The Malawi aquarium

Table of Contents

• The inhabitants of a Malawi aquarium
• Mbuna
• Non-Mbuna and Utaka
• Featherbeard catfish
• Water values for a Malawi aquarium
• What is the minimum size of a Malawi aquarium?
• How to set up an aquarium for Malawi cichlids?
• Real rocks or fake rocks for the rock wall in the Malawi aquarium?
• Wood in the Malawi tank?
• The technology in the Malawi aquarium
• Filter and flow pumps
• Heating
• Lighting

The inhabitants of a Malawi aquarium

In Lake Malawi live many beautiful colorful (and also not so colorful) cichlids or cichlids, which are also incredibly popular in aquaristics. These fish are endemic there, that is, they are found exclusively in this lake. However, there are also other fish there, for example featherbeard catfish, which can do well as aquarium mates in the Malawi tank. For a species-appropriate Malawi aquarium you have to consider some things, because the requirements of the beautiful cichlids and pinnipeds are quite different from those of fish that can be kept in a normal community aquarium.

The Malawi cichlids are divided into Mbuna and Non-Mbuna / Utaka. These African names indicate the characteristics of the fish. Mbunas are fish found on the rocky coast - the rocky littoral, while the Non-Mbunas and Utaka live partly in the open water. Mbunas are quite aggressive, while the Non-Mbunas are more compatible.

Mbuna

The rock-dwelling mbuna are quite territorial and sometimes aggressive fish. This class includes the genera Abactochromis, Chindongo, Cyathochromis, Cynotilapia, Genyochromis, Gephyrochromis, Iodotropheus, Labeotropheus, Labidochromis, Maylandia, Melanochromis, Petrotilapia, Pseudotropheus and Tropheops.

Unfortunately, not all mbuna are a good match in terms of behavior and food and habitat requirements, so you should go back and read carefully before making a purchase decision. Especially with Non-Mbuna and Utaka you cannot socialize every Mbuna.

Basically, a rather high stocking is maintained in a Malawi aquarium, so that the aggression of the fish can be distributed among more specimens. Mbuna species in which the males have similar markings patterns should not be maintained together because of the potential for fierce fighting and injury. Males and females of mbuna cichlids should be kept in a ratio of 1 to 3 to 5 or 3 to 7.

The Mbuna cichlids belong to the mouth breeders. The female lays the eggs, they are fertilized by the male in the process, and then the female pecks all the eggs and takes them into her mouth cavity where she keeps them until the small cichlids hatch. Males, unlike other cichlid species, are not involved in brood care.

Mbuna are generally growth feeders, enjoying scraping algae growth, biofilms, and small animals living in them from rocks. They also eat plants. Some species may well be omnivorous omnivores. Please inform yourself with the individual species to which nutrition type the Mbuna you favor belong, so that you can feed your fish appropriately.

The Mbunas are fed predominantly vegetable. Vegetables as well as special foods for herbivorous cichlids, spirulina flakes and granules for omnivores with a higher vegetable content are suitable here.

Non-Mbuna and Utaka

The non-Mbuna and Utaka, which are not bound to the rocky littoral, nevertheless find rocks in the Malawi tank quite good, but need more swimming space than the Mbuna. The swarming fishes that live on sandy bottoms, the Utaka, include the genera Copadichromis, Mchenga and Nyassachromis. They are partly omnivorous, partly they feed predatorily on small crustaceans and worms.

Among the non-Mbuna we find the fish-eating genera Aristochromis, Sciaenochromis, Buccochromis, Champsochromis, Caprichromis, Dimidiochromis, Exochochromis, Naevochromis, Nimbochromis, Stigmatochromis, Lichnochromis, Taeniochromis, Rhamphochromis and Tyrannochromis - they hunt juveniles or even adult mbuna cichlids, so they should not be kept in the aquarium with their potential prey.

Better compatible with some mbuna are the small animal eating genera Aulonocara, Fossorochromis, Cyrtocara, Astatotilapia, Eclectochromis, Tramitichromis and Lethrinops / Taeniolethrinops.

The Non-Mbuna and the Utaka species are also mouth brooders, in which the female takes over the brooding business completely.

The Non-Mbuna and the Utaka are fed according to their nutritional habits with protein-rich food. They like to eat frozen food and live food, which must be adapted according to the fish size. Special cichlid mix is well suited, but also mosquito larvae (white, red and black), Gammarus crayfish, Artemia, Daphnia, Mysis, unseasoned shrimps and krill. Live feeder shrimp are also readily accepted.

The omnivores among the Non-Mbunas and the Utakas also get additional green food in the form of spirulina flakes and similar vegetable cichlid food or cichlid food for ominvore cichlids.

Featherbeard catfish

Featherbeardcatfish of the genus Synodontis are also great inhabitants for a Malawi aquarium, also found naturally in Lake Malawi, and go well with cichlids. Like the cichlids, they need the cleanest water possible, good filtration, and they feed carnivorously. Some featherbeard catfish species even reproduce only if mouthbrooding cichlids also live in the aquarium - they are brood parasites that cheat the cichlids out of their spawn for hatching.

Featherbeard catfish are group fish with interesting and relatively robust social behavior. Therefore, a group size of five should not be undercut. The good structuring of a Malawi aquarium, which was furnished with stone superstructures, suits them very well, because they can go out of the way in larger disputes prima.

In nature the carnivorous pinnipeds of the genus Synodontis like to eat snails, insects and insect larvae, worms and small crustaceans, in the aquarium they are grateful for food tablets and food granules for carnivorous fish, as well as for appropriately sized live food and frozen food. Food snails are also gladly taken.

Water values for a Malawi aquarium

Lake Malawi in the East African Rift Valley is a hard water lake, and this should be considered in the Malawi aquarium. Although the Malawi fish tolerate a relatively wide range of water values, the values in the aquarium should then not fluctuate greatly if possible.

A pH of 7.8-8.5 is considered okay, ideal is 8.0-8.2. A total hardness between 4 and 20 is okay, optimal is a GH of 6-12. The carbonate hardness should be between 6 and 20, optimal is considered a KH of 8-10.

The water in Lake Malawi is relatively clean and uncontaminated, therefore also in the aquarium the nitrate value should not exceed 25 mg/l, it is better to keep NO3 at about 10. Nitrite (NO2) should not be detectable at all. If the Malawi aquarium is kept at a pH of 8 or more, the ammonium or ammonia content should also be monitored. Because the harmless NH4 converts to the highly toxic NH3 at high pH values, the limit value here is 0.0 mg/l.

The East African lake is located in a cozy climate, therefore the water in the Malawi aquarium should have a temperature of 23-26°C. At higher temperatures the fish need more food, because their metabolism runs faster. This should be taken into account when choosing a filter!

We recommend a weekly water change of at least 50% in the Malawia aquarium, so that pollutants can be discharged.

What is the minimum size of the Malawi aquarium?

Malawi cichlids usually grow quite large. Especially the Mbuna are very territorial and therefore need a sufficiently large, well structured aquarium, so that they can get out of their way visually and spatially. Not only the males of the Mbuna, but also the females form their own small territories, which are defended against conspecifics. The Non-Mbuna and the Utaka are less territorial, but they also need space to swim.

An aquarium for these beautiful cichlids should therefore hold at least 300 l volume for Mbunas and from 450-500 liters for Non-Mbunas and Utakas - depending on the species kept, however, it must be larger, so please always check the descriptions for the individual fish species!

How to set up an aquarium for Malawi cichlids?

There are only a few plants in Lake Malawi - for example Vallisneria are native here. For example, the Mbuna Pseudotropheus acei live in the extensive vallisneria forests. Basically, however, most cichlids from Lake Malawi regard plants as a snack - an unplanted cichlid aquarium is therefore commonplace.

Set up the Malawi tank for the rock zone mbuna with lots of rocks, with vertical and deep back structures and if possible a rock back wall. At the same time, the cichlid aquarium for Malawi cichlids can be beautifully designed even without plants!

At the bottom of the aquarium use gravel and sand to simulate the transition from the sandy zone to the rocky littoral. It is best to use fine light or gray to black quartz sand with a grain size of 0.3-1 mm. This results in a beautiful natural appearance. The sand layer may be somewhat higher, because the Mbunas like to dig.

This is followed by the vertical superstructures of rocks with many caves and protrusions, so that the Malawi cichlids can hide nicely.

An aquarium for the somewhat less territorial Non-Mbunas and Utakas does not have quite as many rocks, because these species need more swimming space. Nevertheless, these cichlid species also need good structure in the aquarium so they can get out of each other's way if necessary.

Real rocks or fake rocks for the rock wall in the Malawi aquarium?

Real rocks have advantages and disadvantages in the Malawi tank - on the one hand, they are stable due to their weight, and the superstructures hold bombproof. On the other hand, however, their very weight makes handling difficult and strenuous, the bottom plate can crack due to the greatly varying weight load, and falling rocks can damage the aquarium glass. In addition, the weight of the rocks makes a Malawi aquarium a real challenge for the base cabinet and also for the statics in older houses!

If you use real rocks, it is recommended to line the bottom plate of the aquarium with plexiglass plates beforehand, which can redirect the sometimes very punctual pressure of the rocks onto the surface and thus help to avoid glass breakage due to compressive stress.

Recommended for use in the Malawi aquarium are all rocks that do not have sharp edges, so that the beautiful cichlids can not injure themselves on them. Well suited are perforated rocks, field stones, basalt, limestones like White Jurassic, river stones, sandstone and so on. Not well suited are sharp-edged rocks such as slate, reef slabs and volcanic rocks such as lava. Also, of course, the stones must not have any metal inclusions that they could give off to the water!

A very nice alternative are therefore artificial, inside hollow stones and 3D backwalls made of artificial stone. They are many times lighter than real stone structures. With artificial stones and rock replicas, however, care should be taken to ensure very good quality so that the color or even the stone coating does not fade over time. Hollow artificial stones float and must therefore be well glued together and to the back wall.

Wood in the Malawi tank?

Because Malawi fish require rather hard water with a very high pH value, real wooden roots and aquarium woods are not used in the Malawi aquarium. They contain humic acids and tannic acids, which can strongly lower the pH value.

If it absolutely has to be wood, please look around for high quality wood replicas.

The technique in a Malawi aquarium

The technology in a Malawi aquarium is more or less based on normal aquarium technology. What you don't need: a CO2 system, because no plants need to be fertilized with carbon. Also not necessary: A fertilizer computer, for the same reasons. The filter, on the other hand, may be somewhat more strongly dimensioned as in the community aquarium.

Filter and flow pumps

Because in an aquarium for Malawi cichlids the plants as pollutant consumers are omitted, it needs in addition to the weekly partial water change a good filter, in which also anaerobic zones can develop, in which nitrate is respired by the filter bacteria to N2 and oxygen. Filter media such as Sera Siporax are well suited for this purpose. They are supplemented by filter sponges and other filter media. For this purpose the tank content should be circulated by the filter at least 3-4 times per hour, more is better.

Furthermore, a good current is needed in the Malawi aquarium, which simulates the water movement caused by waves crashing in the rocky littoral and which also helps the water surface to move more, so that more oxygen can diffuse into the water. The current also distributes oxygen better throughout the aquarium.

Heating

The water temperature is obtained by a control heater, which must be of high quality so that it heats reliably and does not "go through". If you are afraid of bimetal switches getting stuck and the heating rods in the aquarium overheating as a result, choose the heater so that it just about brings the aquarium volume up to the desired temperature and practically has to heat through. The less often the switch has to switch, the lower the risk of it getting stuck and the aquarium overheating.

Lighting

Malawi cichlids live in the lake partly in greater depths and therefore like it a little dimmer in the aquarium. Since there are no plants anyway, there is no need for special plant lights. Another advantage of a darker, somewhat dimmed lighting is that it does not lead to excessive algae growth.