50 Gallow Lake Malawi Tank *PICS & VID*

[Swifterz]

just converted my community tank to a malawi tank. been thinking about it for a long time. glad i finally did it.

yellow lab & albino zebra

electric blue hap

red zebra

yellow lab, red zebra and firemouth (need to rehome)

albino zebra

yellow lab and red zebras

full tanks shot

and a short video
YouTube - 50 Gallan Lake Malawi African Cichlid Tank

4 Yellow Labs
2 Red Zebras
1 Albino Zebra
1 Sunshine Peacock
1 Electric Blue Hap

plan is to add 1 Red Zebra and about 3 Acei. probably going to give the Sunshine Peacock away.

the best part is, i didn't spend a dime. traded everything i had (driftwood, rocks, fish, etc) for all of the rocks and cichlids.

 

[kaiofcanada]

Gorgeous! Is that a firemouth hiding in the rocks?

 

[Swifterz]

Gorgeous! Is that a firemouth hiding in the rocks?

yeah i still have 1 firemouth and 1 rainbow shark in the mix with all the africans. gave away everything but them so far. i really want to keep the rainbow shark if possible because my son loves him. everything gets along. i might just keep the FM and RS until i star to see any problems. the FM is about 5" long. the rainbow is 4". most of the africans are 2.5" or so, although the albino zebra and one of the yellow labs are about 3.5 or 4"

 

[maxima423]

beautiful tank ^_^ feeding video next!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[thincat]

very nice. I kept Lake Malawi fish for the longest time and really enjoyed them.

 

[kyalb]

Such a wonderful set up

 

[Etunes]

Great setup. BTW, i have seen many people keep a rainbow shark with malawis with no ill effects. I dont see why to get rid of him. zbut i would get rid of the firemouth quick as possible.

 

[dkpate]

Tank looks great!!!

 

[Swifterz]

thanks! yeah i love my rainbow shark. i almost gave him away with everything else but i held onto him. he can hold his own in there! he's got a head start on size too.

i was really wanting to get Acei's but now i'm thinking Kenyis. i like the look of the females (black/blue) vs. the males because they look a lot like my yellow labs.

but would that be a good mix? i'm still new at this! something like:

4 yellow labs (2M/2F)
3 red zebras (1M/2F)
1 Albino Zebra (M)
3 kenyi (1M/2F)
1 Sunsine Peacock (M)
1 Electric Blue Hap (M)
Rainbow Shark

14 fish. i guess that would be considered "overcrowded" but this is a good idea in some setups. i have the filtration and am willing to do frequent water changes to pull it off.

 

[crb530]

thanks! yeah i love my rainbow shark. i almost gave him away with everything else but i held onto him. he can hold his own in there! he's got a head start on size too.

i was really wanting to get Acei's but now i'm thinking Kenyis. i like the look of the females (black/blue) vs. the males because they look a lot like my yellow labs.

but would that be a good mix? i'm still new at this! something like:

4 yellow labs (2M/2F)
3 red zebras (1M/2F)
1 Albino Zebra (M)
3 kenyi (1M/2F)
1 Sunsine Peacock (M)
1 Electric Blue Hap (M)
Rainbow Shark

14 fish. i guess that would be considered "overcrowded" but this is a good idea in some setups. i have the filtration and am willing to do frequent water changes to pull it off.

my rainbow shark has been living with mine for almost two years now

just be careful with the kenyi the will kill alot of fish even if they are bigger (i learned that the hard way) so just keep your eye out on the other fish

 

[mfdrookie516]

Im still not sure about kenyi in your tank... in a bigger tank where there is more room to claim territory, its not as big of a deal... in such a small tank, there's alot of risk. My male kenyi is the tank boss and is really aggressive, even in my tank

 

[Swifterz]

ok wow it changed again. paid a guy $40 cash and my small cichlids for some close to 6" specimens.

4 yellow labs
2 cobalt zebras
2 red zebras

i think i'm done except for i might buy 1 more fish, a 4" yellow tailed acei.

 

[Swifterz]

and the firemouth is out. rainbow shark is still in.

 

[Swifterz]

YouTube - ‪50 Gallon Lake Malawi Tank‬‎

YouTube - ‪50 Gallon Lake Malawi Tank‬‎http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkciqEJem3o

 

[dkpate]

They look great! I love the tank.

 

[spoonman]

What are you feeding them? Some of them in the second video look like their stomachs are sunk in (the red zebra especially). Maybe it is just the video. Careful not to get too many full grown fish in there.

 

[Swifterz]

What are you feeding them? Some of them in the second video look like their stomachs are sunk in (the red zebra especially). Maybe it is just the video. Careful not to get too many full grown fish in there.

i don't know what he fed them, but from me they will be getting spirulina (sp?) and new life.

 

[Swifterz]

i don't have cobalt bluze zebras. found out they are powder blue pindani.

 

[thincat]

you guys are really teasing me. I'v kept lake malawi fish for over 20 years and back then they were coming straight out of the lake. A 1'" hap. Moorii ran just under $100 and was really stressed by the time you got it into your tank. Those were the days. Note only one type of moorii was available. At lease that was how it was labled. Those were the days.

 

[Swifterz]

a guy just contacted me asking if i'd trade any fish for "mpanga reds".

don't know much about them.