Hello, I am new to MFK as well, but I have been into the hobby for over a year now. As for malawi's, depending if you are planning to do a male only tank or not, rocks are a must. For a 55 Gallon, you must be able to have about 6 to 7 full sized males in there. You could overcrowd the tank to dial down aggression, but then you might run into problems with water conditions and diseases. I currently have 30+ cichlids in my 125 and every so often they'd kill a fish or two. If you plan on having females in there, then aggression will be something to watch out for. The males would turn ultra aggressive when breeding. I have had several fish flew out of the tank while being chased.
Your channel catfish will outgrow your 55g, so I would suggest either getting rid of him or buying a bigger tank/pond. Channel catfish get 3-4 feet if I'm not mistaken.
lake malawi cichlids are great to watch, they are kinda aggresive towards each other.there allways on the move and great to breed aswell. i suggest having a (M) &(F) tank
