66 replies to this topic

[fish]

Hi all, am selling my colonies and starting up a Malawi Predator Display, Tank is 3' x 18" x 18", will be upgrading to a bigger tank when needed


Fish I will be starting off with will be:

Aristochromis christyi
Champsochromis caeruleus
Dimidiochromis Comprissecips Have got 4 at 4-6cm
Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus Have 1 at 4-5cm
Dimichromis Strigatus ( Maybe )

Fish Being Added Later:

Nimbochromis Venustus
Nimbochromis Polystigma
Tyrannochromis macrostoma
Buccochromis lepturus
Buccochromis rhoadesii
Copadichromis borleyi
Protomelas taeniolatus
Exochochromis anagenys
Lichnochromis acuticeps
Fossorochromis rostratus
Tyrannochromis nigriventer southern

Catfish:

Gold Spot Pleco


All these fish will be males

Feel free to give help or give me some idea's

thanks

Edited by fish, 05 June 2011 - 06:48 PM.

[Sarah Jayne]

What size tank????????? ????

Most important part

[ruffaz]

i thinks its a 3x18x18 i thought a little small

[Bowdy]

It's a tiny tank for them. Come buy the 4x2x2 I'm selling and give them a decent start.

[Neddy]

Research, research,research, then research some more!

[fish]

is it to tiny for fish that are 3-4cm??

I'm not buying a tank that is going to be to small for them soon, I would rather wait until they need it and then buy them a tank that they will stay in

I've done my research and I know what I'm doing

Edited by fish, 01 May 2011 - 05:41 PM.

[Neddy]

Ok

[jase87]

Even if u start with little fry, you will be upgrading aquarium size so quickley. Most of those cichlids named grow like thers no tomorrow... id invest in a 6 x 2 x 2 and wouldnt bother with the 3ft tank, its just far to small for them... i think some more reaserch is needed.

Jase

[Sarah Jayne]

Bigger the tank is the better they grow!

What filtration will you use?

[fish]

filtration will be a cannister, just gotta get one I won't be getting most of these fish for another 2 months and I've still gotta sell my colonies

[gibbs]

So you plan on having 4 or 5 males of each species? Bit of a bad idea, you should try to keep it to 1 fish of each species because the dominant fish will harrass the sub-dominant fish and if need be will kill them if he thinks they are becoming a threat to his status.

Dimidiochromis Compressiceps
Dimichromis Strigatus
These 2 species will clash quite badly. They are very closely related and wear similar colours, which will result in males fighting. I would urge you to consider only 1 of these species.

Nimbochromis Venustus
Nimbochromis Polystigma
Could possibly be a problem keeping these 2 species together. Again very closely related, similar pattern and body shape.

Distraction Fish:
Copadichromis borleyi
Protomelas taeniolatus

What exactly do you mean by this? Do you think they will be a distraction to the fish to stop them fighting? I think they would fit in well with some of your current plans but they will not be a distraction, there is a very good chance that either of them species will rule the tank, be a pain in the ass, get the crap beat out of them, sook in the corner. Although there are some precautions you can take to minimalise aggression an all male tank is hit and miss. If you get a couple of fish with bad individual personalties it will throw the tank way off.

So it looks like you're up for 2 big tanks now. Atleast a 6x2x2 for your Malawi predators and atleast a 6x2x2 for your Pbass. I hope for your fishes sake that you are true to your word.

[fish]

nah im only getting 5 of ea for the chance of a male and then i will sell the others off

[werdna]

At 3cm, 15 - 20 haps will outgrow a 3 x 18 x 18 in about 3 months.
If you havent got the tank yet because you cant afford it, you are wasting your money buying those fish now.
Put the money towards the tank first.
If you cant afford the tank now, you wont be able to afford it when they outgrow the one you got.

[tranced]

that christyi alone will set you back a good chunk of potential tank money. assuming you could find one for sale? same deal with the macrostoma, and i dont think caeruleus are exactly cheap. you would probably be well advised to buy the tank first, as these fish are probably going to end up costing you more than a secondhand six footer!

[Sarah Jayne]

I'm sure fish will find all this out the hard way ... It all is a learning experience.

[fish]

most of the fish i cant get right now any way, once i sell my colonies off, i can get the 6ft. ive already got the dimicomps and the chamis and chrysti wont be ready for another 2 months

[Peckoltia]

Best of luck with the tank. IMO you will be better off starting with a larger tank. I have had my malawi tank set up for about 10 months now, always amazes me going back through my photos and checking out how much they have grown.

[fish]

ok no worries, thanks for all the help everyone has given me

cheers, fish

[fish]

Am picking my tank up today dimensions are 205cm X 55cm X 55cm.

Any ideas on filtration?

[Bowdy]

Great to hear you upgraded to a nice size tank mate.
Filtration. FX5 , 2x 2217's , 2080 , you could set up a pond canister like I have done if you can get hold of a second hand pond canister cheap you will be laughing.
Cheers.