# New Malawi Setup - Feedback please?



## drinu (Dec 31, 2014)

Hi All,

First post here, been reading through some of the topics and I'm looking forward to learn a lot.

I just setup a Malawi Tank in my new Rio 180. I am using the stock filter (Bioflow 3.0 with 600lph), stock lights (2x45w T5) and stock heater (200W) that come with the tank.

My stock list is as follows:
2 x Electric Yellow
Powder Blue
Rusty
Golden Mbuna
Bumblebee
Pearl of Likoma

Any feedback on aquascape, whether I need more equipment etc?

Thanks!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

This is a 39" tank which is small for mbuna (48" is better).

The auratus, bumblebee and xx are too big/aggressive for your tank. What is a "Pearl of Likoma"? Are your fish all male?

Mbuna are harem breeders and males will tend to kill the females unless there is 1m:4f or even 1m:7f for each species. If one of the labs is female I'd remove her.

I'd trade them all in except the labs and stock them 1m:4f. They are more appropriate for a 39" tank. And I'd add rocks to stack the pile up higher in the tank.


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## drinu (Dec 31, 2014)

Pearl of Likoma = Melanochromis joanjohnsonae

There is no aggression at all at the moment in the tank. Do you think this would get worse as the fish grow?

I doubt local fish shop here (I live on the island of Malta) would allow me to trade them back. 

Thanks for your input


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## The Cichlid Guy (Oct 18, 2014)

drinu said:


> There is no aggression at all at the moment in the tank. Do you think this would get worse as the fish grow?


Without a doubt.

While most fish stores don't accept returns, most will accept fish as donations at least, if not give you store credit. This comes with the LFS territory, as most customers will have to rehome aggressive fish at some point.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The Cichlid Guy said:


> This comes with the LFS territory, as most customers will have to rehome aggressive fish at some point.


Plus one. Especially cichlids...if your LFS knows their fish they make it easy/possible for the fishkeepers to succeed.

I'd make an argument to the LFS that they were wrong to sell you that fish-and-tank combo and request a swap of fish.


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## drinu (Dec 31, 2014)

Spoke to him today. He should be accepting the return of the fish. I will swap the auratus and crabro for some female electric yellows


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

in that tank i would stick with 1 species of fish.

yellow, saulosi, demasoni.

i would just stick a bunch of saulosi in so you have blue and yellow.


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## PhinFan1981 (Nov 15, 2014)

A pack of 8 yellow labs would go nice in that tank. Saulosi females are very similar to yellow labs (yellowish) and you would only end up with 1 blue fish (male) Saulosi anyhow. Demasoni would be very challenging in that tank...unless you seriously overstocked it.


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## drinu (Dec 31, 2014)

Why would demasoni be challenging? And what would you consider seriously stocked?


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## PhinFan1981 (Nov 15, 2014)

Do you think Demasoni wouldn't be challenging for a beginner in a 36" tank? I would say "stocked heavily" would be the most likely chance for success to keep Demasoni in a 36" tank. By stocked heavy...and this if I was gonna try Demasoni as a single species in a 36" tank I'd go with 20 juvies and shoot to end up with 12-14 after removing extra males. 14 Demasoni in that tank wouldn't be overstocked by any means...but You would have to stock a lot more fish if you went with Demasoni than adding 6-7 more yellow labs to the 2 you already have.


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## PhinFan1981 (Nov 15, 2014)

Demasoni are very challenging because of their aggression toward each other. You have to stock them heavy because you will wanna end up with 2 or less males or they will terrorize each other relentlessly until the sub-dominants are dead.Demasoni look great and are fairly easy to find...so it is common for beginners to throw 3-4 of them in a tank together and end up with just one or less in the end.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Demasoni are challenging in any tank. You need extra tanks for hospital and rehoming...a place to rehome...and you have to be willing to tear down the tank fairly often to net problem fish. It would not hurt to keep metronidazole on hand as well.

If you want to try demasoni I'd do a species tank and buy 18 unsexed juveniles. Shoot to end up with 12.


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## drinu (Dec 31, 2014)

After reading up i decided to remove the auratus and crabro which would leave me with the following

2 x Electric Yellow
Powder Blue
Rusty
Pearl of Likoma

Now I'm considering getting round 5 saulosi juvies (cannot sex them yet as they were all yellow at lfs) leaving me with a total of 11 fish

Opinions?


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## PhinFan1981 (Nov 15, 2014)

I guess its your tank and you should try what you like. However I would not recommend that list. For starters yellow labs and saulosi are tough together due to look alike species. Not sure how big your current fish are,but adding juvie saulosi to an established tank with mature mbuna could also be an issue. I would usually wanna add juvies and less aggressive fish first to lessen aggression to new tankmates. Not sure what powder blue is....but if its a Metraclima or (blue zebra) he will eventually be a handful if he is male. Sometimes it is best to research before buying fish.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

As mentioned, 12 inividuals might work with demasoni in a species tank but I would not expect it to work with any other 12 (or 11) fish. The Powder blue (Metriaclima callainos) is too big/aggressive for a 36" tank. Malawi are harem breeders, if you have any females in the tank the male is likely to kill them unless there are 4X more females than males.

If you are determined to do one of each...make sure they are all male or all female. Maybe 5 inividuals. And no duplicates, so you would not want 2 yellow labs or 5 saulosi.


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## drinu (Dec 31, 2014)

It is not a 36" tank but a 39"

The Powder blue is Pseudotropheus socolofi


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Same advice for any tank < 48" long in a rectangle shape. Socolofi is another aggressive mbuna...not a candidate for a tank less than 48".


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