stevebris Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Hi everyone! I am just about to get into Africans, and want some advice. The tank is a 6x2x2 with a 4 ft sump, 36w UV, and have a couple of internal filters on hand. (otto 1200 and similar) Tank has been discus display for about 2 years, and my previous experiance is with americans and cattys. I want everyone to give me some pros and cons for Tangs/Malawi....... And also what works well with either or what I could mix? Substrate- Cal carb, sand etc Furniture- rocks etc where to find and what looks best? I am not being lasy, I have been researching online but find real life experiance better than web pages! Yours Thankfully Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Well I love tangs, I just find they're more unique... Fish include, calvus, comps, tropheus, frontosa, cyprichromis, brichadi, julies ...and shell dwellers - (which i don't know much about) Substrate- white sand looks awesome! if only i had used it im using black very fine gravel with gold and white specs which isnt too bad though Furniture ( ) , just use rocks, best place is this forum thats where i've got all my rocks from and its ALOT cheaper than getting it from petstores anything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Thanks for the reply! Cosidered Tangs but have heard you need alot of them to stop agression, consider the size of tank? How will the agression be if I slowly build? Why not go with calcium carb? I have read the giant sand thread. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 I forgot to add, this tank is for display only! No intentions of breeding, now or in the future! steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Yeah my tank is display only and these fish are perfect for display oh either way for substrate i just prefer the look of sand, unless calcium card comes in tiny grains like sand also SOME Tanganyika fish prefer sand so yeah, i think it looks neater anyway for agression, well yeah big groups are better, heres some examples of agression 1. i had 7 cyprichromis but one of them was alot smaller than the others so it got bullied to its death so i have only 6 now so a bigger group would've helped 2. ive got 11 tropheus and if youve read about them they arent the easiest to keep, when 2 males end up fighting too much or start claiming territories, i turn off all the lights and cover the tank with a blanket, then shift some rocks around and wait 2 or 3 hours... this has worked for me so far for tangs there are so many unique fish to chose from and i believe it is really great, the variety of behaviors and if your like me, i like different fish to fill different areas of the tank... e.g. surface, bottom dwelling etc. hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Cheers Shon! All input helps!!!!! But when you go to re-stock it is always a see saw of what to do......... :irked: Had thoughts of doing Geos with sand but got talked out of sand by cleaning issues by a mate. Read THE sand thread and thinking bout it again! Not Geos but sand........ :eureka: What about ph with sand compared to Cal Carb? What about wear and tear on impellers with sand? What should I have in my sump apart from matrix, bio cubes and purigen? Cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 which thread? the one about getting sand from landscaping places? I havent had any experience with sand in bigger tanks, but i used to have sand in a 2 foot tank and one thing i liked was how the fish poop stays on the surface of it which you can just gravel vac or let the filters pick up So i cant say much about wear and tear on impellers but i wouldnt think much would go into a filter as for pH i think its more about keeping it constant rather than getting the right thing, i did use Tanganyikan buffer before but then i stopped and i havent found much of a difference in the fish, they seem happy I do use cichlid salt though, after using that, the colours in the fish really came out alot more I use a canister filter with only matrix, 2 power head filters with only sponges, and a drip tray style filter that came with the tank which has sponges, filter wool and then purigen (since these are easily accessible and require replacing more often) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Yeah the landscaping/ bunnings thread..... I thought the same about constant ph, but what cichlid salts do you use? Brand? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Seachem Cichlid Salts Let me when you decide on the fish you want to keep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 So as with all fish keepers here is a list of possibles I have thought of so far.......I know big list Electric blue and yellows Labidochromis Hongi red, albino, tangerine, yellow and dragon peacocks red jacobfreibergi melanochromis johanii aulonocara ethelwynnae aulonocara maulana bicolour copadochromis borleyi kadango red, orange sided, chilotalapia euchilus metriaclima pulpican ( P Kingsizei blue) nimbochromis livingstonii, venustus placidochromis electra, sp mbamba tropheos sp red cheek red zebra What do you think of these fish and are there some good strains I am missing? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 I think most of the fish you listed are lake malawi cichlids or is that what your after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Yeah decided to go for malawi, easier then the apisto's I was thinking of........ Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted December 22, 2009 Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 ah okay, lol well malawi isnt something im too familiar with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2009 Thanks for your time! Appreciated! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cichlidae Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 I have chaos going on, but have had Frontosa raised from small with a malawi tank and they get along fine. tried it again and it didnt work. Malawis for me seem to have a larger range of colour options, where as the Tangs seem to be more sophisticated in attitude. Your list sounds great untill your fish have personality clashes. some of my favourites are Cyrtocara moorii great peacemakers. Maingano/ auratus and other melanochromis just angry fish. Yellows and peacocks for colour, Hongi are also great colour and personality. cuckoo cats are a favourite especially if not breeding they just are nutters. good luck and enjoy the experience. Cichlidae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 Thanks cichlidae!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton31 Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 Had thoughts of doing Geos with sand but got talked out of sand by cleaning issues by a mate. Read THE sand thread and thinking bout it again! Not Geos but sand........ i have sand in with my geos ...i neva have to clean the sand as the geos are always moving it or going threw it picking up the food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebris Posted December 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 Yeah I have made the descision to go for the sand! Looking for a background probably latex, then I will break down my setup clean out the tank and start from scratch again. Cheers for the interest clayton! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
