I've converted this tank to a mbuna only tank. It used to house SA's. I've had mbuna in the past, but not this many. I'm planning on stocking around 25, my current stock list is:
2-Yellow lab
2-blue johanni
1-auratus
1-bumblebee
2-cobalt blue
4-kenyi
1-ice blue albino
1-peacock (trading in for another mbuna, bought him when I thought it was going to be a peacock/hap tank)
1-pseudotropheus acei
6-buenos Aires tetras. (Leftover from old setup, I had 12 and I've been netting them out whenever an opportunity presents. They are supper hard to catch.)
Filtration:
2-Rena L (xp3's)
1-marineland emperor HOB
I'm wanting to add some demasoni, labidochromis "mbamba," maybe some snow white's, labidochromis "hongi-red top," I don't know, the possiblities are overwhelming! Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Any suggestions on rock work appreciated as well. I re-arrange a side of the tank at a time during water changes, I've been learning that most mbuna prefer the boulder-ish caves created by stacking round boulders, and lots of vertical irregular rocks vs the flat-style ledges and caves that some of my SA's liked better.
Tank pics somewhat dark because they were taken in late evening and I have the planted+ 24/7.
The last is the whole tank during a WC
2-Yellow lab
2-blue johanni
1-auratus
1-bumblebee
2-cobalt blue
4-kenyi
1-ice blue albino
1-peacock (trading in for another mbuna, bought him when I thought it was going to be a peacock/hap tank)
1-pseudotropheus acei
6-buenos Aires tetras. (Leftover from old setup, I had 12 and I've been netting them out whenever an opportunity presents. They are supper hard to catch.)
Filtration:
2-Rena L (xp3's)
1-marineland emperor HOB
I'm wanting to add some demasoni, labidochromis "mbamba," maybe some snow white's, labidochromis "hongi-red top," I don't know, the possiblities are overwhelming! Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Any suggestions on rock work appreciated as well. I re-arrange a side of the tank at a time during water changes, I've been learning that most mbuna prefer the boulder-ish caves created by stacking round boulders, and lots of vertical irregular rocks vs the flat-style ledges and caves that some of my SA's liked better.
Tank pics somewhat dark because they were taken in late evening and I have the planted+ 24/7.
The last is the whole tank during a WC
. As far as PH changes is concearned, it doesn't do anything to my PH. I do believe that drift wood etc when new can make water more acidic, but the difference is very very minimal. I believe that hardness is probably more important with African rift lake species than High PH. PH consistency without fluctuation is more important than a higher PH. I have read two papers over studies conducted on various Malawi species and in a PH as low as 7 or 7.2, most all species thrived with great color and were able to breed. Consistency in PH seems to be the most important. I'm personally not a fan of buffers if you do not need them. Every WC can potentially become stressful on fish if using buffers. I'm lucky and have a tap water ph 7.4-7.6, and very high mineral content (hard) water.