stocking question for new malawi tank

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FrankoQ

FrankoQ

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Oct 10, 2013
Messages
213
Location
MD
Tank: 90g 5ft long
Filter: Fluval FX5
2 air heads
Seems I can do about 20 (6inch or smaller) fish.

These are the ones I like.

Gold Nugget Pleco (will get the biggest one I can and will add first to the tank)
Nkhata bay (Cynotilapia afra)
Dragon blood
German red peacock
Electric Yellow
Taiwan reef
red tail shark

now the questions:
will they will coexist?
can I have a few of each of the above or too many species?
how many of each can I have?
can I do all male? if not, what is the male/female distribution?

Thanks!
 
FrankoQ said:
Tank: 90g 5ft long Filter: Fluval FX5 2 air heads Seems I can do about 20 (6inch or smaller) fish. These are the ones I like. Gold Nugget Pleco (will get the biggest one I can and will add first to the tank) Nkhata bay (Cynotilapia afra) Dragon blood German red peacock Electric Yellow Taiwan reef red tail shark now the questions: will they will coexist? can I have a few of each of the above or too many species? how many of each can I have? can I do all male? if not, what is the male/female distribution? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The gold nugget is questionable. It could be an expensive punching bag for Africans. Your best chance is with lots of caves for hiding. Next skip the red tail shark he won't hold up in the tank. Other than that sounds like a good jumping off point. You can have a few of each species as long as you go 3 or so females for every male. You can go all male as long as you don't do more than one of each species
 
what's with the red tail shark?
water requirements or just will be beaten to death?

I see tanks with cichlids, the red tail shark, and clown loaches.
 
TheCommunityCichlid said:
IMO it will be killed. Sometimes loaches work sometimes they don't they shark won't stay to the bottom and would likely be bullied.
Click to expand...

Got it. Thanks.
My cycle is well advanced now. I hope I can start adding fish before thanksgiving.
 
Do sichlids need power heads?
If yes, do you put it on top or middle of the tank?
 
That would depend on the amount of flow your filter is outputting. i would recommend a powerhead in a 90 as it can also be used to gain good circulation, what are you using to filter your 90? i would put it at the opposite end of the filters outtake. cichs are messy and crap all over the place and need that bit of extra filtration so why not use an internal filter instead of a power head, something like a fluval U4. Its quite large but wouldnt take much room at all in a 90 it can also be positioned horizontally or vertically with a bubble valve for aeration.

I'm guessing you're using ammonia to cycle the tank? i would wait until you can convert 5ppm of ammonia, this way you can add fish in much larger groups which can have an impact on their aggression also, new comers can get a hard time!
 
Last edited:
Thanks!
I have a canister filter fx5
Yes to ammonia to cycle.
And thanks for the link
 
So I went to my 2 nearby LFS and started noticing that they have slightly different names for the cichlids. It seems.
It also seems they do not have all the ones I wish to have.
Does anyone do mail orders for fish? For example: from Dave's?
That seems to be the way to get exactly what you want.

I'm now thinking on doing an all male tank with about 20 different fish.
Does it make sense to add them in groups of 5?
I hope to get them all about the same size. But I prefer not to shell out $$$ for 20 fish and then run into an issue. I'd rather add 5 and then wait a few weeks to make sure there are no issues with my tank. (i'm doing a fishless cycle.)

Thanks for the tips.
 
You'll see that there a few members that frequent the cichlid forum (and I'm sure it's the same for the other sub-forums) that use latin names. The reason is to avoid the confusion with common names, as there exists many for a single species generally. There are some where the common name is easier, but many lack common names or have a ton. I know of a gecko species that has at least 6 different common names!
 
FrankoQ said:
So I went to my 2 nearby LFS and started noticing that they have slightly different names for the cichlids. It seems.
It also seems they do not have all the ones I wish to have.
Does anyone do mail orders for fish? For example: from Dave's?
That seems to be the way to get exactly what you want.

I'm now thinking on doing an all male tank with about 20 different fish.
Does it make sense to add them in groups of 5?
I hope to get them all about the same size. But I prefer not to shell out $$$ for 20 fish and then run into an issue. I'd rather add 5 and then wait a few weeks to make sure there are no issues with my tank. (i'm doing a fishless cycle.)

Thanks for the tips.
Click to expand...

If you wish to add them in groups of 5 then that's fine as long as they aren't adults and all about the same size. I must warn you shipping is not cheap especially now that the northern state's are cold. Dave's and wet spot would be top of the line.
 
Having a power head is good for keeping debris/poop from settling in nooks and crannies. I have two at both ends of my 55
 
Usually have them towards the top pointing down towards the substrate. But experimenting on your tank will help you figure out what's best
 
Im only positive on the sharks. no no and no... I really dont see those working out
 
Power head ordered.
my cycle seems to be done!
Time to add some fish!
 
My Cycle is done.
But now, I think my PH is kind of low. right now it is 7.
Tap water PH is 7.6 but once in the tank, it goes down to about 7.

I do not want to add fish until all parameters are right.
I'd like to raise and keep PH at around 7.8 to 8.0.
To do this can i do some or all of the following:
- add about 10lb of crushed coral to mix with my pool sand?
- add some limestone or texas holey rocks?
- use the malawi buffer?
- use baking soda?

Not sure what the best option is. thoughts?
 
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