martynmarion

I got my new 75 gal. african cichlid (lake malawi) tank cycled and added my first 3 fish on wed. of this week. So far, so good, but Question #1- If I do a 20% water change on Sun., can I add another 2 or 3 fish, or will that mess up the biolode to the point where I need to wait another week or so before adding fish? Question #2- Do I need to rearrange my rocks/caves with only 6 fish in the tank, or do you think I can wait until I add a few more? I can't tell if any territories have been established yet or not.

COBettaCouple

I think it would be ok to add 2-3 fish at a time. I'd probably rearrange things each time more fish were added.

jack11

congrats on the new tank setup, do you think you will be able to post some pictures?

martynmarion

I'll try to post some pics soon, and thanks for the help.

mlinden84

You will need to re-arrange every time you add fish. I've also found that as they get bigger, you will need to re-arrange even if you don't add new fish. With mine, I have to re-arrange the rock every 3 weeks or so, otherwise they start to fight all the time.

Drea

You're gonna enjoy that tank so much ciclids are great! Can't wait to see some pics. Where is your tank?

p ViRuS q

be careful when adding fish so fast and so many at a time. you very well could end up causing the bio load to get messed up therefore ruining your water parameters.
and yes you should rearange your tank each time you get fish

Angela_96

I am getting started w/ cichlids also, same lake do you rearrange things to keep territories from being established? This is the first place I have heard of this...

Drea

Yup, you have to keep things changing. The ciclid is a territorial type, and they will set up shop and fights will commence.. It's easy though, you don't have to dramatically change the set up, just a few things moved, say during wc time.

Angela_96

Thanks.. my mom had cichlids but only for a short time and she wasn't "by the book" thats why it was for a short time... she told me not to move anything in the tank once I set it up that it would upset the fish and confuse them.... I should have known not to listen to her.. this is the same person that just now started to set her tanks up again and throws in just any fish w/o out knowing what they are and doesn't test water quaility... then she calls me saying MY FISH ARE DYING WHAT DO I DO?? and my answer is always mom, test your water.. I bet the quality is bad...
Im trying to educate her!

mlinden84

I completely re-arrange the tank about once a month. I take out all of the limestone rock, and restack it, making all new hiding places. I might do it more often or on a larger scale than needed, but it seems to cut down on fights (and im obsessive about re-arranging, i can never get the rocks exactly the way i want!)

Rbacchiega

In terms of redoing the tank each time fish are added is a touchy subject in my opinion. Usually I'll have a malawi tank set up with so many hidespots and crevaces (sp?) already, that usually a fish will have no problem finding one. Occasionally if I do notice more than usual tank aggression I'll shut off the lights and rearrange the tank. But, since I have two breeding groups (cobalt blue afras and Red Shoulder Peacocks) I try to leave the landscape as is as much as possible.

Plants, in my experience anyways, can be used, but will usually be moved to a different part of the tank by the fish, so some nice looking fake ones would work the best imo.

In terms of gravel, I'm a big natural look fan, so take a look at what the scaping is like in the malawi lakes, and go from there.

The happier and healthier the fish, the brighter their colors will be and the longer they will live as well.

Best of luck!