well, i have permission for another tank..
i really want to keep malawi cichlids, but am not sure about the amount of space, type of water etc that they would need...
does anyone here keep them? i would b very interested to know about them!!
And dont worry Devs, i am managing to keep on top of them!!

oooo you lucky lucky lady!!!! not kept them myself ~ good luck!!

You must have a massive house ...dont think iv had any kind of cichlid before, malawis can go on my 'future plans for when i move out' list!

i had a few a while back, all from the mbuna (rock-dwelling) group of malawi cichlids.

as for water quality, prolly the most important thing is ph, ideal would be around 8, never let the ph get much below 7 into the acidic range. temp of 78, gh 7, kh 11 or so.

as for tank set up, no cichlids are for a 5 gallon tank, plan on one that has enough room for them to grow; and if you go w/ the more popular less agressive mbuna group of malawi cichlids, you're gonna need a lot of rock and cave decor.

back when i had my cichlid tank i was doing a great deal of research, and i found this great site that had a TON of species profiles and pics. i'll see if i can't find it again for ya if you're interested.

good luck, and congrats on another tank!

what'dya know, i still had it bookmarked http://www.malawimayhem.com/profiles.php?filter=AB

but it's organized entirely by scientific names. if i remember correctly only a couple of the fish profiles gives their common names. but most of them had pictures.

wow! thanks for that Justin! ill have a good read through that lot!!
i was planning on gettin a 30-40gal for them... would that be ok? i read that 30 should be enough for 15? is that alright?
i was planning to go for Mbuna... im not sure i want to lunge myself in the deep-end!!
would you be able to reccomend a certain 'group' that go well together? any to avoid etc?
thanks again!

I have heard that with some cichlids it is best you have a 55 gallon, especially if they need rock formations for their own territory in the tank. Do alot of research. Do a search for cichlid forum, they would be a great deal of help for you during the planning of the type, tank size, and setup they need.
http://www.mongabay.com/fish/mbuna.htm

okies. i started with 2 electric yellow cichlids cuz they really caught my eye. turns out they're one of the most popular and readily available in most pet stores, and easy to care for.

go here http://www.cichlidrecipe.com/cichlidchart/flashchartd.html (maximize your internet window and scroll down to the bottom before the page loads so it comes up big enough to read)

the light blue squares mean compatable, the blue squares mean use caution, the dark blue squares mean don't mix/danger. the gray squares mean don't mix because they might breed and you'd end up w/ a weird hybrid if different species from the same genus are involved. the names across the top and down the side are genus, so in theory you could pick any species and they'd mix ok.

electric yellows are labidochromis, if you look across, they have the most light blue squares of any of the other genus', so you know they mix well. use that chart w/ the link i gave ya above and you could keep yourself busy for hours good luck.

oh, and cichlids go by the same rule, 1-2 gal per adult inch, keeping in mind that you'll need to give a little more room because of their aggressive nature and all the rock decor you'll want will push some gallonage out. some of the bigger cichlid species need bigger tanks, but you should be alright w/ a community of the smaller colorful ones. just for instance, most of the labidochromis species stay around 3-5" at adult size.

as with anyone doing cichlids, just do a lot of research (and visit some pet shops to see the fish) before you decide what you want. and sorry for the long post

thanks again Justin!! gosh, thats going to keep me busy!!