# Do plants look good for malawi tank?



## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello folks,

i have just overhaul my 4ft 67gallons tank today.
setting up a malawi hap/peacock(except a yellow lab) tank.

currently having some fake rocks which already occupy half of the tank. they are not stack up high like a mbuna tank. but they just scatter on the sand bed.
on the other half on the tank i have a fake huge driftwood. thats all.

do i need fake plants for a malawi hap/peacock tank? and what type of plants looks best for a malawi tank? and how much do i need? or i really dont need any plants at all? 

thanks and cheers!


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Personal perference. The fish certainly don't need them and may dig them up.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

its been my experience that the plants will get eaten with malawi


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello GTZ

thanks for advice.

i guess this time no plants for me.  
i also do notice fake plants accumulate lots of dirt over time...



GTZ said:


> Personal perference. The fish certainly don't need them and may dig them up.


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## fishing12 (Dec 15, 2012)

I have an all male tank with Haps Peacocks and two Mbuna (Yellow Lab and a Metriaclima sp. Blue Dolphin Manda). I have had the plants going for about a month and so far so good. My plants are two Java Fern, 1 Amazon Sword, Two Giant Hairgrass and 1 Anubias. The Manda is the only one that even shows interest in the plants and has only taken a couple of small pieces off of the sword plant. Personal preference I dont like fake plants but if I were to use them try the silk plants they look more natural than most plastic plants. Give the live ones a shot, you will know shortly how they do and they are at least to me not that expensive so it may be worth a try. Good luck


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## 4RSo (Aug 13, 2011)

Plants was the one thing my tank needed, I started with a couple Anubias Barteri Var. Nana. and I'm obsessed, most all the Anubias are super easy to grow. And they do well in close to zero watts per gallon(I've got 13 on my 125gal). Mine seemed to grow laterally first and then, after the addition of organic carbon, the leaves began to grow vertically opening up more space for new leaves to fill in to give the plant some density. I also have java fern and crypts, and surprisingly the java fern is doing the least good in the sense that it just isn't growing at all right now. My cichlids don't touch them, provided they don't have any algae on them. And the ones that do are my zebras, the females like to nibble on the algae a lot but the damage is undetectable. I'd say go for it, the plants are cheap and they are fun to watch grow.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Plants are not needed, but IMO they do make a tank look better. I recently (2-3 weeks ago) added Java Fern to my Mbuna tank and liked the added appearance it gave the tank. Lot's of people say Mbuna eat/dig up plants but after much asking around I found most people that actually tried live plants agreed that for whatever reason Mbuna left Java Fern alone. It's been a couple weeks since I added my Java Fern and my Mbuna have not even bothered them in the least.

Here's a before and after of my Mbuna tank. IMO the live plants adds a nice "lively touch". And Java Fern is not very costly either.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My mbuna eat everything, including java fern and anubias. I have better luck with haps, peacocks and Tangs.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

I think its a personal preference with plants...some people like them, some don't. Those that like them are willing to put up with the occasional uprooted plant or eaten plant or not growing plant (plants have their own needs in tanks and meeting those sometimes means that there is a bit of struggle to get things right  )

Personally I love plants in my tanks. I have them tied to rocks and driftwood and tucked under rocks and put in any way I can. The least effective method has been simply putting them in the substrate...they do much better attached to something. I've used both fishing line and cotton thread...the cotton thread is probably safer but if you have a pleco he will eat right through it on a regular basis as well as suck your plants right off their attachments...so the fishing line works best with them (just keep an eye on it as if it comes lose you don't want to lose a fish to it for some reason). Anyway, it takes some work to keep your plants where they are supposed to be in a mbuna tank but I think the end result is worth it if you like them.


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## toddnkaya (Apr 27, 2013)

Love the look of you tank!!


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## toddnkaya (Apr 27, 2013)

Can you explain your blue background ? Is that paper?
Where did u get 3d background and how much?
Thanks , Todd


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Todd the 3D BG I made myself. The blue is a heavy wrapping paper with two 20" cold cathode light bars mounted on the wall behind it.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

You should be careful using thread or fishing line to tie down plants. I have a Queen Arabesque pleco which I noticed had fungus circling his head. I tried to catch him but he disappeared into the driftwood. I put some Pimafix in there and didn't seem him again for 6 months. Just when I thought he had died, he came out again and realized that the thread that I had used to tie down my anubias was embedded in his head. I had to pull all of the decorations out of my tank before I could catch him and remove the thread. That was about 4 years ago and he is still doing fine.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

A big melon sword or something similar would look nice in that tank


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## testeve (Sep 17, 2012)

I hated trying to use thread to tie down plants. I learned a really great trick during my planted tank days a couple years ago and it has come in handy lately with my cichlid tank. I love having plants in my tanks. The green just seems to give it a real natural look, even if the plants wouldn't normally be in the natural environment. It is just a matter or personal preference IMO.

Anyway, back to my trick. I use super glue gel to attach my anubias and ferns to the rocks. I don't think it will work very well with normal root plants, I just know it for sure works with rhizome plants (anubias/ferns).

To do this you need super glue "GEL" type. Has to be *gel *type though. No name brand from local CVS or Rite Aid works too. Dry the rock or driftwood, then dry the rhizome of the plant. put the super glue gel on the rock/wood, then attach the rhizome of the plant to the rock and hold in place. Then put a few drops of water on the glue/plant/rock, (I use a little water spray bottle). The water will cause the glue to "set" or "dry" faster. It usually only takes about a minute or 2 tops for the glue to dry. Once it dries it will turn white and the plant should not be easy to remove from the rock/wood. Once dry it is inert and will not harm the fish at all.

This is by far easier than string or thread or anything else. I have done this a hundred times in all kinds of tanks, even invertebrate tanks, with no ill affects.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

I've tried the GEL superglue also. It worked for a while but also lost its holding power after a bit (maybe it was my plecos that tore the plants off). Anyway, the problem with the GEL is it leaves a white residue that remains on the object...the wood or rock which I really didn't like so I just retie my stuff on when it come loose or move it to the next tank with another piece of wood or rock. I'm using pots for my other plants with rocks on top as I've found that works the best...like the one in the pic below (left corner)


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## Mr2Good (May 9, 2013)

I have some anubus in mine seems to work out... they dont even touch them


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## testeve (Sep 17, 2012)

> cichlid-gal said:
> 
> 
> > I've tried the GEL superglue also. It worked for a while but also lost its holding power after a bit (maybe it was my plecos that tore the plants off). Anyway, the problem with the GEL is it leaves a white residue that remains on the object...the wood or rock which I really didn't like so I just retie my stuff on when it come loose or move it to the next tank with another piece of wood or rock. I'm using pots for my other plants with rocks on top as I've found that works the best...like the one in the pic below (left corner)


Whether you use glue or thread to hold the plant, it should really only be temporary as the plant itself has a natural ability to "grab" on to the rock or wood after a little bit of time. You do need to be a little careful and use the gel sparingly to keep the white stuff from showing. But IME even if a little white residue shows at the beginning, it usually goes away, or gets covered by the plant or by algae and you can't see it anymore. Here is a pic of my tank. All plants in the picture are attached to rocks using superglue gel. Often I use a small rock and glue it to the bottom of the plant and then just bury it in the sand, that way even if they dig it up, the plant doesn't start floating around...


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

It really depends on what you keep, but I've had great successes with very planted tanks in with Malawians. Cryptocornes, Vallisnerias, in addition to the usual Java Ferns and Anubias.


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## Derpfish (Jul 26, 2012)

Plants look nice but they get in the way when cleaning and Africans usually don't care one way or the other if you have them, ime.


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