CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I would like to put six 4-8 inch malawi cichlids in my 50 gallon. Will this tank be sufficient? Also does anyone know a good place to purchase malawis?

A general rule for africans is 1.5 inch of fish per gallon. This rule applies to "long" tanks and your fish at an adult stage. Deep tanks with less surface area figure about 1 inch of fish per gallon. All this of course depends on your filtration, if you over stock the tank, you need to over filter it also.

Sacramento is chock full of LFS with Malawi at great prices, this is mainly because there are many cichlid breeders in your area.

Stay away from Petsmart or any other fish store which uses the same water in all their tanks. Each Malawi tank should have its own filtration system at the LFS as well, if not DONT buy there. Remember that Malawi's need special water, so dont forget the PH buffer, a bit of salt (1 tsp per 5 gallons), and Cichlid Vital (yellow bottle) is a great source for other nutrients they need.

Wire

P.S. if you havent cycled your tank yet and throw in these fish, they will all most likely die within the first week or two. Make sure your biological filter has set in before adding any Malawi's.

Thanks for the info. I have been to many of the lfs and they all seem to have the same two or three types of malawi(electric yellow,electric blue,rusty etc.)I have seen pictures of some beautifully colored malawi online that just don't seem to be available at the lfs. Can I special order from the lfs or is there a good place to purchase online?

Two good places to buy online:
http://www.cichlidlovers.com/ http://ohiexchange.com/armke/#tanganyika

The shipping is outrageous as you can amagine, but the prices and availability make up for that. If you get dead fish, your pretty much out of luck unless you order again.

I would really suggest you take a jog down 80 to SF and goto Nippons Goldfish Co. on Geary st. They usually have a great selection, and on your way back up to Sac stop off in El Cerrito and see Dave at Tropical Fish world, I believe he has the most beautiful Malawi's and usually has more than a couple rare fish in his collection (usually about 5 or 6 tanks of Malawi at any given time).

Call first to see when they get in a shipment and go soon after.

Tropical Fish World 510.232.0930

Nippons goldfish Co. (415) 668-2203

Wire

Leyden, have you been to Exotic Aquarium over off of Florin road? They have a bunch of African's... not sure if they are the varieties you are looking for.

Also Capitol Aquarium has some but I think their selection is alittle less, though their fish are garunteed for a month which is nice.

Adam

hey wire...i always go to nippon goldfish!!