New tank

[AssistedDecoy]

Im starting a new tank that was given to me. I want to do a malawi tank and want to know the most colorful fish that make my wife happy i have it.

I have a 220 with a sump and heaters and all that but i have a few questions.

Does the bacteria that was used in the tank before stay alive for my tank? Can i use it or do i need to wash everything and start from scratch? How long will it live without fish or water?

Im new to all this but i have done alot of research to how the tank needs to be set up and all that just not quite enough research on the fish yet.

Also what foam is safe to use to make all the cave and stuff for my backdrop?

Also how do i add pictures to keep everyone up to date on my progress?

 

[jackwagon]

Most of the helpful bacteria lives in the filter and the media. Without water and an ammonia source the bacteria are likely to last less than 48 hours. Fortunately a fish less cycle isn't all that long and can be done while you acquire the rest of your materials and figure out your stocking list. As far as the pictures and foam, I'm unsure for both because I use the app mostly and only used poster board as my background before


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[AssistedDecoy]

Figured it out with the app

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[Ulrichsd]

Cool tank, lots of options! You'll have to decide if you want mbuna, haps or peacocks. You can put those names into youtube to watch some videos and get a visual of what you might like. Yellow labs are probably the most popular mbuna with their bright yellow body and black fins. It really depends what colors you are looking for?

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[AssistedDecoy]

The yellow labs are probably my favorite so far but i have seen them in peacock tanks and ive read things that say u cant mix the 2? So Im kinda at a loss when it come to the fish list? Any thoughts on how many i should put in?

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[Ulrichsd]

For a start you can try http://aqadvisor.com on stocking. Not perfect, but can give you an idea.

I've only kept mbuna, so I can't advise on mixing. Their diets are different so that is one thing to consider and mbuna are pretty aggressive so they might stress out the peacocks. People who do peacocks typically do an all male tank as they are more colorful. Mbuna are harem breeders so people prefer a higher ratio of female to males.

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[AssistedDecoy]

I dont know if i really want to get into breading, if i went mbuna is it possible to do all male? If i decided to do mbuna and do males and females and they did happen to have little ones would the others eat them? I dont know if i really want to get into all that

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[Ulrichsd]

I suppose you could do all male but kind of difficult to buy that way. I just leave the fry in the tank and they get eaten. Population control. In two years I've had 3 fry survive to adults.

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