African Cichlids from lake Malawi: a complete care guide
- Dec 27, 2020
- Anshika Mishra
- 1791 0 0
There is no doubt that Lake Malwai has produced some of the most beautiful fishes in the world, the hobbyist is obsessed with these fishes for decades, but they come with their share of challenges too. So, here are 10 things that you should know about African Cichlids from Lake Malawi:
Where are they from?
Most of the African Cichlids come from three large rift lakes in eastern Africa, i.e., lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Malawi. In this article, we will be discussing the fishes that come from lake Malawi. Stewart Grant is the person who popularised African Cichlids in the fish keeping hobby around the world.
Tank Size
Setting up an aquarium for African Cichlids is no different from any other fish, bigger is always better. If you are willing to keep Mbunas and Peacocks, it is recommended to a minimum of 75-gallons of the tank, if you wanna keep the bigger ones like Hap then, 125-gallons or larger is good.
Three different type
Fish from lake Malawi is going to break down into three different groups, i.e.
- Peacocks
- Catholic Roams/ Haps
- Mbuna
Mbuna are the smaller of the three and they do well in groups where they have plenty of caves and rocks to hide in.
Peacocks are more of the medium size and they like rocks and caves too but they also like plenty of free swimming areas.
Haps is the largest of the trees, and they are free swimmers, some of these Haps can get 14-inches in size, so beware of that when you are setting up your tank for them.
But can you mix these three groups together? The answer is yes, people very rarely have any problems with them.
Males or Females
It is very easy to tell the difference between the males and the females for most of the African Cichlids, but some not so much. Peacocks and Haps are pretty easy to sex because most of the males and females look completely different; the males will be brightly colored and the females would be of dull graying brown color.
In Mbunas males are females look almost identical, especially when they are young. To differentiate them you will either have to wait for them to get older, as males will get larger than the females or you can vent them. For venting, you better go-to to experts, if you want to know for breeding purposes.
Breeding
Every fish keeper at some point wants to breed the fish that they keep. It is a great way to level-up this hobby. The majority of African Cichlids are going to be maternal mouthbrooders, i.e. the females will lay the eggs and the males will fertilize them, and then the female will pick them and carry them in her mouth throughout the entire gestation period.
Breeding these fishes are pretty cut and dry. Give them some space to spread out, put a group of the same strain together where the females outnumber the males, give them plenty of clean water and good food.
Water Parameters
You can hear a lot of fish keepers trying very hard to duplicate the fish's wild water parameters. But unless you purchase fish that are specific labeled as wild-caught, none of them are being exposed to the water condition in the lake. The only water they know is the water they were raised in, which is mostly not like the lake.
Lake Malawi fishes like clean water with higher pH. pH ranging from 7.5-8 is the best for these fishes. You can also talk to the store owner about the parameters.
For these fish, the temperature in the tank should be around 80-degrees, but it can be adjusted if needed.
Filteration
African Cichlids are an extremely active fish, it is what makes them so popular. But with all that activity comes a pretty hefty appetite, which means more pooping and that means your fish is swimming around in a toilet that hasn't been flushed.
To combat that you need regular water changes and very good filtration. While setting up your tank for these fishes, filter double of what their tank calls for. e.g. if you are setting up a 50-gallon aquarium get a filter that can handle a 100.
This way you can get huge help in cleaning your water crisp and clean.
Aggression
One of the things that you will always hear about these fishes is, them being aggressive. African cichlids are aggressive for several reasons, it could be territory, hierarchy, could be the fight over the oldest thing in the book (the ladies).
One trick you can use to control is, over stop the tank, this means, put a bunch of fishes in there to create chaos and keep them occupied. If there is a lot of activity in the tank, they will not have the time to think about anything else. But do know, the more fish you have in your tank, the more you need to be on your game with maintenance.
Or you can only keep the males and then they will have nothing to fight over. Lowering the temperature is another way of curbing aggression, but it may lower their immune system making them vulnerable to diseases.
Tank Mates
When it comes to what different types of fish can go with African Cichlids it is recommended to keep none. There are a huge variety of shapes, colors, and sizes of lake Malawi that you don't need another type of fish in there. You can create an absolutely breathtaking fish with nothing but fish from lake Malawi.
What do they eat?
Feeding the Malawi cichlid tank is simple if you have only peacocks or you only have Haps. There are tons of food readily available that are great to choose from. But what about Mbunas?
They have a little bit different diet requirements, they like to have a little more vegetables in their diet. If you have a mixed tank you might need to employ some strategies to make sure all the fish what they need. The most important aspect of fish food is whether or not your fish will eat it.
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