Where to buy Malawi Cichlids??

[Quig]

I'm currently turning a 125 gallon into a Cichlid tank. I reeeeeeeeealy like Malawi's. I'm looking to purchase quite a few of them, 15-30... maybe more depending on size and price. I've been told that the best prices can be found online.

I've already been to Cichlidexchange.com and Cichlidceller.com. I would appreciate some advice on where to get these fish.

Thanks!

[SGypsyMermaid]

WELCOME! check out:

www.armkes.com www.aquabid.com

[Quig]

Thanks, I'll take a look... :D

[jonah]

Welcome Quig! :D

Try www.theaquariumexchange.com , Sean's a member of our forum and I know he's a good guy. Personally, I'd buy locally to avoid shipping charges, but if you don't have a good local source of cichlids, on-line is the only way to go.

Do a lot of research on what fish you want. Some of them really don't belong together because of hybridization problems. You don't want a bunch of hybrids taking up valuable real estate in your tank. :(

Too bad you aren't here I'd just give you some of my extras. I'm going to cut it down to just a few species this winter.

[SGypsyMermaid]

i just received a great piece of texas holey rock from sean, and it was packed perfectly--no breakage! :mrgreen:

[Quig]

Wow, thanks for the help everyone. I really appreciate it. :D

I guess the problem is that I don't have much to choose from here in town. I don't know what I should be paying for nice adult Malawi cichlids but here in town IF I find them they run between $29 and $50. Not sure how that compares to other parts of the country. I've been to L.A. and they are MUCH cheaper and the fish are better.

It's been suggested that if I purchase a fairly large order online then I should get better fish cheaper(although they seem small).

Again, I really appreciate the suggestions. I hope to check the board frequently and begin learning a lot about these fish.

-Quig.

[SGypsyMermaid]

it's more fun to buy them as juveniles and watch them grow. also, they are less likely to murder each other if they've grown up together. if you buy a bunch of adults and place them together in a tank--you're very likely to have ichthyological warfare! :lol:

[jnorris]

I agree! I now have 20 in my 90 gallon and the majority are pre-adult. It makes the socio dynamics a little easier to work with. Also it would be wise to make sure you have a backup tank incase things don't work out.

Also, since I am new to this as well please learn from my mistakes.

-Get tons of rock ( I now have 80 Lbs of lace rock in my tank)
-use a good Malawi Buffer it maintains your PH to whatever you choose.
-Get a good test kit (monitor PH, Nitrates, and Ammonia)
-Use a salt additive when you set up the tank (follow the directions).
-Use meium and rock from a known healthy tank (doesn't have to be a cichlid tank)
-It also seems that they like crushed corel and it does buffer the tank.


I was able to cycle my tank in 2.5 weeks and it seem stable as far as the nitrogen and ammonia cycle goes.
I am still not sure that the additive that I used really did anything, but it did seem to reduce the initial rise and fall of the nitrogen level...hummmmm

[Quig]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have A LOT of rock stacked up in the tank with tons of room for fish. So far I've got one Red Zebra and a couple of Peacocks in the tank. I bought a test kit tonight and it looks like the PH needs to come up a little mine is at about 6.8 and recomended seems to be 7.5. Everything else tested good.

Tank has already cycled. It has actually been up and running for years.

As much as I'd like to have adult fish now, for both their size and color it will be more interesting to bring them into the tank as juveniles.

I'll have to look into a PH buffer... I'm not sure what that is.

Thanks again, --Quig

[SGypsyMermaid]

your ph is definitely too low. take a look at this thread:

http://www.cichlidforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=19

[jnorris]

Malawi buffer is in white powder form. I will be called simply Malawi buffer. You may also consider using crushed corel (high in calcium carbonate). Anything like limestone, lace rock will help your PH. You need your PH to be 8.1 - 9.0

If you use the buffer follow the instructions and try not to change your PH too much at once it ould shock the fish.

If you use crushed corel make sure you wash it really well.

[SGypsyMermaid]

If you use the buffer follow the instructions and try not to change your PH too much at once it ould shock the fish.



excellent point!---it's also very important that any salts be dissolved in water before adding to the tank.

[Quig]

I know I'm a African Cichlid "rookie" but damn! I didn't know that there was this much to take into consideration... :o

My tank has regualr "riverbed-type gravel" as a substrate and A LOT of Lava rock stacked up to provide plenty of room for lots of fish. I had NO IDEA that my PH should be that high... I'll start raising it slowly.

Is my substrate OK? Someone mentioned that I could add some crushed coral to my filter to help buffer the PH. I've got room in there to do this. Is it a good idea or should I replace my gravel with crushed coral (I hope not--expensive and a BIG JOB) :wink:

I guess I figured that my "old fish" were doing well so I had nothing to worry about. WRONG.

Thanks again for the help.

-Quig.

[jonah]

. So far I've got one Red Zebra and a couple of Peacocks in the tank.
If you have peacocks I'd stick to the less aggressive mbuna. My experience has been that they can't compete with the rough fish. Red zebra will probably be okay. I'd also ditch the lava, I used to have some in my tank, but I had a couple of fish get cut pretty bad on it. Get some limestone. The river gravel is fine. I have it in my main tank. I think if you get the pH anywhere near 8.2 you'll be okay. PH of 9 would be more like a Tang tank.

[jnorris]

8.2 - 8.5 is a good place to be with the Ph, 9.0 is high range. Crushed Corel isn't all that expensive, but it does help maintain your PH levels. Also you should keep your old substrate in and just add to it (take some of the old out if it seems like it is too much).

Once you get the Malawi buffer in (~ $10.00 U.S) and gradually get to the Ph level you want you shouldn't have to worry about the Ph (provided you add the buffer in with water changes. It's not to expensive to get the stuff you need. I have about 75-100 pounds of lace rock mixed with river cobbles in my 90 gallon.

Once you do some basic research on Cichlids and get the PH level up to par it won't be a difficult tank to maintain.

[thomas]

I am also looking to buy about 10-15 cichlids. I am mostly looking for peacocks. I would like to buy juveniles but the problem is they can't be sexed that young. How do you go about getting a good ratio of male/female?

[thomas]

Also, what about F0's? Is it worth the money to buy wild-caughts?

[SGypsyMermaid]

i think that it's worth it to buy wild-caughts if you plan to sell the fry--they command a higher price, but many "domestic" cichlids are quite beautiful. i'm not so sure that wild-caughts are such a good idea when you're first starting out, though. some of them have to be taught to take dead food, so feeding them can be quite expensive. they may also bring a lot of parasites with them. you have to be prepared to deal with a few issues that just don't come up with tank-bred fish.

[Quig]

Thanks again for the advice...

I'll begin slowly raising the PH and adding some coral.

Thanks.

-Quig.

[jnorris]

THe crushed corel looks nice as a bonus. I would strongly reccomend the Malawi Buffer as well (it also has various minerals and salts). When I first started doing the African Cichlid thing I started using the Ph UP product, but soon found it didn't last and it was bad for my fish.

If you put the corel in your filter or gravel it will have the same effect. Just to remind you wash it really well or it will make the water cloudy for a few days.

[jnorris]

Gypsy,

Don't they quarantine the wild species? And if so for how long.

Then again they are problably used to the parasites and the captive raised ones aren't,

Interesting! I will have picks of the 90 gallon I set up a month ago. It is already over-populated with 21 Peackocks and Mbuna (I need an exuse for a 125 shhhh don't tell anyone :twisted:

[jnorris]

Trust me Quig once you get to know your Cichlids it will be smooth sailing. I highly recommend a good book. Gypsy is good at the reference stuff and pretty much everything that swims.