starting an african chiclids tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
thatonegirl;1264724; said:
Long term, African cichlids kept in a lower pH can be more suceptible to diseases and parasites. True they can live with it, but it's not good for them.

I bet if you raised your pH up to at least 8.0, you would also see a magnificent improvement in color.
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I dont think it makes THAT much of a difference. When i took mine back to the LFS you could tell which had just come in from me. All mine were as vibrant as they could possibly get. Even my red zebras were close to neon orange. and my 9" male eye-biter was a top specimen
 
You can get a ph buffering substrate to help with the ph to keep it from flucuating, which is big thing, but the lakes they come from originally average out around 8.2 i believe. Acclimate them to this to get the intense colors and antics you desire. In a 55 id keep anywhere from 10-15 mbuna with more than average filtration. I do not recommend mixing the different types of species but i have done so successfully. And as stated before, give them lots of rock work to hide in and dart in and out of. Good Luck!

Added a shot of my 55 gallon african setup, just to give you some inspiration.

55 Gallon 4.jpg
 
Nice tank m8. Love that Red Zeb, one of mine had a completely black eye on his left hand side, which he had from birth. e was like a rogue fish and had the biggest personality in the tank
 
malawi cichlids ph range its between 7.5 and 8.2 so technicly you are all right..:d..but the succes will depend more in the water stability..
the coloration will depend the most in the food they take and if they are stress or not..like in the dominat or subdominant roll
 
tunerX;1264421; said:
Some people are the in the hobby to breed and some people just like to see cool fish.
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Im not in the hobby to breed. They just did it out of obvious pure comfort in their surroundings, coz they can be very fussy when it comes to breeding and the lights must be off:ROFL:
 
Dreamsofpeace54;1268042; said:
AFRICANS FUSSY ABOUT BREEDING?

:ROFL::ROFL:

your good.
lol mine would breed when i had my female any time, the slut.
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:ROFL:... even easier if you give them some live food, all that protein makes them horny:nilly:
 
Dreamsofpeace54;1265336; said:
You can get a ph buffering substrate to help with the ph to keep it from flucuating, which is big thing, but the lakes they come from originally average out around 8.2 i believe. Acclimate them to this to get the intense colors and antics you desire. In a 55 id keep anywhere from 10-15 mbuna with more than average filtration. I do not recommend mixing the different types of species but i have done so successfully. And as stated before, give them lots of rock work to hide in and dart in and out of. Good Luck!

Added a shot of my 55 gallon african setup, just to give you some inspiration.
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Awesome tank photo. What are you using for a substrate?
 
ok guys just finished the tank guys goin to put the pix on later tonight, thanx for the pic it did help me alot for ideas, only thing now is to stock up fish in a week or to . so from what u guys are sayin is i should only mix one type of them i cant mix them up to much??? oh what other tankmates could i get away with in there with them???
 
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