queenbobby

hi all, now where can i start?.... have so many questions so little time 8)
i have been keeping tropical fish for about 4 yrs now and have recently bought the tank of my dreams for my front room (fluval osaka 260l)
im thinking to take the plunge and give up with my oddball tank and start a mbuna tank.
i need to buy the ocean rock as i want to set up in a triangle type shape so i need loads = loadsa £!!
need to look for a good deal somewhere as after buying the tank im skint!!!
i might just end up adding half of the rock and then adding to it later. the tank dimensions are 3.5ft x 1.4 ft. also need a cheap 3d background ( i know i dont ask for much!)

to summarise and not bore you all to death..... i will include bulletpoint questions....
can i keep my clown loaches and pictus in the same tank as i have seen many tanks with these all together?

i am going to add normal sand and then some coral sand is that ok?

i will take 1/3 of the filter media from my old external filter and add it to my new filter to cycle the tank before adding any fish.. is this right?
never dealt with such high pH before you see
im planning on 40% water changes fortnightly is this ok?

im going to stick the rocks together as im afriad that they may toplle as we have wood flooring\( sometimes it causes vibrations in my old tank)

i know i must sound very sad but im so glad that there is a place with people who know there stuff rather than reading contrasting viewpoints on the net


last question i promise...
is it best to start with 4 elec blue 4 elec yell 4 red empire and 4 venustus like the LFS suggested?

thanks for the info but i really need to know all of this before i start!! :?:
if i use play sand how much coral sand will i have to buy? sorry for al the questions its just that i never knew keeping malawis would be so expensive id say its about the same as keeping marines (but obviuosly better)!.

can anyone hazard a guess as to how long this tank may take to cycle? im adding old filter media and a few rocks from my old tank its shouldnt tke long as normal cycling should it?
ive been told my lfs to add nutrafin cycle and it will be ok to go?

Angela_96

Crushed coral and sand are great.
As for the pictus and clown loach, the pictus should be fine but I would find new homes for the clown loach.

Don't use nutrafin cycle, filter media from another tank would be fine to get it going.

What size is the tank?
IF the electric blues are the hap ahi's they need a 75g+, if its melachromis johanni it would be fine in a 55g.

The elec yellows (yellow labs) are great fish, they are mildly aggressive, also the red empress is great with yellow labs.

As for the Venusutus they get huge and need a 90g+ tank.

Mixing a lot of haps with mbuna are n ot a good idea as the haps are meat eaters and the mbuna are veggie eaters. Feeding the mbuna meat will cause bloat. They need algae flakes and fresh veggies.

Have you looked at any other mbuna? Most fish stores don't "specialize" in stocking cichlid tanks and do not know what will mix well and what won't they will suggest all africans can be mixed when thats not true. They have to be certain species of mbuna mixed, haps, etc to have harmony in the tank and to keep them from hybridizing.

btate617

You mention how much these fish cost, search for an Aquarium Society near you. You can buy your fish from local breeders which will be a better stock of fish and also at a wat better price.

Brian

Dojella

My experience with venustus cichlids... For my first cichlid tank, I started out with 3 N. venustus, 3 electric yellows, 3 P. socoloffi (all around 2"). My male venustus killed his brother and 2 of the socoloffi after they'd lived just fine for 6 months. He still fights with the male yellow, but they don't actually hurt each other. I've tried to add other fish, but he kills them or just picks on them so much they die from stress. He ignores the algae eaters and plecos though... he's been through several new plecos as I trade them for smaller ones once they are too big for the tank.

So my advice is that if you do get venustus, start them young with all of the fish you'll want to have in that tank. If they grow up together, the venustus should be OK, but males can be very dominant, especially once they reach sexual maturity. You most likely won't be able to add any other fish once your venustus gets to adulthood. As I have found out... my cichlid tank is "fixed" ...I can't add anything else or it will suffer.

Also, my P. socoloffi were sweet gentle fish and I wouldn't recommend them with aggressive cichlids