The intermediate habitat
Picture taken at Chinuni Mozambique in 2001 |
The sediment rich rocky biotope
Picture taken at Namalenje Island in 2001 |
Keeping malawi cichlids which are also known as african or rift valley cichlids is reasonably easy although they are not a community fish so you can only keep them with others of their kind. There are two types of malawi cichlids both of which require different enviroments which is something that you should concider when choosing your africans.
The first type are known as "Mbuna" which include such families as Pseudotropheus, Cynotilapia, Labeotropheus, Labidochromis and Melanochromis. These are the smaller rock dwellling malawi cichlids that require a tank with a built up rocky enviroment as they use caves not only for breeding in but to use as boundery markers to mark their territory.
Caves also provide shelter for the less dominant males and females that need to get out of the way from the more aggressive dominant male. When keeping mbuna you will notice that one of them becomes more aggressive, more dominant than the others, this is normal as every mbuna tank has a boss fish which can be male or female but is usually a male. He will decide which cave he wants and how much tank he wants which is usually all of it and then fight to defend this with anything that comes near. The reason for this aggressive behaviour is Breeding Malawi Cichlids which you can read about from the menu.
The exception to the rule when keeping mbuna is overcrowding. You do this so that when the boss fish starts to chase another which manages to get away and hide he will then begin to chase a different fish and forget which one he was originally chasing thus taking the pressure from the first one and so on.
The second type of malawi cichlid is the open swimmers also known as "Haps". These are families such as Haplochromis, Copadichromis, Aulonocara, Nimbochromis and Protomelas. These larger open swimmers require plenty of open swimming space with just a few bolders or rocks scattered on the floor of the tank. They are not concidered to be aggressive and do not need caves as they breed in the open waters on a rock, bolder or some males will dig a pit in the sand. You do not overcrowd these larger malawi cichlids as they are not territorial so seldom fight for territory but they do need a larger tank providing them with open waters to swim.
When keeping any type of malawi cichld it is important that you keep an eye on your PH levels. Malawi cichlids prefer PH levels from 7.4 - 8.6 and you may notice a change in charactor and colour if the PH levels drop. It is also better to use a sandy substrate rather than gravel as this gives the fish a more natural enviroment which in return allows you to see their natural behaviour. It is not recommended that you use plants in a malawi setup as they are not native to these cichlids but in the wild you will see giant vallis around the lake where the larger open swimmers live.
There is also a difference in quality of these fish which is sometimes noted along side their name. Tank bred fish usually means that the fish have been bred by a hobbiest and then sold to a shop or breeder. ETB or europeon tank bred means that they have been bred by an experienced breeder somewhere in europe and or may have been imported form a good source. Then there are F1 fish which means first generation from wild caught, these are usually good quality and can be bred by anybody with a wild pair but you can not be sure that they are F1 unless you see the parents. Finally there are wild caught malawi cichlids which are the best quality as they have been caught straight from the lake and imported but these fish may sometimes have problems settling into a tank so they need extra care and attention. Prices will vary from tank bred to wild caught but so will the colours.
Finally when keeping these cichlids more so with the mbuna is that if you keep more than one male of the same family for example two Pseudotropheus Zebra, once they have reached breeding age they will fight until one of them backs down and has to put up with being constantly bullied or even killed by the other male. This is all for breeding purposes so either keep one male of each family along with two or three females or keep just females. If you find you have got two males then it is always best to rehome one so that he can show off his true colours with his own female. |
Photograph provided by http://www.african-cichlid.com/index.html |
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African Rifts /keeping.html |
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