SarahNukka&Shadow Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 OK so I have two tanks of fresh water tropical fish... Tank 1 is a small 10 gallon tank populated by small fish (neon tetra, rasbora, danios, a couple of small barbs and a few cherry shrimp. Tank 2 is a large 100 gallon tank which is currently populated by 4 ruby barbs, a bistloe nose plec and an electric yellow cichlid... now anyone who nows about fish will know that a malawian cichlid shouldnt be this this type of set up as all the rest are soft water fish and he is a hard water fish who should be in a malawi species only tank. History behind this is that I got him with an adult Bala Shark, a ruby barb, a long finned rosie barb and a peppered cat fish in the 10 gallon tank from a guy who clearly had chosen the tank and the fish based on his own preferences instead of the fishes needs as the shark had already outgrown the tank and all of the fish are types that should be in groups and instead he'd isolated the idividuals! Very irritating.. so I bought those five a much bigger tank (the 100 gallon) to live in and did what I could to get the smaller fish more of there own kind to school with... now this was about 5 years ago and since then all but the cichlid have passed on... I feel bad as I think they should have lived longer but then I really dont know how old they were when I got them so I dont know how bad to feel!! Where you lovely people come in is that I have two different ideas of what I want to do next with my tanks and I need help desciding... Idea 1 is the one I came up with originally and is most popular with my household as it will create more space in our livingroom... This is to give Eb (the cichlid) away, rehoming him either to my uni where they have a whole cichlid set up with some of his kind and some other fish of a similar type.. although I think this could be a little stressful for him to go from none of his own kind to lots and some alot more aggressive than him (he is rather bossy and nippy but there are more aggressive kinds than him) or to rehome him via adverts or through my local fish shop who might even swap him for some more for my tank? Then once he is out of the way I can transfer all of the small fish (which he would eat) into the larger tank and get them more friends, then get rid of the small 10gallon tank via gumtree or whatever. The other idea one I've thought of before but is not so popular with my household as it will mean me spending more time money and effort on my fish!! Is to move the small fish into the big tank and use the smaller 10 gallon tank to make Eb his own Malawian set up with a few more of his own kind and a few small gentler cichlids... my only concern with this plan is what if I go to all that trouble setting up a cichlid tank and then Eb (who I have no idea how old he is) dies too!? Soooooo shoud l go with the easier option or the tricky and possibley risky one??? Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 Nobody can really answer that for you, and to be honest it sounds like you know that LOL ... Personally I would go for the cichlid tank, however Im extremly bias as I have a malawi cichlid only tank LOL. The aggression is probably due to the water and stress. The fish will currently be more stressed in that water than he would be no matter where you try and move it to so stress is simply not a concern tbh. It needs to be in a tank with other 'malawi only' cichlids really so that the water can be buffered with some coral sand/rock in order to get the correct ph balance in the tank (around ph8 ideally) ... Being a community tank I would have guessed yours will be only around 7 if not a little lower at times. Feel free to give me a ring if you have any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted August 13, 2010 Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 I also keep mbuna's, a 10g tank wouldn't work, far too small for them, how big is he? i have 3 males yellow labs all over 5" in my main tank theywouldn't be happy chappies in 10 gallon, i have a 700ltr tank with around 70 adult fish in there(over filter and overstock to reduce aggression) and i still get the odd one who will kill others. either rehome him or make the big tank a malawi tank. depending on his size, rehoming him is also risky as adding one fish into an established malawi tank where the pecking order already exists would see him bullied and killed. Its always best to add new fish 5 or 6 at a time. ph isn't too much of an issue with tank bred fish, chances are they are born into water between 7-8ph anyway, ph only really matters when you buy wilds, then the water has to be perfect or you lose fish that set you back a fair bit of money. Marc the best way to buffer water if you need to for malawi's is Seachem malawi buffer, coral sand/ ocean rock arn't that effective. Need to know anything let me know, i've bred malawi's for years also own a quite a few of the rarer species too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 13, 2010 Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 We had some beautiful Malawis - but re-homed them because of fighting, and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. We tried getting help from the pet shops here, but they just sell them and aren't very clued up. We now just have a tank full of real mellow fish - got no idea what they are though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahNukka&Shadow Posted August 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 I also keep mbuna's, a 10g tank wouldn't work, far too small for them, how big is he? i have 3 males yellow labs all over 5" in my main tank theywouldn't be happy chappies in 10 gallon, i have a 700ltr tank with around 70 adult fish in there(over filter and overstock to reduce aggression) and i still get the odd one who will kill others. either rehome him or make the big tank a malawi tank. depending on his size, rehoming him is also risky as adding one fish into an established malawi tank where the pecking order already exists would see him bullied and killed. Its always best to add new fish 5 or 6 at a time. ph isn't too much of an issue with tank bred fish, chances are they are born into water between 7-8ph anyway, ph only really matters when you buy wilds, then the water has to be perfect or you lose fish that set you back a fair bit of money. Marc the best way to buffer water if you need to for malawi's is Seachem malawi buffer, coral sand/ ocean rock arn't that effective. Need to know anything let me know, i've bred malawi's for years also own a quite a few of the rarer species too Thanks guys some good info there and stuff to think on.. Yeah Rob he is about 5" and that did cross my mind that the little tank might be too small for him... part of the reason I got the bigger tank originally. And yep the adding one fish into an established tank was also a worry for me so am stuck between a rock and a hard place really! As you say I dont THINK the pH bothers him as he has lived in a moderate pH most, if not all of his life, hes just not ment to live with peaceful soft water fish and its sad that he has had too all his life! Just proof that its not just huskies that stupid people get without doing their research! Maybe I'll just leave things as they are for now...? Just dont know what else to do for the best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunc Posted August 13, 2010 Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 There great with chips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 13, 2010 Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 LMFAO @Rob - Always just used coral sand to be honest and get a ph of 8 without any issues. Suppose it depends on the base area of the tank in comparison to the volume of water you have in there, but can understand why you would use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted August 13, 2010 Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 Think i'll stay outta this one lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahNukka&Shadow Posted August 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 Think i'll stay outta this one lol Any and all input is welcome Linda, specially if you've kept fish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KERNOWHUSKIES Posted August 13, 2010 Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 I reckon it all depends on if u love ur fishy enough ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 13, 2010 Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 LMFAO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahNukka&Shadow Posted August 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2010 I reckon it all depends on if u love ur fishy enough ? I do love him and want him to be happy just dont know how best to go about doing that as I dont really have the money to buy and set up a whole new tank for him and the little ones too small... Rock, me, hard place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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