mark shirah
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
need a stocking suggestion for malawi cichlids in a 30 gal long. is it better to keep several of one type or several different different types.
malawi cichlids
- Thread starter mark shirah
- Start date
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Fishyfanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
I generally do not recommend Malawi Africans for any tank smaller than a 55 gal. They are far too active and need plenty of swimming space for what any smaller tank has to offer. What is the length of the long?
Menagerie
Aquarium Advice Addict
Keeping Malawi cichlids in a 30 gallon tank requires research on your part. We can give some advice and things learned from experience, but Malawi cichlids represent a vast category. Three great places to start are Malawi Cichlids, The Cichlid Recipe and Mongabay's Lake Malawi Cichlids. I keep Mbuna cichids and cannot give a recommendation for a 30 gallon tank, unless you kept one breeding pair. Many people go out and buy the assorted cichlids at the LFS becasue they are cute and it looks like you can put a whole bunch in a 30 gal tank and end up in a mess of trouble when sexual maturity hits (I am guilty of that and now have an 80 gallon tank for them--I wish someone had warned me). That's when the true aggressions for territory and mating rights show up. Aside from looking at outside sources, you can go through the gallery at AA and look up cichlids. You will see different tank biotopes for the various cichlids and you may see some that you would like to keep.
Zagz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Strangely enough I fell into the same trap with the lfs and the misc african cichlids as Menagerie did. I have sinced sold most of them and gotten compatible fish. I too can't advise to put cichlids into a 30 gal tank. The territories are too small and the aggression ends up too high IMO.
DeFeKt
Aquarium Advice Addict
Unfortunatly I have to agree, 30gal is far to small,
You may be able to squeeze a small colony of a dwarf species in there with 1 male to a couple females but I wouldn't expect to be overly successful.
~Matt
You may be able to squeeze a small colony of a dwarf species in there with 1 male to a couple females but I wouldn't expect to be overly successful.
~Matt
DeFeKt
Aquarium Advice Addict
hey menagerie, I just browsed through your gallery,
in this photo "mbuna tank" http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5786&ppuser=4291 is that a blue acara I can see on the left hand side?
in this photo "mbuna tank" http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5786&ppuser=4291 is that a blue acara I can see on the left hand side?
Menagerie
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, that was our resident Blue Acara. I said that tank did not start out well 
. He lived with the Mbuna fairly well and fought with the largest zebra occasionally for over four years. He didn't survive our move from Calgary back to the states I don't recommend combing cichlids from various regions--I watched too many die (and too many Mbuna) before I got a clue.
. He lived with the Mbuna fairly well and fought with the largest zebra occasionally for over four years. He didn't survive our move from Calgary back to the states I don't recommend combing cichlids from various regions--I watched too many die (and too many Mbuna) before I got a clue.shawmutt
Aquarium Advice Addict
I tried, and failed, to keep mbuna in a 30 long. The "winner" or "survivor" or whatever you want to call her is living out her days in a 10 gallon tank in solitary confinement. I've had her like that for a while now, and although she gets bored an rearranges the tank from time to time she is healthy and happy. The tank also looks good with just the one fish (Labidochromis caeruleus) in there.
DeFeKt
Aquarium Advice Addict
haha ok was just wondering,
