I successfully kept Malawi cichlids for 6 or so years. My biggest problem was they kept breeding, and my elaborate hardscape made it impossible to remove the new critters from the tank.
I eventually got fed up with the mbunas level of aggression, but wanted to stick with the hobby, so I decided on switching to a Tanganyika tank, and focus on more peaceful cyprichromiswhich I think are beautiful.
Circumstances required me to switch my glass tank to acrylic, and my fluorescent bulb to LED. I was able to design a multi-substrate environment, and include plants for the first time, since mbuna destroy them.
I was excited about my new tank. My biggest new challenge was finding where I could buy these rare fish. After not finding any near me and exhausting all the LFS with my calls, I eventually drove far, and farther still until I got a very nice collection of cyprichromis leptosoma and a few different shell dwelling cichlids (shellies). I loved my new tank, and my beautiful new fish. I waited for the males to mature and start coloring up. Eventually the tails started getting yellow, then the bodies turned purple and a sort of orange (kitumba)and, they werent killing each other!
Because of my new increased lighting, I then started getting a bloom of algae. I reduced the hours of lighting, didnt over feed, put more plants in the tank and started trying an algae chemical additive. Nothing was working and I was literally scrubbing rocks and shells with a toothbrush to keep my tank clean.
Then enters the evil Malaysian trumpet snails of death (MTS). I did a little research online, obviously not enough. I ordered some online, and got some nerite snails from my LFS. It wasnt long after, that my tank looked bright and shiny again. It was awesome! I did notice a proliferation of MTS, but it didnt seem to bother me since I knew they were also helping aerate the substrate.
I am the kind of hobbyist that takes a lot of time to make sure my tank and fish are healthy and cleanits a workout, but I feel an obligation to these animals under my care, and I enjoy watching them more when everything is healthy; so I do regular water changes. It drew time for a regular water change, and everything was going well, as usual. The fish seem to enjoy the water changedont ask me why, but they seem to get frisky with each other when the new water is being added.
To my utter shock, some of my fish started struggling and swimming sideways. I didnt know what was happening. I instantly went into critical care mode. I grabbed the affected fish and began putting them in my hospital tank. Honestly, the rest is still too painful for me to relate in any more detail. Let me just say, that I lost almost all of my fish, and I did lose all of my cyprichromis. They were my pests first, but it was at $300 that I stopped counting the cost as well.
Im leaving out some irrelevant details for brevity, but I had to know what happened to my fish so it would never happen again. In six plus years of keeping fish I had never had such a catastrophic tragedy as this. I was devastated. I have a chemical test kit and I went to work. Everything looked awesome, except nitrates. I did a thorough amount of research and based on my care habits, the only possible answer was the increased waste being produced by the MTS. What I learned was that they were producing the additional waste and altering my tanks chemistry. Since the increase was gradual, my fish adapted and didnt show any signs of stress or anything negative for that matter. With the sudden change in the water chemistry from the water change, the fish went into shock and died. Very sad.
But how could a few MTS affect the water chemistry of a 60 gallon tank you ask? I originally bought about 10 MTS. With a sifter I now remove 50 70 MTS a week! They have infested my tank!
I have since started restocking my tank with cyprichromis (cyps), and have added 10 new little friends called assassin snails. They are attacking and eating the excess MTS I cant get to, and I have to say, I get a little satisfaction from using an organic removal method. I actually think the assassin snails look cool, so thats a plus.
I have reduced the amount I feed my fish even more, and I have stopped putting algae pellets in the tank to feed my neritessorry guys. Desperate times
Of course, the main solution is to have lower percentage of water changes---at least until I get the nitrate/snail situation under control. Then I might gradually go back to the percentage that worked before the invasion of the Evil Malaysian Trumpet Snails of Death.
Consider this a warning if you are thinking of getting these snails. Find another way to solve your algae or aerations problemstrust me. They are far more trouble than they are worth!
