Malawi set up

[Ceri-rust]

I may be getting a aqua one 620t soon my plan is to rip out the over head filter and run a superfish 200 external on it put some ocean rock in and maybe a ph buffer sand, what Malawi do people recommend for a newbie of African cichlids?

[horsedude]

well i have actually got the aqua 620t and its pretty good, it looks nice as well, i dont think you would be able to get many africain cichlids in there but you could get 3 or 4 depending on the ones you get. i would go with a ratio of 1 male to 3-4 females.i dont know much about african cichlids but i do know stuff about American cichlids. I have 3 Bolvian Rams which are less colourful but more hardy than German blue rams. you could aslo try Kribs which can be a little aggresive, keyhole cichlids which are nice as well and you could try Apistogrammas. you could also have 3 Angel fish

good luck

[QuoVadis]

What size is an "aqua one 620t"? I've never heard of this. But the minimum size I'd reccomend for long term keeping africans is a 55g (4ft long). Also, you should crowd it to reduce aggression, but make sure you have enough filtration to handle it. In a 55 you could put 10-15 African mbuna cichlids, depending on what type you get. Check out Yellow Labs, Acei Cichlids, Powder Blue Cichlids, Cobalt Blue Cichlids, Maingano Cichlids, and Afra Cichlids, they are all relatively laid back for mbuna (which is still aggressive). Also Demasoni are beautiful, stay small, but are very aggressive to each other, so with them you would need a minimum of around 10. Generally it is best to keep africans in groups atleast 5, and a minimum of 2-3 female per male, more females the more aggressive the species. I think most people pick 2-3 species with nice contrasting colors and and get atleast 5 of each. One other thing that can work is to get only one per species, since they don't tend to be as aggressive to fish that don't look like them, but if you do this it is essential to only mix species with similar temperaments, who do not look too much alike, and who are from different Genus (with the exception of psuedotropheus, which is a catch all right now for unclassified species). I realize I have written this whole thing on Mbuna, but you didn't even mention what type of Africans you were wanting to keep. Shell dwellers, peacocks, etc all have different requirements. The diversity and complexity of Africans kept me from keeping Africans for a long time just because it all seemed so confusing. Just do a lot of research!

[horsedude]

Originally Posted by QuoVadis

What size is an "aqua one 620t"? I've never heard of this. But the minimum size I'd reccomend for long term keeping africans is a 55g (4ft long). Also, you should crowd it to reduce aggression, but make sure you have enough filtration to handle it. In a 55 you could put 10-15 African mbuna cichlids, depending on what type you get. Check out Yellow Labs, Acei Cichlids, Powder Blue Cichlids, Cobalt Blue Cichlids, Maingano Cichlids, and Afra Cichlids, they are all relatively laid back for mbuna (which is still aggressive). Also Demasoni are beautiful, stay small, but are very aggressive to each other, so with them you would need a minimum of around 10. Generally it is best to keep africans in groups atleast 5, and a minimum of 2-3 female per male, more females the more aggressive the species. I think most people pick 2-3 species with nice contrasting colors and and get atleast 5 of each. One other thing that can work is to get only one per species, since they don't tend to be as aggressive to fish that don't look like them, but if you do this it is essential to only mix species with similar temperaments, who do not look too much alike, and who are from different Genus (with the exception of psuedotropheus, which is a catch all right now for unclassified species). I realize I have written this whole thing on Mbuna, but you didn't even mention what type of Africans you were wanting to keep. Shell dwellers, peacocks, etc all have different requirements. The diversity and complexity of Africans kept me from keeping Africans for a long time just because it all seemed so confusing. Just do a lot of research!

the tank is 120L, its a good tank i have one i like mine a lot.

[Indychus]

120L is roughly 30 gallons; I'd say that's too small to house anything other than maybe some dwarf cichlids, if that. I can't recommend any particular fish as I'm a cichlid newbie as well, but I am setting up a malawi/tanganyiki mixed tank currently. Most of these fish are very aggressive and the tank needs to be overstocked to keep them from killing each other. Based on my research and people I have talked to, 55g is the absolute minimum, with 75 or 90 gallons being preferred.

[CrypticLifeStyle]

Agreed with above & WWW.cichlid-forum.com

[QuoVadis]

With that size tank I think only African cichlids you could keep would be maybe some of the small shell dwellers, or kribs. OR Maybe maybe MAYBE a group of like 6-7 yellow labs, with only one male and no other species. I think yellow labs are pretty mellow for mbuna, but they are still mbuna! I realy don't think most Malawi species would work in that size tank unless it was temporary

[fishkeeper01]

I have a lot of experience with african cichlids and if the tank you have is a 30g then africans are out of the question, except a colony of shelldwellers. You should really look into them if your are set on africans. Yellow labs are also out of the question as the tank is to small for cichlids of 4in or bigger, because cichlids require much more room than your average community fish, and if you have a male he will require even more room. So as i said earlier shelldwellers are your route, but please do your research first and dont rush in, i would also suggest www.cichlid-forum.com. Good luck