The territorial and aggressive manner of Malawi Cichlids makes them totally unsuitable for general community tanks.
Most of the commonly available Mbuna grow to the 10cm to 15cm length range, You don’t have to worry about matching species comparative sizes, when you select your fish, instead you have to match temperaments.
When selecting fish for a mbuna tank a few guidelines need to be followed:-
1. Try to only select one species from each genus such as Labidochromis or Pseudotropheus. This is to reduce the chances of hybridisation as fish from the same genus can breed together. Some fish from the same genus however can be kept together such as Pseudotropheus Saulosi and Pseudotropheus Elongatus Mpanga, this is because these fish look totally different.
2. Try not to keep fish with similar looking males or females together. It is not recommended to keep similar looking males together such as P. Demasoni and P. Saulosi together as they will mistake each other for rivals. In species such as M. Interuptus and P. Saulosi females look similar so this could result in hybrid fry.
3. Try to keep similar sized specimens, some Mbuna grow quite large such as Labeotropheus species and Petrotilapia these should not be housed with smaller species such as Labidochromis species as they will pick on these and not allow them to show full colouration.
4. Malawi cichlids should be kept in groups with ratios of at least 3 females to one male. Fish kept in pairs can cause problems as too much pressure is put on the single female by the male.
The stocking level is absolutely critical - if there are too few fish there is a danger that one of the larger males becoming over dominant and attacking all the other fish, to the extent of actually killing them.
Too many fish will lead to stress from over-crowding, which in turn will lead to health and stress issues. In between these two scenarios is the happy medium, where there are too many other males for a single fish to risk trying to become dominant, but enough space to allow them to feel at ease and not stressed.
Personalities vary from fish to fish, so it may be necessary to change around until you finally reach the “peaceful tank”. This is a brief description of the mannerisms of Mbuna family
Iodotropheus - one of the more peaceful species. Labeotropheus - keep only one male per tank. Labidochromis - also generally peaceful (for mbuna). Metriaclima - see pseudotropheus. Melanochromis - very aggressive. Pseudotropheus - aggression varies from species to species.
Labidochromis Caeruleus, one of the most peaceful and colourful Mbuna.
Breeding Mbuna
If these fish are kept in good conditions and free from stress they will breed very easily in the aquarium. Most species are extremely prolific, and good healthy colourful young are very much in demand. What is more, the fry are very easy to raise. Selecting the parents The fish will choose their own mates. To ensure good quality young, keep good quality parents. There should be a ratio of a minimum of one male to two females, and for the more aggressive species one male to four or five females. Only one male per species should be kept per tank and even similar looking species are best kept apart. Sometimes hybrids occur - if this happens they must not be passed on or sold, because such action would eventually ruin the captive bloodlines of these fish.
Preparation Maintaining healthy well-fed fish is all the preparation that is needed for the fish to be able to breed. The males are constantly on the lookout for a female that is ready to breed. The males will dominate a small territory, and they will display to attract any passing female. If the female is ready to breed, the pair will circle each other and the eggs will be laid. As this happens the female will collect up all the eggs in her mouth in order to protect them. During this time she will not eat and she will become to look tatty and underfed. The brooding females are easy to spot because they tend to be thin and the brood pouch can easily be seen in the region of the fish's chin. The eggs and fry will be protected in this way for about 30 days. Once the fish have bred, wait for a few days to allow the female to bond with the eggs and then transfer her to a spare tank if you have one, with the same water chemistry and temp, so that she can be on her own. The tank will need a mature sponge filter and some stones with a little cave so that the female will feel secure. Don't offer any food during this time, particularly with inexperienced fish, or the eggs and fry could be put at risk. When the fry are old enough they will be released, and in most cases that is the end of the fry being protected. The mother should now be removed from the tank or there is a risk the fry could be eaten.
A newly released Pseudotropheus Saulosi Fry
Rearing This presents no problems. The fry will eat finely powdered flake food and newly hatched brine shrimp. They will also graze on any algae present. After two weeks you can begin to make small daily water changes and gradually increase the amount until after five weeks about 15-20% daily is being changed. These water changes are every bit as important as feeding, as far as the fry’s progress is concerned. After ten to twelve weeks the fry will be about one inch in length. Mbuna need a lot of vegetable matter in their diet and are best fed Spirulina flake. Failure to provide enough roughage in their diet could eventually result in intestinal problems, followed by a usually fatal bacterial infection of Mal
