46g bowfront

Rallysman said:
:/ I'm not a big fan of Mbuna. They're alright, but I'm more of a fan of the personality and appearance of central/south american cichlids. Personal preference though lol....to each their own.
For a 46 bow I would go with an Aqua Clear 110. It will take care of the tank by itself, you can pick it up for $40, and you dont have to keep buying filter media (if you dont use the carbon, which isnt even needed most of the time IMO).
I know its overkill for an aquarium of that size but you can adjust the flow and use it on a bigger tank in the future if needed:)
Click to expand...
Your sure about the aqua clear boss? why not spend a little more and get the H.O.T. I like the south americans too............But dont you like the color of africans? I read the reason there so colorful is because all three of the african lakes at one time were part of the oceans. Any truth to that?
 
Totally sure about the aquaclear. The HOT seems to lose a lot of bacteria everytime you clean it from my experience. On the H.O.T. that I serviced the only place for bacteria to stay long term was the sponge. I'd take an aquaclear over a H.O.T. any day of the week.
There my be some additional media that I'm not aware of, but I remember it being a "cartridge" that was replaced when serviced.I suppose it would be ok with the additional biowheel, but I see that as an unnecessary additional cost.
I like a double sponge/biomax setup on an aquaclear. It's hard to beat IMO (unless you're doing a planted tank).

I will have nothing to do with any filter than has a cartridge. Just personal preference:)

Also, I dont know about the lakes once being an ocean...african cichlids are still just okay to me. Except Fronts. I love Fronts. They're the one african exception for me lol ( I know they arent Mbuna btw :grinno: )
 
Last edited:
Well, I have to say that you may be right about the aquaclear being better than the H.O.T. Magnum, if it weren't for the optional Bio-wheel. Though not currently being used, I have 2 of these. You don't need to worry about bacteria at all with the bio-wheel. That's one of the reasons that the Emperor 400 is such a great filter. I use the Emperor and a Magnum 350 on my 95 gal. Malawi tank and they work exceedingly well.

I must say also that I find African Cichlids to be the most beautiful freshwater fish, as well as the FW fish with the most personality. I really love the differences in how they act.

I disagree with the thought that Mbuna's are boring and stay in one place. The one thing I wish there was, is a fish that could get my Mbuna to stay in place and stop pestering the other fish - which is a problem only with one of my Mbunas. The rest are quite docile, surprisingly :)

Oh, Edit: also: one of my auratus' is very outgoing and active, but not a bully (this is the female). The other, the male, is easily spooked and very shy. From my experience, female africans are much more energetic than the males. Most of the fish that swim actively around the front of my tank are my females.
 
Last edited:
scott foster said:
I agree. But let me ask you something is your Auratus the most aggressive in the tank? I had one ...He was meaner than Sadam Hussein.
Click to expand...

My auratus is AWFUL!!!!!
He's killed at least 3 of our fish to date. 2 other female auratus' and a livingstonii that was twice his size.....and he's the smallest fish in the tank.
He's always the "problem" fish.

And Kraven, to answer your question, mbuna's put on a lovely show. Mine constantly chase eachother around and are only hiding when they're sleeping. They are DEFINETELY are not boring. And I feed my Mbuna's fresh lettuce, carrots, seaweed, flakes and sometimes pellets....But I don't recommend pellet feeding often because it can increase the risk of malawi bloat. I lost one from that, and it is an awful way for a fish to die.
 
oops
 
Last edited:
Rallysman said:
Totally sure about the aquaclear. The HOT seems to lose a lot of bacteria everytime you clean it from my experience. On the H.O.T. that I serviced the only place for bacteria to stay long term was the sponge. I'd take an aquaclear over a H.O.T. any day of the week.
There my be some additional media that I'm not aware of, but I remember it being a "cartridge" that was replaced when serviced.I suppose it would be ok with the additional biowheel, but I see that as an unnecessary additional cost.
I like a double sponge/biomax setup on an aquaclear. It's hard to beat IMO (unless you're doing a planted tank).

I will have nothing to do with any filter than has a cartridge. Just personal preference:)

Also, I dont know about the lakes once being an ocean...african cichlids are still just okay to me. Except Fronts. I love Fronts. They're the one african exception for me lol ( I know they arent Mbuna btw :grinno: )
Click to expand...

Mine does have the bio wheel. But let me ask you this......I have heard the aqua clear puts out alot of micro bubbles. Which probally dont bother most people but it would me....Does yours do that?
 
Nikki J said:
My auratus is AWFUL!!!!!
He's killed at least 3 of our fish to date. 2 other female auratus' and a livingstonii that was twice his size.....and he's the smallest fish in the tank.
He's always the "problem" fish.

And Kraven, to answer your question, mbuna's put on a lovely show. Mine constantly chase eachother around and are only hiding when they're sleeping. They are DEFINETELY are not boring. And I feed my Mbuna's fresh lettuce, carrots, seaweed, flakes and sometimes pellets....But I don't recommend pellet feeding often because it can increase the risk of malawi bloat. I lost one from that, and it is an awful way for a fish to die.
Click to expand...


If your Auratus gets to bad I hear they make great cat food :cool: Also have you ever tried soaking your pellets? I feed mine pellets most of the time and I scoop a little water from the aquarium and soak them for about ten min. They do swell up but by the time the fish get them there seems to be no danger.
 
scott foster said:
If your Auratus gets to bad I hear they make great cat food :cool: Also have you ever tried soaking your pellets? I feed mine pellets most of the time and I scoop a little water from the aquarium and soak them for about ten min. They do swell up but by the time the fish get them there seems to be no danger.
Click to expand...


hahaahaha! Yea the auratus is pretty bad. But to my suprise, my four line catfish seems to be the only one to keep him in line.

And yes, when I DO feed them pellets I soak them first. I only feed them the pellets twice a week. I like them to have various foods in their diet.
 
scott foster said:
Mine does have the bio wheel. But let me ask you this......I have heard the aqua clear puts out alot of micro bubbles. Which probally dont bother most people but it would me....Does yours do that?
Click to expand...
I've never seen anything like that from any of mine. maybe it would if the water level got too low.
 
Hey again everyone thank you all very much for all your replies and help. I've been looking at my LFS's and none of them seem to have any mbuna or malawi cichlids, so I'm thinking this is not going to end up how I intended :( . I'm pretty sure mbuna tank is totally out of the question for me now. So I was wondering what you guys would do with this tank? It'd be cool if I could get a very personable cichlid but then a cichlid that wouldnt mind some other fish maybe a school of larger fish and some cories? Do you think this would be possible, or are there any personable larger fish out there thatd go in a say semi-aggressive community? Any suggestions would be appreciated a ton and thank yo very much for all the help you've given me already.
Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom