I forget sometimes i do things differently.

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[TMRC Exotics]

The important thing here isn't really accompanying fish, its the right choice of individual cichlids (although I generally don't really mix other things with cichlids personally). Malawi is a big lake and many of your popular Malawi cichlids while from the same lake are wholly incompatible in the aquarium.

Since you've selected a lake that narrows it down, so among the Malawi cichlids available you need to narrow it down further. IMO aggression and size are the main factors in determining a malawi stocking. For example you listed peacocks, while peacocks are some of my favorite cichlids they really limit your other options as they are relatively peaceful and have long flowy susceptible fins. If you go the peacock route you are best off limiting the tank to a peacock only tank or possibly stock it with some of the least aggressive mbuna or if size permits some smaller haps.

Alternatively you can go with the more aggressive mbuna, things such as zebras, kenyis, auratus, demasoni, etc..

When you have narrowed down a list lots of us can help make tweaks or suggestions.

 

[Daven]

The important thing here isn't really accompanying fish, its the right choice of individual cichlids (although I generally don't really mix other things with cichlids personally). Malawi is a big lake and many of your popular Malawi cichlids while from the same lake are wholly incompatible in the aquarium.

Since you've selected a lake that narrows it down, so among the Malawi cichlids available you need to narrow it down further. IMO aggression and size are the main factors in determining a malawi stocking. For example you listed peacocks, while peacocks are some of my favorite cichlids they really limit your other options as they are relatively peaceful and have long flowy susceptible fins. If you go the peacock route you are best off limiting the tank to a peacock only tank or possibly stock it with some of the least aggressive mbuna or if size permits some smaller haps.

Alternatively you can go with the more aggressive mbuna, things such as zebras, kenyis, auratus, demasoni, etc..

When you have narrowed down a list lots of us can help make tweaks or suggestions.

I figured there was more to it than just picking a lake. I found someone here that breeds electric yellow labs and I will be picking up a couple juvies from him to start. I always loved the bright colours when I seen them in the fish stores, so I figured it was a good step to start. I'm still trying to get a handle on stocking these, but from what I understand id be best to get 1 male and 3 females? Do they like larger groups or does that give them too much "authority"? Lol I believe these get to about 4" and aren't overly aggressive, so what are some recommendations from this? I'm hoping to have fish of different bright colours and designs. Would be nice to get every colour in there somewhere.


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[Daven]

To expand on a question in my last post... How do these fish generally like to be kept? In groups, more females than males, single male only, etc? With the 75 gallon i will be open to a decent amount of space for stocking, so i wouldnt mind having a few of the same kinds. But i really like variety over a tank of the same fish, if i can swing it. I have noticed in most of these fish, the males are usually the only ones with the great colorations we are all after. I get that multiple males causes competition, so would having one male only of some of the fish be a bad idea? Im more familiar with the smaller community fish that need a group to be comfortable but i know thats not always the case.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

As you may know females aren't as colorful as males, if at all. This is why some do an all male tank, so that each peacock is the bright male pattern. If you are OK with some duller females then stock them as you said, 1 male to each 3-4 females. Using that arrangement you could have three different species colonies though be aware they may interbreed.
That said male peacocks get well above 4", my male hansbaenchi is already 5" at about 3 years old. Females do stop around 4-4 1/2".

 

[Daven]

I would prefer all male. Would that cause territorial issues?


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[TMRC Exotics]

As long as there are zero females you will be just fine.

 

[Daven]

As long as there are zero females you will be just fine.

What about females of one kind and the others purely male? Just thinking because the electric yellows i wouldnt mind having a few of and the females actually dont lose out on colour that ive seen. Or is it any female at all in there? lol

 

[PoppaRyno]

Nope. Fems are fems and will cause instinctual aggression.

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[Daven]

Nope. Fems are fems and will cause instinctual aggression.

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Thats interesting. So if i make sure its all males i should be able to have a couple males of each kind if i wanted to? Would i have to worry about two fish looking simular to eachother since there is no competition for mates then? I wonder if their colours would suffer without a female there to compete for. Thought i read that somewhere a while ago

 

[PoppaRyno]

Well yes and no on the color. Yes they brighten when "peacocking" for a mate. Most animals do. But they dont stay that way.

Yes you can have males of other species like labs and peacocks. And you can have females of each. You just have to make sure you have a good ratio of m/f.

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[PoppaRyno]

Also, minor overstocking is ok in a malawi tank. It spreads the aggression around better. Also note that peacocks are mildly aggressive, but not as much as the label they are given would make you think. The labs ive kept have been more pushy than any peacock ive ever had.

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