We have a 2500 litre African Rift Lake Cichlid section that holds in excess of over 1,000 fish and more than 100 species of African Cichlids. If there are any species that you do not find available on our website, then you can all us on 07751 794108 to see if we can get them on special delivery.
We deliver all our live stock by courier from £14.95 p+p and we guarentee next day delivery from the day we send them. The fish are put into large bags with oxygen and then wrapped in newspaper and bubblewrap and then placed into polystyrene boxes with heat packs. All customers who order fish will be contacted within 7 days to arrange a delivery date. All fish subject to availablilty as stock levels change daily. Any backorders are usually dealt with within a few weeks. Due to differances in each species of fish, your fish may not look exactly the same as the images provided.
All prices are VAT excluded
NEW STOCK
The Tank You can setup two different styles of Malawi tanks:
1) A combination of large rocks which almost reach the water surface with multiple caves. 2) With less stones and one or two caves. Due to their aggressive nature big stones should be provided for every male in the tank. For a breeding tank #2 is recommended. The first scenario is recommended for a community tank.
In addition, the following should be adhered to:
Temperature: 26-28 degree Celsius pH 7.5 - 8.5 Medium to hard water Plants are not required but can help with nitrates. Rocks are recommended. Caves
Before you purchase your fish, consider their size when fully grown. Cynotilapia afra grows to a size of 7 cm while Fossochromis Rostratus reaches a size of 30 cm and in what habitat they thrive. Cyno.afra likes caves while Copad.azureus is adopted to open water.
In other words: If you are going to keep large,(and / or) open water habitants, you are going to need a rather large tank, while if you are planning on keeping small Mbunas such as Cyno.afra, you can get away with a smaller tank. Create the environment that your fish wants. If you have both open water dwellers and Mbunas, see to it that you have a tank that have both caves and free space!
No matter what Malawi cichlid you are going to keep, be sure to have a very good circulation in your tank and make a partial water change once or twice a fortnight.
Water Conditions
Malawi Cichlids live in very "hard (rich in calcium = KH of 8+)" water with a high pH. Therefore, you should test your tap water before you start to invest a lot of money in these particular fish. This is easily done by a pH and a KH tester. If your water is hard as a rock and (in that case most probably) reaches a high pH, you have excellent water for Malawi cichlids, congratulations! But if your water is soft as a sponge and barely reaches pH 7, then you have to improve the water conditions.
This is what you can do to improve your water:
Buy gravel that contains a high level of lime stone. We recommend Underworld's coral sand or coral gravel which has built in buffers. Add Sera kH plus and Tropic Marin Pro Cichlid Mineral to get ideal water conditions. If you do have to make adjustments to your water conditions, you have to remember to check after every partial change of water and maybe adjust them a bit!
Food There are a variety of cichlids in the lake Malawi and therefore, different foods that should and shouldn't be used. There are however some universal basic foods that can be used successfully.
I would recommonend New Iife Spectrum Cichlid Formula as a very good food as it does bring out the colour of your fish. My display tank has come on leaps and bound since I started using this new food. Frozen Artemia is another ome of my favouites as Malawi's love the stuff. Sera Granugreen and Granured are also very good African cichlid food as this contains carratine which also promotes fish colour. The Granugreen has all the nutrients and vitamins for vegetable eating cichlids while the Granured is ideal for the more predotory african cichlid.
Flake food is not enough on its own for african cichlids and can cause nutritional problems later on for the fish.
Temperature The adequate temperature for Malawi cichlids is 24 - 28 degrees Celsius. (Breeding temperature: 26-28 degrees Celsius)
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi is the ninth largest lake in the world and is about 60 miles longer than Lake Michigan. A rift lake, meaning that it lies in the great Rift Valley of Africa is elongated and very deep in places. The pH of Lake Malawi is a measure of the alkalinity or acidity which varies between 7.8 and 8.5. In the middle of the lake and over deep water the pH is 8.3. The fluctuations are due mainly to the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide.
There are various seasons which include strong winds and heavy rainfalls.
The shores of the lake are varied. Most shores have sandy beaches or weedy marshland. The rocky areas alternate with sandy areas. The deep water is common with the rocky coastline. Most cichlids have adapted to the rocky areas and are bound there throughout their lives, therefore, in order to make cichlids feel at home, the Malawi Cichlid Aquarium should have a similar environment. The ideal tank should be large enough to accommodate enough room for each male to have 3 times his body size in all directions from his home to make "his" as these fish are very territorial. The tank should be covered on the sides and bottom with black, dark green or green with reddish brown streaks. Cichlids are use to having light from above and many caves in which to hide and make their home. Use coral sand or coral gravel. Two types of plants Microsorum Pteropus and Anubias Barteri are recommended for helping to reduce the nitrates in your aquarium The reason these plants stay alive in afrcian cichlid aquariums, is that the fish so not like the taste of them!.
Following these simple guidelines should keep your Malawi aquarium a natural and peaceful community.
Grows up to 5-6" in length
A popular hybrid in the aquarium trade
feeds from a variety of foods frozen, pellets etc
Males are more distinctive in colour
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