hi i want to start a african/malwi cichlid tank!i need some help and advise on how to set up. and choose fish1

Question

currently i ownma juwel 240 tank(4ft) currently running a normal tropical tank with the usually molies neons plec shaks etc!!
anyway i want to change set up to some colouful cichlid and what do i hav e to add to make it a chichlid compatable tank??
- change my gravel to sand?
-what the juwel filteration?
-add salt?how?
-decorations /ocean rock etc??
-food?
-lighting
-filtration
-hiding places like what?
- plants?
also which fish are better more colourful etc arfican cichlids or malawi and can i mix them together and recpmend me which to buy?
plz don't just simply give me a link to a site plz explain too.
help would be most appresiated
thank you !!

Answer 1

I assume you have a 240 L tank since you say it is 4' long.

There is no need to change your gravel to sand if you don't want to. I personally use pool filter sand in some of my tanks and gravel in others. It depends on whether the fish are large or small and whether or not they like to rearrange the place to suit themselves.

My cichlids, all of them, do quite well in dechlorinated tap water that is not chemically adjusted to try and match their home water pH in Africa or South America. Very few of the fish for sale in the hobby today are "wild caught" fish that need extreme pH to survive. Wild caught fish are very expensive and not worth the trouble unless you are a commercial breeder looking to beef up your bloodlines.

I have South Americans (they come from 6.5 pH water), West African riverine cichlids (their home water is also a low pH) and Rift Lake cichlids (they come from 7.8 up to 8.4 pH in the wild). All of mine are housed in tap water that is at 7.4 out of the faucet. No adjustments are made to the water, which saves me money and heartache.

I acclimate my fish to my water very slowly, sometimes taking up to 3 hours as I add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of tank water to their bag water every 10-15 minutes so they are not shocked by the pH change when they are introduced to the tank. This eliminates any screwing around with pH, acidity and alkalinity later, that causes more problems than it helps.

Bottom line for adjusting water parameters for the fish, don't bother. As long as you acclimate them properly, they will be fine.

Some of the cichlid salts sold exclusively for cichlids are good to add periodically because they need certain trace elements needed by some cichlids that are just not in local tap or well waters.

Do not use any rocks that react when you put a few drops of vinegar on them. They will change the properties of your water and may cause you problems down the road. I use sandstone, that I test with vinegar, to build the caves and rock formations in my tanks.

Always have more caves and hideouts than you have fish. The dominant males will move from time to time and the displaced fish will need someplace to go when they are kicked out of their "place."

Unless you are planning to have the West African dwarf riverine cichlids, plants will be torn to shreds by almost all of the Rift Lake cichlids. Most SA's are not kind to plants either.

Most cichlids are satisfied with a good high protein flake food, but if you get some large ones, you might want to get them some good quality pellets. Not too large, though. IMHO, large dry pellets can be the cause of Malawi Bloat which can be fatal. Only feed once a day and only what they will finish eating in 2-3 minutes. I also skip a day once a week which keeps them interested.

Obviously, if you plan to breed them, you would feed different food and more often. Although, my fish spawn for me all the time with not too much coaxing. I currently have angelfish fry, albino and brown bushynose pleco fry, paleatus cory fry and blue pseudotropheus zebra fry growing out in different tanks.

You ask which are more colorful, Africans or Malawi? Malawi cichlids are Africans, it is one of the Rift Lakes. You may have meant south American or African? Personally, I think the Africans are the prettiest and most varied in colors, patterns and behaviours.

If I were you, I would start with some electric yellows, red or tangerine zebras, blue zebras and maybe some saulosi. Unless you plan to breed them, you should attempt to get all males as they will be much prettier than the females.

Any good filter that cycles the water in your tank at least 8 times per hour will be fine for your tank. The gallons per hour (GPH) are usually printed on the box of the filter. For example, a 50 gallon tank should have a 400 GPH filter.

Cichlids do not need a lot of light, they just need a day night cycle. I have flourescent shop lights hanging over my tanks that keep the plants growing on the tanks with plants (dwarf cichlids, tropicals and other creatures). Some of my tanks do not have lights, just the room light is enough for them.

If you would like to talk further, email me, I love to talk about fish, cichlids in particular. More questions? I will help as much as I can.

8

Answer 2

This is a long answer to a lot of questions. Generally speaking, it's best to use a calcium-based sand or gravel for the bottom of the tank. This may help keep the chemistry in the proper range for these fish and will make them look better. I like using a thin layer, less than one inch, so that the aquarium is easier to clean. Filtration must be strong and efficient. Use your favorite kind of filter but make sure that it is rated for about double the actual size of your aquarium. Do not add regular salt or sea salt mix to your aquarium! If you are going to add supplements to increase pH and hardness, use products made for African cichlids. Follow the instructions on the bottle to create an ideal environment for the fish. Use rocks for decorations. Like the sand, it's often best to use a calcium or coral based rock for the same reasons. Plants will generally not survive in most cichlid tanks. The high pH prevents them from being able to survive. There are a few exceptions but most of the common cichlids at aquarium stores will rip these up. Artificial plants can be used but may not look as good as other decorations like rocks. As for which fish to buy, there are more than 2000 species of cichlids from the East African Lakes so it's almost impossible to answer that question. Pick out some that you like and then see what else might live with them.

Answer 3

I am not familiar with the juwel tank, but a couple of large canister filters should do the job. There are a ton of brands out there. Eheim, Hagen, Rena all make good canisters. If your tank is pre-drilled (has plumbing in the back), then get a sump. You don't have to get sand, but most cichlid keepers will get aragonite sand to keep the hardness high. You also need to decide what kinds of malawi cichlids you want to keep. Don't mix peacocks and haps with mbunas, you will eventually have issues with aggression. If you decide on mbunas, put a layer of styrofoam down first, then cover with sand. This will keep all the rock work that is necessary from damaging the bottom pane of glass. If you go with haps and peacocks, you can put in a few rocks and decorations, but these fish like to have areas to swim. With Mbunas, the more rocks the better. Salt is a good idea. All you need is rock salt, this can be purchased in an 80 lb. bag at Home Depot for less than $10. About 1/4 cup per 10 gallons should do the trick. Keep in mind that salt doesn't evaporate, so only add salt when you do a water change, and only replace what you took out. Try to stay away from ocean rock, it can cause abrasions. Smooth rock and slate work great. Go with a high quality food like New Life Spectrum. You will need to go to a high quality pet store to find it, but well worth it. Most cichlids don't like really bright light, and will actually fade out under intense lighting, so a single flurescent is perfect. Use the slate to create caves for the smaller fish to hide. You can use artificial plants, but Lake Malawi has very few plants, and the cichlids will quickly shred most live plants. I have tried java fern in a peacock tank, and java fern is not a plant that fish normally eat. The peacocks shredded it and there was nothing left in a matter of days. It is hard for me to tell you which type is better. To put it simply, most female mbunas have attractive coloration, all female peacocks are grey/brown and most female haps are lacking in color, with a few exceptions like the Venustus. Peacocks are much more expensive than mbunas or haps in most cases. So if you are poor, go with mbunas. Most haps get quite large, so if you go with them, keep their eventual size in mind. I have had good success mixing haps and peacocks in the past, and my 55 is currently a mix of all 3. I know I went against my own advice, and now I am regretting it. The male exasperatus is flexing his muscles and terrorizing all my peacocks and haps. I will probably have to trade him in or give him away. Good luck with what ever you decide to go with, and remember to rearrange your decorations each time you add new mbunas or the newbies will get an unkind welcome.

Answer 4

First and last rule of cichlids (or even Malawi cichlid): Never generalize or you will be wrong. If somebody tells you they're herivorous they're wrong - they range from fully herbivorous to fully carnivorous. If somebody tells you they're aggressive and kill everything, they're wrong. They range from mild to hostile, and on Labidochromis species less commonly found is as meek as any community fish. If you hear anything pertaining to cichlids in general assume it wrong and research the species that you have in mind.

How to start a Malawi Tank.

Step 1: Learn about the different fish you can get and the different methods of stocking the tank. I know you don't want links, but www.cichlid-forum.com is all a cichlid keeper really needs, it's got a great forum and tons of reliable and indespensable information. Your choices are basically: haps/aulonocara (peacocks), small haps/aulonocara/mild mbuna, or more aggressive mbuna. Mbuna tend to do well in higher numbers and appreciate tons of rockwork. Haps prefer lower numbers and more moderate amounts of rockwork. Aulonocara fall somewhere in between. I tend to prefer mild mbuna and small haps because there tends to be less aggression issues and it can make for a nice mix. The important thing is to read up and learn what is compatable before buying fish, not after.

Lots of filtration, they could care less about lighting - it's for you.

Step 2: The water. Malawi is not as hard and alkaline as Tanganyika and in most cases you can use your tap water as-is. Any PH 7 or higher is fine, though 8 to 8.5 is ideal. These are fully fresh water fish and salt is not needed, though there are mixtures of salts that can help raise your PH, KH, and GH to desirable levels if you need it. There are store bought additives or a great (and cheap) recipe that does the job just as reliably (if not more) on that website. Don't add anything beyond water conditioner unless you know why you are doing it and what affect it will have.
Fill a container with water and run an aerater in it for a few hours. Then measure the parameters and it will give you the most accurate reading of what your tap water is like.

Step 3: Decorating. Hiding spots are a must, and rocks are the most natural and easiest way to do this. I use limestone in mine because it naturally helps keep the alkalinity and hardness up. You can use any rock that's safe including granite, lava rock, river rock, holy rock, slate... lots available. I go to a rock cutter who sells it for 5% of the cost of a fish store. How much rock depends on the fish you keep - with mbuna you can do a total rockscaping from end to end, while with haps you'll want it set up more sparse with more free swimming room. My current tank has has 180lbs of limestone, my last 120lbs of lava rock. I never used anything on the bottom because the tanks are built to handle the weight without ingenius human intervention - just make sure the bottom rocks are resting on the glass, not on the substrate, or the fish could dig and undermine them (while the glass can handle weight, any falling rock will shatter obviously shatter it).

For substrate you can go with what you like, but if you want to encourage the natural behaviour of digging and sifting I recommend sand or a fine gravel. I use a simple playsand from Homedepot that works perfectly fro 4 bucks a bag in all my tanks and while since it doesn't grab and sink waste like gravel and there is more floating particulate in the water, it keeps the tank water pristine and low nitrate for the same reason.

Step 4: Pre-plan the tank based on compatible species dependent on what you like and what is available to you (take some trips to the fish store without intention of buying to see what's available, but look on the web to see what they'll actually look like as adults). Most species should be kept in groups of at least one male to three females, while some are more aggressive and need even more females. A couple of species are mild enough that it doesn't really matter.

Choose species that look different from each other and come from different genus, this helps keep aggression down. Make sure you know what the adult colors end up being, as some females remain dull in colour and this could disappoint the unwary. Also, keeping singles can work with more mild species, but with some a fish with none of its kind to interact with may end up harassing weaker species.

My last Malawi tank (75 gallon):
1 Aulonocara Maulana (male)
2 Red Empress (male/female)
6 Labidochromis Caeruleus (2m/4f)
8 Pseudotropheus Acei (about half and half but not sure)
6 Synodontis Multipunctatus

My current Malawi tank (75 gallon)
10 Labidochromis Caeruleus (some new)
7 Pseudotropheus Demasoni (undetermined)
6 Synodontis Multipunctatus (same ones, they'll be with me till they, or I, die)

Unfortunately there is so much to know and we couldn't possibly cover it all. Go to that website and research with patience. Planning the tank with the anticipation of what will come should be an enjoyable experience and will ensure success for you and your fishes. I took a couple of months before making my final decision on my first cichlid tank and I'm glad I did. Good luck.

Answer 5

Here is everything about cichlids

http://www.allcichlids.com/general/breeding_african_cichlids.html
http://www.african-cichlid.com/Lake_Malawi.htm
http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/raising_fry.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=801
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=134
http://www.cichlidae.com/author.php?id=140
http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/breeding_list.php
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquarium/fish_list.html

Hope these sites help you answere all the questions you may have


Good luck

EB