# Fingers Crossed



## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

Well going to see If the local Fish shop will take/buy/swap my fish for a couple Milawis :-D


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## Gaboon (Jun 20, 2005)

is your snake a male or female?


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

male why?


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

Snakelover, do you have a malawi tank already, I think they are really nice fish and would love to set one up


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## Gaboon (Jun 20, 2005)

snakelover said:


> male why?


just trying to figure out the whole 1.0.0 thing  

cheers


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

1.0.0 means 1 male
0.1.0 means 1 Feamale
0.0.1 meas 1 unsexed
when talking about maler or female dont need last 0,
get it??:lol2: 

so 8.3 8 males and 3 Females


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

DaveM said:


> Snakelover, do you have a malawi tank already, I think they are really nice fish and would love to set one up


nope want one tough :-D


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## Gaboon (Jun 20, 2005)

snakelover said:


> 1.0.0 means 1 male
> 0.1.0 means 1 Feamale
> 0.0.1 meas 1 unsexed
> when talking about maler or female dont need last 0,
> ...


ah ok, i got it  

cheers


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

:wink::thumb:


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

ill write you out a shopping list gor your malawi tank, also if you want any extra advice, drop me a PM, no offence to you, but im not too sure about your fish store, they sold you a pangasius.

Tank (obviously)
coral sand
rocks (pref. ocean rock, but most rocks will be ok)
lighting, try to get dennerle african lake tubes
malawi food, pref Hikari, if not JBL novorift, or the sera stuff
Malawi cichlid book.
Basic medicine kit
malawi fish.

fish wise have a look at the following:-
Pseudotropheus Elongatus
" Saulosi
" demasoni
" pindani
Labidochromis Caeruleus
" Hongi

Try to avoid the Zebras (metriclima and Maylandia), Auloncara, Cryptocara and definately do not go near Nimbochromis, they get too big.

Again if you need any more help, give me a shout, Cichlids are kinda my speciality


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

mike515 said:


> ill write you out a shopping list gor your malawi tank, also if you want any extra advice, drop me a PM, no offence to you, but im not too sure about your fish store, they sold you a pangasius.
> 
> Tank (obviously)
> coral sand
> ...


 



Good List, if you can afford it, try to add about 20 fish in all at once so aggression is spread out through out the group and no fish establish a territory


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

its your first tank, so I'd avoid getitng anything too special. Stick to the Pseudo's and Labs, nice and simple, not too aggressive


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

mike515 said:


> Try to avoid the Zebras (metriclima and Maylandia), Auloncara, Cryptocara and definately do not go near Nimbochromis, they get too big.
> 
> Again if you need any more help, give me a shout, Cichlids are kinda my speciality


can you give me there common nmes please, also i have tussa rock.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

tuffa rock* sorry this will be going though, probably. 
cheers mike


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

and oh yeh, i have a snail,pimpitcus and khuli's, could i keep these if i had sand, There great


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

no kuhliis, best not with the pictus.

With malawis, you are best off using the scientific names, unlike most fish, malawi keepers tend to stick to the latin, as many species are very similiar to each other.

If your shop doesn't know the scietific names of the malawis, find somewhere else. A shop selling malawis, without a knowledge of latin names is not reliable enough for a beginner. Once you have kept a species for a while (around a year) you learn to recognise it, so at first use th elatin until you can reliably ID the fish yourself


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

can GOBY fish and Elefpant fish go with cichlids GOBYS mainly, they have some at the shop and they are nice.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

with malawis you are best sticking with just malawis and synodontis catfish, but are you sticking with your 3 foot tank?

if you are, the syno is kinda too big.

you really need to stick with fish from the same area. Also try to keep it nice and simple. You don't need loads of different species to have an awesome looking tank. I had an all black setup, black sand, rocks, background etc. All I had in there were yellow labs, and Demasoni, just blue and yellow. It looked awesome, just two piles or rocks at eiter ends of a 6 foot tank. and 15 of each species.

Basically where you went wrong in your tank is too many fish and uncompatible species. This is where your research comes in handy.

Also use a decent store. NOT the one where you bought your last fish, they clearly don't know the fish they are selling (the pangasius). Go into the shop., tell them you have a 3 foot tank and you want malawis. Ask them to write down the species they recommend, then research these fish. Also if you can stick the list on here (or pm it to me). That way i can tell if they will be alright. Also other people can advise you aswell. NEVER trust the fish store untill you know them to be reliable, healthy fish arent always from good shops. A good shop has knowledgable staff


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

no they cant if you want malawi's the only suitable fish to go with them would be synadontis catfish but what size tank will you be using


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

great minds think alike, i have a 6x2x2 setup for my africans and syno's snakelover please ask more before you buy


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

3ft is the tank


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

but milaiw set ups are usualy kinda crowded, but they probably got big filters any way.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

what are the other dimentions


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

think its 15x15


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

idealy you would use external filters and more filtration than usual for that size tank


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

oh and can some one awser my fish Q in habitat, Fake Backgrounds?
please


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

alistu, synos arent the only fish you can mix with malawis.

I've had loads of other african stuff in there, but im not going into detail incase snakelover gets tempted lol.

anyways, structured backgrounds are fine to use but are buggers to keep clean. 

on that tank look into a Eheim profession 1 external, quality filter. If its too pricey for you try a Rena XP external.

Oh and as a final note, don't buy malawis from a tank labelled "mixed malawis" unless the staff can ID each fish in there


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

there is a milawi setup and lables around the tank with names + prices.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

yeh i no there are but was thinking same as you for snakelover so just said basics i have few odd ones with them but i have been in hobby for years and work in the trade also


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

snake lover was not on about backgrounds you buy but ones you make using tile grout so not ok for fish tank


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

so if i made a polostyrene background, what could i go over it in, also what colouring should i use (paint)???


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

to be honest just stick to a backing stuck on the outside back as you will need loads of rock in the tank that you wont see much of the background


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

just a small correction snakelover, its Malawi not Milawi.

background wise, don't use anything like paint or varnish etc, even the non-toxic stuff. UNLESS you coat it in about a cm of silicon. But that isnt really worth the hassle, either use a shop bought one, or stick to the pictures on the outside of the tank.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

yeh, i already have one  and btw what is the best way to clean play sand, with no hose:lol2: i put holes in the bottom, and poured louds of hot and cold buckets of water through it.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

DONT put the sand in before the rocks!

Put a thin layer of foam or simialr on the bottom of the glass and then build the rocks up on that. Then put sand around the rocks. That way when your fish start to dig the rocks won't collapse


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

mike515 said:


> DONT put the sand in before the rocks!
> 
> Put a thin layer of foam or simialr on the bottom of the glass and then build the rocks up on that. Then put sand around the rocks. That way when your fish start to dig the rocks won't collapse


will filter wool do?


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

ive never tried filter wool. Its purely to protect the glass and help prevent the rocks collapsing.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

also with sand is there anything i need to do with the filter?


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

what sort of filter?


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

fluval 3+, wont be changing the filter itself thow


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

that filter isn't gonna handle a malawi tank. Since stocking levels are quite high you need a decent internal or even better an external. The fluval internals arent the greatest filters in the world


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

i have another unused filter may use that ASWELL


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

hay just noticed my old filter is a Rena. some pics soon, can you tell me if its any good? please, Mike


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

should i put this in aswell? and it says Rena 225 if that helps


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

rena don't even make them things anymore.

You're best off getting a new filter, you can pick up a Eheim internal filter for about 25 quid and they last donkeys. Plus if you get a aquaball you can extend it.

If you do use the fluval and the old Rena, be prepared to get a new filter. Fluval are notorius for breaking down and you will ahve a hard time finding spare parts for the older renas.

I'm not too familiar with the 225 as i've never used one, and I haven't seen one brought into work for about 6 months.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

snakelover if you want to have a malawi tank you need to do loads research still and improve your filtration if you cant afford to do this then dont have a malawi tank, as for fluval filters i have never had prob with them and dont have hardly any returned to the shop all my externals are fluval also


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## RachelS (Jan 20, 2007)

On my malawi tank (only 3 foot, 4 foot is better) I run a juwel internal, an eheim external and another internal filter - over-filtration is a must


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

external fluvals are fine, but the internals can't cope with larger stocking levels. If you have a non-capacity stocked tank (less fish thsan the maximum) they are usually alright, but in a malawi tank they ain't gonna cope unless you have one of the few that actually work how they should.

oh and rachel, over filtration is not a must and can cause the fish stress. You need an external (on its own) or a slightly larger filter internal. The over filtration does no harm to the water condition, but can cause strong currents which can cause the fish stress.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

ok cheers guys,
i will use all 3 filters, if the do break down i will get the one you sugeested Mike 
cheers


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

personally i would recommend you buying an external anyway. It will benefit your fish so much more and take up less room and produce a smaller current. You gotta remember youhave a small tank for malawis. Meaning you need as much spare room as possible


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

well in the process of putting sand in, and going well exept its very murky, settle down soon though


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

have you put the rocks in first?


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

yup. and might get an external filter tomorrow, maybe. depends how much they are in my local shop, or may buy one of ebay.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

well how much would you be willing to pay for one?

I might be able to get a decent one at trade price (plus VAT and P&P)


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

well depense, how much can you get one for?


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

well if you want one of the best filters, its around 70 quid (plus P+P) for the rena XP1. go to www.hobbyfsh.net, thats where I work, retail for that filter is 115 but we got loads that need shifting


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

wount be going that high :lol2: i look in my local shop.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

mike 515 be honest now do u have any real nice unusual fish in at mo me and my work mate love going round other shops to find unusual fish or ones that are hard to get hold of been looking for hoplo's for ages just cant seem to get any


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Which hoplos?

But yea hwe got some good stuff in, some nice cichlids, arowanas Channa Bleheri, a couple of polyopterus, Mystus (two species) couple of osphronemus. Um Mbu puffers, we got a couple of big shipments in today. (i only work saturdays since im doing A levels at college, so i dont know exactly what) Theres not too many marines or coldwater stuff in at the mo since we are building a new big coldwater section and will be extending the tropicals and marines.

Theres a couple of pirhana left from a dodgy shipment. But if youwant something in particular and its on the lists we can get it in. I should have some dwarf pikes soon as well. Plus hopefully some parrot cichlids (true H. pssiticus) soon. Colleague of mine took the four we had in and is hopefully gonna breed them. He has before with his current pair. Um the only other thing really is the Red tail cat we got but he's not for sale except to someone we trust.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

well went to fish shop and they will swap for malawis, also changed the tanks water coz to missty and wasnt settleing, still bit murky not so bad hough, dont now weather to put filters on, might make it cloudy again:?


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

nope filters woked, not all gone though, the cloudy water..


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

as you have only just set tank up it will take filters time to clear the water you can but a product to help clear it you have a couple of weeks to clear it and mature your filters befor you add fish anyway so be patient


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

i'l do an BEFOR and AFTER, pics of my tank when ii get my Malawis  on Saturday.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

are your filters mature already then if you dont have them running on a tank with fish in all the bacteria needed to break down the fish waste will die and when you add fish you are risking them please only put fish in if your filters are mature


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

do a test for Nitrate sounds like you might have a spike


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## RachelS (Jan 20, 2007)

boshogg said:


> do a test for Nitrate sounds like you might have a spike


Nitrate isn't a problem for most community fish as long as it isn't sky high (aim for under 40ppm). If the tank is cycling, it's ammonia and nitrite that we worry about. You can combat the toxicity of nitrite by adding salt (can be ordinary table salt) although I'd be doing 50%+ water changes daily if either were 0.5ppm or over


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

dont add salt.

Its just yet another chemical your tank doesn't need. A much better thing is something called patientence.

The best thing you can do is add the least aggressive fish first and leave them for 2 weeks. Then add the rest.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

KREBINCE
put him in the other tank the main tank with my keyhole before, and he went white withe the black stripe, and now hes got his red belly again, what does the red belly mean. is it teratorial thing..?looking good


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

One of my big old Dollar fish used to have a patch on him, it was like a liter silvery patch, and its pealed/came of and now its normal, just woundering what it was


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

a red belly on a krib means its a ready-to-breed female.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

rekon i should gt some more krebs?


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

one more


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

whats already in the tank?


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

nothing lol, getting milawis Sat day and keeping the kreb as there are loads of caves for it to hide. and he loves the tank, SHE loves the tank sorry.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

so now you're keeping a krib with malawis?

seriously you need to start paying attention, Malawis with malawis, not malawis with whatever you feel like.

I'm not saying it can't be done, more like it shouldn't be. If you can't stand to get rid of the krib, then don't get the malawis.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

snakelover dont ask questions if your not going to take the advice you are given either have malawis or a comunity tank you can not mix the two


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

well gotta say my tank looks AMAZING, GREAT and I am well imprested, wont some pics just ask and ill post some, up, but ill need to take em first, And Alistu added loads of rocks and yes the fish love em, swimming around a threw em  CHEERS MAINLY TO MIKE515 and ALISTU!: victory:


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## Kenorsanc (Dec 10, 2006)

Would be interesting to see how it turned out. Saw some Malawi's in a fish shop the other day and they are coooool


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

Ill do a before and after thread, actualy ill post em up here gimmie a min.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

Well my fish tank has changed very very much and here are some pics of it before I converted the tank to a Malawi Tank!:
















And now it looks like this (sorry if the pics arnt the best):
































hope you like the new look.


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## Kenorsanc (Dec 10, 2006)

Looking good. Hows the Krib doing thiking of getting a pair for my tank.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

his doing fine, even my BIGEST fish cant get him scared or to run off lol. THe krib is so "cool" and layed back, anyway what you got in the tank at the mo?


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## Kenorsanc (Dec 10, 2006)

Its a Jewel Rekord 96 and I've got 3 sword tails 6 cherry barbs 6 zebra danios 3 corydoras schwartzi (sp) have got a nice big piece of slate for the future kribs to breed on. Got a load of plant in it as well.


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

how long is the tank then 2ft?
zebra danios are great aint they!


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

has this thread got the most post out of all the fish threads, a RECORD!
post some piccys of ma Kreb in a min, check out her colours  :mf_dribble: lol


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

well here they are aint she pretty!?


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## Kenorsanc (Dec 10, 2006)

Wow shes pretty. Ever thought of getting her a male lol. My tanks 80cm long just under 3ft still stocking it at the moment


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

yeh thinking about a male. I asked mike515 on previouse page


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

snakelover, wake up mate. Seriously now, you've got lucky and mixed a krib with malawis (i doubt it lasts long but you might get lucky again) But don't push your luck. The majority of malawis will take a battering no problem, but if you add a male and they breed your kribs will start to take the piss and then your malawis will start picking on each other.

You want a male krib, get a 2 foot tank setup. Put some rocky caves and a load of plant cover in it. Then get yourself a male and move our female across.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

i have given up with snakelover he/she has also got a keyhole in the tank advised against this but hey what do i no only been keeping fish for years and run my own shop but hey i no nothing


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