# 37 Gallon African Stocking (Lake Malawi)



## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

I have a 6-7" featherfin synodontis catfish that doesn't bother
much, he's the sole survivor of an ick outbreak that killed
everything I had.

I'm looking for African Cichlids, I've narrowed it down to Lake Malawi I think, but if you have a better suggestion that's fine too. I'm going to be getting some cichlid stones to replace the pot in the center of the tank (see picture below). Also any suggestions on raising the pH without using chemicals would be GREATLY appreciated.

And one last random thing, at my LFS they have their Malawi cichlids, and in with them (and he has been for 3 months) is a 3" bucktooth tetra. I know the reputation and typical behavior of these guys, but this one seems to think he's an african cichlid and schools with them. Would there be a possibility of this behavior continuing in my tank?

Thanks all!

Here's a pic of the tank

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3 ... d=46604130


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the tank? I have a 38G that is 36" long which is not a great tank for Malawi. A single species of dwarf mbuna like cynotilapia afra cobue would work.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

30x12x22

I was looking at maybe red zebras, yellow labs, and maybe some sort of peacock, only 6 total for the tank though


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

Chubbs the Jellybean said:


> 30x12x22
> 
> I was looking at maybe red zebras, yellow labs, and maybe some sort of peacock, only 6 total for the tank though


You're going to need a longer tank for peacocks. I probably wouldn't keep labs or zebra in this size tank either. 48" length give you a LOT more options in a tank.

You'd have better luck stocking tangs in a tank this size. You could also probably get away with a small group of dwarf mbuna, 1m 3-4 female.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Sorry, I've been trying to do as much research possible b/c my experience is in SA/CA, and I think I'd like either a small community of Yellow Labs, or something like this...

Yellow lab
Red Zebra
Perlmutt

Do those work? If not does the idea of yellow labs only work? Sorry I'm trying to research because I don't want to make a mistake and mis-stock

Thank you all for being understanding!


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

Chubbs the Jellybean said:


> Sorry, I've been trying to do as much research possible b/c my experience is in SA/CA, and I think I'd like either a small community of Yellow Labs, or something like this...
> 
> Yellow lab
> Red Zebra
> ...


No need to apologize, it's good to see you're doing your research before you buy :thumb: I'm going through the same sort of thing trying to decide between CA/SA and tang for my next tank 

With a smaller tank like this I'd stick to one species, probably a dwarf species (4 inches and under). You could possibly try a small group of labs, but they do get to be 6+ inches which can get a little big for a tank that size.

If it were me I'd go with a small group of Ps. Saulosi. You get 2 different colors for one species of dwarf mbuna. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1

Which is the reason these fish can be very popular for smaller mbuna tanks, you get double the color you usually would for a single species tank.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

> No need to apologize, it's good to see you're doing your research before you buy :thumb: I'm going through the same sort of thing trying to decide between CA/SA and tang for my next tank
> 
> With a smaller tank like this I'd stick to one species, probably a dwarf species (4 inches and under). You could possibly try a small group of labs, but they do get to be 6+ inches which can get a little big for a tank that size.
> 
> ...


Thanks!

I'd actually looked at that species and was fascinated by them!

What would you recommend for numbers of them, as well as m/f ratios?

And how do you recommend getting my pH to be the 7.8 that they need? I don't want to use chemicals.

And also, how fast do both they and the yellow labs grow?[/quote]


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

Chubbs the Jellybean said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I'd actually looked at that species and was fascinated by them!
> 
> ...


I'd recommend buying about 8 of them as juvies and weeding them down to 1 male and 4-5 females. You could try doing multiple males, but many have had issues with getting more than 1 male to fully color up in smaller species tanks like this.

What is your pH out of the tap? As long as it's not super acidic you should be fine. Stability is more important than having it be exactly 7.8 - 8.6.

I've never kept saulosi so I couldn't comment on how fast they grow, but my demasoni which are also dwarf mbuna grew from about .75 inches to the 3 inch mark in about 11 months. That was one of the more dominant demasoni though.

As far as labs, mine are at about the 4 inch mark and I've had them for about 14 months now.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

nauTik said:


> Chubbs the Jellybean said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks!
> ...


My tap pH is right around 7 on the dot. I'm going to have to travel a little bit for these guys (about 40 mins) because the only fish stores by me have "Assorted African Cichlids" tanks (mostly yellow labs, red zebras, and assorted peacocks).

There's a specialty store that is 40 mins away that I can only hope for the best with.

Btw - the beginning of my question mentioned a bucktooth tetra at my LFS (they have an assorted africans tank exactly like what i mentioned above) and it schools with the africans (been in the tank for 3 months and gotten bigger). would he continue this behavior with the new fish?


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

Chubbs the Jellybean said:


> My tap pH is right around 7 on the dot. I'm going to have to travel a little bit for these guys (about 40 mins) because the only fish stores by me have "Assorted African Cichlids" tanks (mostly yellow labs, red zebras, and assorted peacocks).
> 
> There's a specialty store that is 40 mins away that I can only hope for the best with.
> 
> Btw - the beginning of my question mentioned a bucktooth tetra at my LFS (they have an assorted africans tank exactly like what i mentioned above) and it schools with the africans (been in the tank for 3 months and gotten bigger). would he continue this behavior with the new fish?


I think neutral should be fine, personally I've known a few people who have no problems keeping mbuna in 7.2-7.4 pH water. As long as it's stable. You could try adding crushed coral or limestone to buffer it if you're worried. Just don't worry too much about messing with it :thumb:

40 mins? ah you're lucky I have to travel nearly 2 hours to get to any of the good breeders I know of in Michigan (and one of them is retiring :[ )

It's always good to call ahead and see if they have what you're looking for before you waste the gas. You could always order online, I know of 2 places that currently have some good looking saulosi they are selling. Shipping costs can be worth it for getting exactly what you want. IMO

Regarding the tetra.. I'm not too knowledgeable about them. All I can say is you probably shouldn't base any sort of information off what works in a LFS tank. The only times I've ever heard about them working with cichlids was with CA/SA cichlids, not so much africans.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

> I know of 2 places that currently have some good looking saulosi they are selling. Shipping costs can be worth it for getting exactly what you want. IMO


Do you have a link for them or a way to contact them / view the stock? I agree it would be worth it, though I'll still ask if the store 40 mins from me has the saulosi in stock or can get them for me.


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

PM sent for the stores.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Just to throw in another opinion, I probably would want to bump the pH up to at least 7.6. But I don't know of anyone keeping them with success below that and I have not tried it, so it would be more of a safety measure I would take. Try crushed coral in your filter, but you might need baking soda.

And yes, it is important to keep it absolutely consistent.

I did not have luck with tetras with my cichlids. It was gradual (over a year) but eventually they were harrassed enough that they died off.

Fish will commonly school when they are new to a tank, even those not known to form shoals. Once they settle in (month or two) the schooling behavior may disappear.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

hey all, since the last post i've added "Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate" to the tank, its very cloudy but i figure after a few days and a good water change it'll clear up pretty good and it should hold my pH around 8.0


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

And your fish stock?


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

Chubbs the Jellybean said:


> hey all, since the last post i've added "Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate" to the tank, its very cloudy but i figure after a few days and a good water change it'll clear up pretty good and it should hold my pH around 8.0


Did you give it a good rinse before adding it to the tank? You may have issues with it causing cloudyness even after it settles if you didn't. For example during water changes and cleaning.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

nauTik said:


> Chubbs the Jellybean said:
> 
> 
> > hey all, since the last post i've added "Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate" to the tank, its very cloudy but i figure after a few days and a good water change it'll clear up pretty good and it should hold my pH around 8.0
> ...


Really? Wonderful. The bag said to not rinse, I hope I don't end up with these problems.....

And in response to the fish stock question, I haven't stocked it yet, waiting on two boxes of cichlid stones to be delivered before I stock


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

So since that time, I've gotten two 3-packs of cichlid stones, added some PVC Pipe corners, and had my pH buffered to 8.0 by the crushed coral consistent for about a week and a half. I've done 2 water changes, the tank is cloudy after the water change i just did, but seems to be clearing up as the days pass.

Fish soon hopefully. And also the Featherfin Catfish (Synodontis eupterus) is thriving and his fins are on full display


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