Malawi sugestions?

C

C!CHL!D

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Aug 30, 2003
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First let m introduce my self. My real name is Carl. I'm from North Carolina and have been keeping aquariums for around six years now and cichlids for four of those.(mostly CA/SA) I recently started a 75g mbuna tank. It has plenty of rock work for hiding places,(almost piled to the top in one corner),crushed coral/sand for substraight, is filtered with a fluval404 an an AC300(2 sponges), and is heatedwith an ebo 300w heater. My ph is 8.2 and I leep the temp set at 77. The tank currently houses 4 cobalt zebras(1m/3f), 5 red zebra(1m/4f), 1 Auratus(f), 1 M johanni(M),and one albino red-top zebra(?). My question is what else would work in this setup and how many should I stock to comfortably overstok thist tank to minimze aggression.

Sorry for the long post just wanted to provide as much background info as possible.

Carl
 
These are fairly aggressive mbuna's in a 75G tank. I would not add any excepta rubberlip pleco (Petsmart).

Zebra's grow too big, and are not colorful and peaceful enough for me. I have reveiwed 200 african cichilds and I like the following for great color, smaller size, and better temperment:

- Electric yellow's 1m/3f
- Sayulosi's 1m/3f
- socolofi, 1m/2f and one albino female
- 1 rubber-lip pleco

you can add one or two more fish to it or leave the room for the babies. Super red empress 1m/2f would add the red color to themix. :)

By the way, that's my set up with a couple tropheus in a 135G tank. I think I need to go to an eight footer, 180G plus.
 
If you're looking to overstock, I'd consder adding a few additional fish of a non-zebra species. You have several varieties of zebra already, and you should expect them to interbreed. You'll have to figure out what to do with the mutts; don't sell them back to your LFS, please!

I'd consider adding a sextet of some other type of mbuna: maybe some Labidochromis, or Labeotropheus. I'd try to stay away from Pseudotropheus species, as they'll possible interbreed with your zebras.

You might consider something like Labidochromis sp. pearlmutt; they'd be a nice addition.

Just be ready to do lots of water changes...

Good Luck,
Jim
 
JSchmit, how often do you suggest I do water changes. I do 75% twice a week while I'm doing my daily changes for my discus/rams.

What about a good cleaning crew?
 
I don't think there's any rule of thumb that should guide the frequency of water changes. Other factors will have an influence: feeding schedule, number of fish, amount of mechanical filtration and frequency of cleaning it, etc.

I shoot to keep nitrates in overstocked african cichlid tanks below 40-60 ppm, but my tap water often contains as much as 20 ppm before it ever gets to the fish.

HTH,
Jim
 
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