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I would like to get a fish tank with one or more b
- Thread starter basslover
- Start date
Hi Revo, when I read my own post i also want to cry. I've learned much in the past few months about keeping fish and i will probably still have to learn alot. My fish are very healthy, and they have not been sick at any moment.
I 've got 2 custom tanks now each 1.6m and they hold more than 300L of water each. (They are deep and wider than usual) I still would not recommend keepping a bass in anything smaller than min 600L (I'll go for a build in wall tank of 1000L), you know first hand how big those mommas get. Yes it will be fun the first two years but after that you will be looking to go and dump your bass back into the local waters. If you put a fish into a tank thats to small it will only grow until its a certain size and then it could get complications like stunted growth. In this case the organs sometimes grows faster than the body and the fish dies.
First tank (R16 000 setup) got 2 silver dollors (10cm), 1 x Oscar (20cm), 1 x vlei kurper (8cm), 1 x cichild (8cm), 1 x pleco (15cm) - everybody is happy!
The kurper and cichild school together all the time. The oscar eats from my hand like a dog!
Second tank got Oscar (18cm) , Pleco (15cm), Cichild (13cm)
The Oscars are masive about 20cm in length now and not even a year old. I had a bass but it died (it killed itself) and I promise you it grew faster than those oscars.
Its easy to gooi in 20 something fish into a 1.5m tank but it depends on what type of cichild they are. Some types actually thrive in larger numbers but certain types like peacocks can get up to 18cm. I'd like to keep a bass again one day but not until I have a large enough tank for it to be a happy fooohie when it grows up to its full potential and beauty.
Here is a interesting article by a very experienced fish keeper!
Keeping Lake Malawi Cichlids
By Nick James
An introductory article for beginners to Rift Valley cichlids from Lake Malawi.
Lake Malawi is situated well within the tropics and shared between the countries of Malawi, Mocambique and Tanzania. The lake is very deep, parts being over 650m, and is part of the East African Rift Valley that also includes Lake Tanganyika to the north. The lake has between 600 and 700 endemic cichlid species (found nowhere else in the world), almost all of which are small (<20cm), brightly coloured, and ideal for aquaria. The more popular species of these cichlids fall into two main groups: firstly the mbuna, or rock-dwelling species, represented by the genera Pseudotropheus, Metriaclima, Tropeops, Labidochromis, Melanochromis, Cynotilapia, Labeotropheus (and a few other minor ones); and secondly the sand-dwelling or more open water species, collectively and loosely termed utaka, mainly represented by the genera Aulonocara, Copadichromis, Protomelas, Mylochromis, Sciaenochromis, Cyrtocara, Dimidiochromis, Placidochromis, Lethrinops, Nimbochromis, Otopharynx and Hemitilapia. Again there are several others, less common in aquaria
There are several rules to keeping Malawi cichlids that are well worth following:
Most Malawis come from a habitat with few plants but lots of rocks. Plants will mostly be turned into salad. Rocks will give them refuges for breeding and to escape bullying.
They are not community tank fish to be mixed with South or Central American species (either cichlids or catfish).
They do not generally mix well with either Lake Victorian cichlids (which they dominate, and which then become colourless), or with the smaller more timid Lake Tanganyikan cichlids .
They are hardwater fish and should not be mixed with fish from soft water such as the Amazon, SE Asia, and the ‘forest’ species from West Africa. Anyone who thinks that Malawi cichlids could be kept with either tetras or livebearers is therefore not ready to keep them
They should not be fed high protein diets like Tetra Bits, ox heart, or Cichlid Pellets, as most are either totally or partially algae grazers in the wild. Their digestive system can no more withstand a diet of high protein than you can live on fillet steak alone. They will grow fast and then suddenly die of internal organ failure, just the same as you will! This makes them cheap to feed as low protein spirulina flake food can be used, supplemented once-weekly with bloodworm or earthworms. The larger, more predatory, species can be fed spirulina pellets with twice-weekly offerings of Cichlid pellets and larger frozen foods such as krill, large daphnia, shrimp etc.
They are all mouthbrooders and may hybridise (cross-breed) in the confines of an aquarium. Unless the tank is very large with lots of cover, few of the offspring will survive, as most Malawi cichlids are opportunistically predatory, i.e. they will prey on fry when they can.
Malawi cichlids should never be kept (nor even purchased) as ‘pairs’. The male will harrass the female to death. Either buy males only, for a bright colourful display, or purchase more females than males of any one species. If the intention is to breed them, keep them in a species tank, or keep unrelated species (genera) together.
Don’t keep just a few (4-6) Malawis in a tank. The aggression of the top-dog will make life a misery for the others: keep them in a ‘crowd’.
Malawi cichlids do not have common names: use the scientific names. After all what is so hard about "caeruleus yellow", "lombardoi" and "Aulonocara baenschi"? I wince every time I’m asked for "that blue Malawi cichlid.. you know, the one with the stripes...!" I don’t: there are over 300 blue species in the lake...! If you want to know, buy a book or CD.
As a rule, the smallest aquarium for keeping these beautiful fish is a 150 litre or "four foot" tank. A 100 litre ‘three foot’ will suffice short-term for rearing juveniles but will decline into chaos as the fish mature and become territorial. Landscaped with rocks to provide cover and with a water quality in the 8-9 pH range, with a hardness of 8-12DH, (conductivity around 250-300 microsiemens, for the more technical aquarist) and using internal/external or hang-on power filtration, other than undergravel filters, such a tank may be adequate to house up to 20 juvenile (40-50mm) or 12 to 15 adult Malawis. Undergravel filters will be dug up by the cichlids, and then you have no filtration.Water can be temporarily hardened with bicarb of soda from your supermarket (dissolve 3-4 tablespoons full into a 150 litre tank, if the water is soft), but longterm it is better to put crushed shell inside the filter as this will slowly leach calcium and magnesium (the two main minerals in Lake Malawi) into the water and keep the pH buffered. Do not add table or rock salt: it is both unecessary and will damage the fish’s internal organs if used longterm. More Malawi cichlids die from incorrect water quality (usually too low pH and hardness) than anything else except incorrect feeding.
In smaller aquaria (anything less than 300 litres) it is unwise to mix mbuna and utaka. The mbuna are generally more aggressive, especially the larger more robust species like Pseudotropheus lombardoi, P. estherae, P. socolofi, P. elongatus and P. zebra, and some of the smaller but more aggressive Melanochromis species such as M. auratus. As far as utaka go, the Aulonocara ("peacock") species are not so aggressive except between males of the same or similar species. Protomelas, Mylochromis and Copadichromis can all get quite large (12-18cm depending on species), and although usually compatible they demand quite a bit of living space, and can be harassed by the more rough mbuna, resulting in colourless shredded fish.
In large display aquaria such as 2m or larger tanks, all Malawi species can thrive, especially if there is adequate cover in the form of rock piles, caves, logs etc. Many people make the mistake of adding a South American Plecostomus (Hypostomus, or similar "pleco" type ) catfish in the belief that this fish will consume unwanted food and algae not eaten by the Malawis. This is totally wrong thinking! Not only is the catfish a soft water species from the Amazon, whereas the Malawis love hard water, but they will compete for the scanty supplies of algae so-loved by the Malawis as food. Don’t add a pleco! I feel that a Malawi tank with either plecos or ‘parrot cichlids’ in it is equivalent to buying a Mercedes with mag wheels and go-faster stripes on it...yuk! Have some class!
If you chose to keep one of the most distinguished groups of fish, why spoil the effect with a fish from a totally different continent, that doesn’t even mix well with the Malawis? If you feel the need for a catfish, by all means obtain one of the Rift Valley Synodontis species such as S petricola, S. multipunctatus (Lake Tanganyika) or S. nyassae (the only one found in L Malawi). If these are not obtainable then you can get by with one of the S. eupterus featherfin Syno cats from West Africa. The other Niger/Congo River species are not suitable, and the Asian Mystus, or Pangassius catfish are completely out!
I like to encourage people to keep the occupants of an aquarium as close as possible to what you would find in Nature, both animal and plant, and the tank décor too. Thus if you are one of those with ‘painted glassfish’ in your aquarium, you should not even be reading this! Much more enjoyment can be obtained from the hobby than by just throwing money at the dealer and slapping it all together without any thought as to "what", "who" and "where from". This is why supermarket type pet shops are bad for the hobby as they cannot (and don’t) give any sort of valuable advice to the customer as to how to set up a ‘classy’ fishtank with real appeal, as opposed to ‘just another jumble of assorted species that may sort-of survive together for a while’. When I started fishkeeping at the age of 14, my Dad was wise enough to buy me a good fishkeeping book before getting me a tank. I read that book countless times until I knew exactly what I wanted: then he bought me the tank and fish. Now, even more info is available on the internet, so there is absolutely no excuse for the "pleco/ Malawi cichlid/parrot & jewel cichlid" type combination that is so often seen, regrettably also in shops that should know better.
RIP NUNU!
I 've got 2 custom tanks now each 1.6m and they hold more than 300L of water each. (They are deep and wider than usual) I still would not recommend keepping a bass in anything smaller than min 600L (I'll go for a build in wall tank of 1000L), you know first hand how big those mommas get. Yes it will be fun the first two years but after that you will be looking to go and dump your bass back into the local waters. If you put a fish into a tank thats to small it will only grow until its a certain size and then it could get complications like stunted growth. In this case the organs sometimes grows faster than the body and the fish dies.
First tank (R16 000 setup) got 2 silver dollors (10cm), 1 x Oscar (20cm), 1 x vlei kurper (8cm), 1 x cichild (8cm), 1 x pleco (15cm) - everybody is happy!
The kurper and cichild school together all the time. The oscar eats from my hand like a dog!
Second tank got Oscar (18cm) , Pleco (15cm), Cichild (13cm)
The Oscars are masive about 20cm in length now and not even a year old. I had a bass but it died (it killed itself) and I promise you it grew faster than those oscars.
Its easy to gooi in 20 something fish into a 1.5m tank but it depends on what type of cichild they are. Some types actually thrive in larger numbers but certain types like peacocks can get up to 18cm. I'd like to keep a bass again one day but not until I have a large enough tank for it to be a happy fooohie when it grows up to its full potential and beauty.
Here is a interesting article by a very experienced fish keeper!
Keeping Lake Malawi Cichlids
By Nick James
An introductory article for beginners to Rift Valley cichlids from Lake Malawi.
Lake Malawi is situated well within the tropics and shared between the countries of Malawi, Mocambique and Tanzania. The lake is very deep, parts being over 650m, and is part of the East African Rift Valley that also includes Lake Tanganyika to the north. The lake has between 600 and 700 endemic cichlid species (found nowhere else in the world), almost all of which are small (<20cm), brightly coloured, and ideal for aquaria. The more popular species of these cichlids fall into two main groups: firstly the mbuna, or rock-dwelling species, represented by the genera Pseudotropheus, Metriaclima, Tropeops, Labidochromis, Melanochromis, Cynotilapia, Labeotropheus (and a few other minor ones); and secondly the sand-dwelling or more open water species, collectively and loosely termed utaka, mainly represented by the genera Aulonocara, Copadichromis, Protomelas, Mylochromis, Sciaenochromis, Cyrtocara, Dimidiochromis, Placidochromis, Lethrinops, Nimbochromis, Otopharynx and Hemitilapia. Again there are several others, less common in aquaria
There are several rules to keeping Malawi cichlids that are well worth following:
Most Malawis come from a habitat with few plants but lots of rocks. Plants will mostly be turned into salad. Rocks will give them refuges for breeding and to escape bullying.
They are not community tank fish to be mixed with South or Central American species (either cichlids or catfish).
They do not generally mix well with either Lake Victorian cichlids (which they dominate, and which then become colourless), or with the smaller more timid Lake Tanganyikan cichlids .
They are hardwater fish and should not be mixed with fish from soft water such as the Amazon, SE Asia, and the ‘forest’ species from West Africa. Anyone who thinks that Malawi cichlids could be kept with either tetras or livebearers is therefore not ready to keep them
They should not be fed high protein diets like Tetra Bits, ox heart, or Cichlid Pellets, as most are either totally or partially algae grazers in the wild. Their digestive system can no more withstand a diet of high protein than you can live on fillet steak alone. They will grow fast and then suddenly die of internal organ failure, just the same as you will! This makes them cheap to feed as low protein spirulina flake food can be used, supplemented once-weekly with bloodworm or earthworms. The larger, more predatory, species can be fed spirulina pellets with twice-weekly offerings of Cichlid pellets and larger frozen foods such as krill, large daphnia, shrimp etc.
They are all mouthbrooders and may hybridise (cross-breed) in the confines of an aquarium. Unless the tank is very large with lots of cover, few of the offspring will survive, as most Malawi cichlids are opportunistically predatory, i.e. they will prey on fry when they can.
Malawi cichlids should never be kept (nor even purchased) as ‘pairs’. The male will harrass the female to death. Either buy males only, for a bright colourful display, or purchase more females than males of any one species. If the intention is to breed them, keep them in a species tank, or keep unrelated species (genera) together.
Don’t keep just a few (4-6) Malawis in a tank. The aggression of the top-dog will make life a misery for the others: keep them in a ‘crowd’.
Malawi cichlids do not have common names: use the scientific names. After all what is so hard about "caeruleus yellow", "lombardoi" and "Aulonocara baenschi"? I wince every time I’m asked for "that blue Malawi cichlid.. you know, the one with the stripes...!" I don’t: there are over 300 blue species in the lake...! If you want to know, buy a book or CD.
As a rule, the smallest aquarium for keeping these beautiful fish is a 150 litre or "four foot" tank. A 100 litre ‘three foot’ will suffice short-term for rearing juveniles but will decline into chaos as the fish mature and become territorial. Landscaped with rocks to provide cover and with a water quality in the 8-9 pH range, with a hardness of 8-12DH, (conductivity around 250-300 microsiemens, for the more technical aquarist) and using internal/external or hang-on power filtration, other than undergravel filters, such a tank may be adequate to house up to 20 juvenile (40-50mm) or 12 to 15 adult Malawis. Undergravel filters will be dug up by the cichlids, and then you have no filtration.Water can be temporarily hardened with bicarb of soda from your supermarket (dissolve 3-4 tablespoons full into a 150 litre tank, if the water is soft), but longterm it is better to put crushed shell inside the filter as this will slowly leach calcium and magnesium (the two main minerals in Lake Malawi) into the water and keep the pH buffered. Do not add table or rock salt: it is both unecessary and will damage the fish’s internal organs if used longterm. More Malawi cichlids die from incorrect water quality (usually too low pH and hardness) than anything else except incorrect feeding.
In smaller aquaria (anything less than 300 litres) it is unwise to mix mbuna and utaka. The mbuna are generally more aggressive, especially the larger more robust species like Pseudotropheus lombardoi, P. estherae, P. socolofi, P. elongatus and P. zebra, and some of the smaller but more aggressive Melanochromis species such as M. auratus. As far as utaka go, the Aulonocara ("peacock") species are not so aggressive except between males of the same or similar species. Protomelas, Mylochromis and Copadichromis can all get quite large (12-18cm depending on species), and although usually compatible they demand quite a bit of living space, and can be harassed by the more rough mbuna, resulting in colourless shredded fish.
In large display aquaria such as 2m or larger tanks, all Malawi species can thrive, especially if there is adequate cover in the form of rock piles, caves, logs etc. Many people make the mistake of adding a South American Plecostomus (Hypostomus, or similar "pleco" type ) catfish in the belief that this fish will consume unwanted food and algae not eaten by the Malawis. This is totally wrong thinking! Not only is the catfish a soft water species from the Amazon, whereas the Malawis love hard water, but they will compete for the scanty supplies of algae so-loved by the Malawis as food. Don’t add a pleco! I feel that a Malawi tank with either plecos or ‘parrot cichlids’ in it is equivalent to buying a Mercedes with mag wheels and go-faster stripes on it...yuk! Have some class!
If you chose to keep one of the most distinguished groups of fish, why spoil the effect with a fish from a totally different continent, that doesn’t even mix well with the Malawis? If you feel the need for a catfish, by all means obtain one of the Rift Valley Synodontis species such as S petricola, S. multipunctatus (Lake Tanganyika) or S. nyassae (the only one found in L Malawi). If these are not obtainable then you can get by with one of the S. eupterus featherfin Syno cats from West Africa. The other Niger/Congo River species are not suitable, and the Asian Mystus, or Pangassius catfish are completely out!
I like to encourage people to keep the occupants of an aquarium as close as possible to what you would find in Nature, both animal and plant, and the tank décor too. Thus if you are one of those with ‘painted glassfish’ in your aquarium, you should not even be reading this! Much more enjoyment can be obtained from the hobby than by just throwing money at the dealer and slapping it all together without any thought as to "what", "who" and "where from". This is why supermarket type pet shops are bad for the hobby as they cannot (and don’t) give any sort of valuable advice to the customer as to how to set up a ‘classy’ fishtank with real appeal, as opposed to ‘just another jumble of assorted species that may sort-of survive together for a while’. When I started fishkeeping at the age of 14, my Dad was wise enough to buy me a good fishkeeping book before getting me a tank. I read that book countless times until I knew exactly what I wanted: then he bought me the tank and fish. Now, even more info is available on the internet, so there is absolutely no excuse for the "pleco/ Malawi cichlid/parrot & jewel cichlid" type combination that is so often seen, regrettably also in shops that should know better.
RIP NUNU!