Looking to stock a 125 gallon with Malawi cichlids

[RD.]

Mine are not always biotope tanks, either. To each their own, no worries as long as the fish seem to work and all get along in the set up.

 

[Zcddrew]

This is the 125 tank today, with plants, much better lighting and clumps of snail eggs. Most of the plants are artificial.
View attachment 1388632
Ooof! I should turn down the lighting. That's too bright.

Do the snails become food for the fish?

 

[Zcddrew]

RD.
Thank you.

I thought I had an all-male tank too, until I caught them doing the dance.
So I've seen the Africans breed & now I have a bunch of unexpected hybrids.
All very bright colors, but for one with brown stripes.

I'm afraid I'm not much of a "natural biotope" guy. I have a community of mixed rescue fish, Mbuna, Malawi, Nile, some SA plecos, and a boatload of collected aquarium junk.

I am hoping the big ones will grow to 8 or 9" but the current monsters are 6 to 7".

I feel like cleaning your very crowded tank would be too much of a hassle for me. Do you get under all those decorations?

 

[Zcddrew]

Thanks, but if you view that image in it's largest form, while it is still difficult to see, there are areas where an 8-9" fish can completely disappear. Some of those granite boulders are 30+ pounds. The idea was to as best that I could mimic what one sees in their natural habitat, Lake Malawi. Have you ever viewed the lake, underwater? It's basically just granite boulders, and sand - and the species in my tank were for the most part open water fish, not cave dwellers that live their life in hiding. The idea was to give the Utaka/Haps, that were open water fish, lots of open water. That, and it was an all male tank, so no breeding was expected. lol

That tank changed over the years, and initially, with the exact same floor plan, in what you refer to as austere, the species that had females, bred on a constant basis. Haps, peacocks, as well as mbuna. Probably thousands of fry were produced over the early years, before I decided to go all male. African cichlids in the wild breed in the open, not inside a cave or hidey hole.

Do you find that the fine sand is a must for these fish? Or will my current substrate work

 

[Ulu]

Do the snails become food for the fish?

Sometimes, but I feed a lot, and have huge filters to deal with the overage. And, though the Mysteries are laying eggs, I don't think the water's hard enough for them as they never hatch. There are also pond snails, ramshorns, and trapdoor snails. The pond snails and ram's horns are breeding

I feel like cleaning your very crowded tank would be too much of a hassle for me. Do you get under all those decorations?

I move them around a lot, and the layer of gravel is quite thin. Plus I have snails and plecos to clean up the bottom. I siphon the bottom twice a month, but the water changes happen twice a week. The sump is outdoors, and it makes the water changes easy.

 

[RD.]

Do you find that the fine sand is a must for these fish? Or will my current substrate work

Hundreds of species to choose from amigo - some will prefer sand much more than others, but your current substrate could work.

 

[Zcddrew]

Hundreds of species to choose from amigo - some will prefer sand much more than others, but your current substrate could work.

Thank you I know replacing substrate gets rid of lots of good bacteria and is pricey on a 125 gallon

 

[Ulu]

I did a half and half community tank which had black coarse sand on 1/2 and then a line of rocks and wood which separated the gravel on the other half.

The possibilities are pretty much endless when you have so many fish to choose from.