herefishiefishie

You can use carbon in your tank. Just remember it has a limited shelf life, about 1 month. Once a tank is set up & running there isn't a need for it. As for ph, if everyone is on a certain ph then i wouldn't worry to much about that. 7.5 will be fine for Malawis. It is more a case of stable ph because you are using tank water, I would be more worried about your gh & kh. Use something as a substract as in limestone....or when you do water changes you can add some bicarb soda & epsom salts to your water. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php Frenchy

Usually yes stress, poisioning related, trauma or sudden change of temp, ph... Frenchy

I always just throw a bit of epsom, bicarb & salt when I do water changes. The joys of it all is that it is all easily available nice & cheap. Frenchy

I would go with no carbonate & general hradness in your water, as stated earlier. See if you can get this tested at your lfs. The Redcliffe shire in Brissie has the same problem. The ph out of the tap there is high, but there is no buffering capacity in the water, so as time goes by{usually only a week} the ph drops & keeps going down. The use of shell grit....as a substract is a good start but I know form testing a tank during the week that had only calcium carbonate as a substract; the carbonate hardness was only 100ppm. Theres a theory that over time algae grows over the substract & the buffering capacity gets less & less as time passes. Anyway, try this. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php Frenchy

I would guess a bacterial disorder. "but" if you notice tiny white worms hanging out of the pimples then its either a parasitic worm or anchor worm. So have a close look at the pimples. Either way your lfs should have the right treatment for both. Frenchy

You should be doing water changes at the same time. This may help stop the deaths. As in 30%, daily for a few days at least, then get your water tested. Frenchy

We don't have as good a catfish collection here, if its's any consolation. We don't have that many on the import list, glad there are some dedicated people who somehow get species into the country. Frenchy

Great looking set up, very nice photos & discus too. Frenchy

Here is some reading on salts. What are they good for, http://www.aquascienceresearch.com/APInfo/Salt.htm What is in sea salt http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_salts.php The recipe I use for my Africans, cheaper option, thats for sure http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php Frenchy

Set up is all up to personal choice. I use riversand{1mm} in my tanks. Looks natural & its heavy enough to gravel vac. I would go Africans, easier to mix & match species. Can fit more fish in the tank to. But once again personal preference :lol: If you go africans some sort of buffer is good. Decorate the tank however you like, you are the one looking at it. Frenchy:D

Sorry this is going to be a long post, firstly some reasons & insights into hybrids, wild fish...then what to look out for when buying cichlids. NZ has come leaps & bounds since I started on this forum with the cichlid side of things.. It used to be pretty quiet, I used to feel like I was posting to myself at times :lol: The amount of posts in here now is a credit to all of you in the land of the long white cloud, you have finally seen the light, these are the best fish, so interactive, the care of their young..... Here in Aussie we seem to be about 5 years in front when it comes to cichlids, as in, the blue zebra & common names on some cichlids is what we went through here 5 years ago. The more that experienced cichlid keepers get into lfs, importing & phase these guys out the better. There are about 800 different species of cichlids in Lake Malawi alone, so many hundred of km's long of lake, multiple islands, bays..... Now over the millions of years{Lake Malawi is multi millions of years old} you could guess at how many times the water levels have risen & fallen, creating new areas & also letting those of similar species mix back together. Now even though some share the same genus, even species, some may be seperated by just variances{usually location}. Some of those have evolved unique differences, some just differnet colours, others differing body shape, teeth structure..... Some Pseudotropheus for example scrap algae of rocks, where as some who ended up in sandy bays scrap algae of wood{eg; acei} Some are strictly herbivores{eg; demasonii} others are omnivores. If you get hold of a book by George.W Barlow about the Evolution of cichlids. The teeth structure is the important part of how African cichlids live & differ from each other, yet the body shape may be the same, very similar. So in the lake you may get different species in the same area, alot of African cichlids don't have feeding terriorties, only spawing terriorties. So when a female wants to breed she has the option to choose the best male of her species on offer, there are plenty to choose from. Males always want to breed, :roll: the best have nice breeding caves, pits, rocks..... Remember in the wild a female will spawn when she wants to, big difference to in a tank. Some females will visit multiple males, some only breed with one male...even amongst mbunas, the different species all breed differently. The question you{tanksman} asked the other night didn't have an easy answer. Glad to see you did find some info, sweet. Some will cross breed, if you look at some species the difference in variants is minimal. So they either were just the one species, seperated by difference in lake levels or some may have got to another bay next door.... or when the water levels vary they may then even re-mix. Will they breed against each other depends varies factors. Some of the different variances have minor differences, Aceiis again as an example. In one bay the fish is black with a yellow edging on the fins, the next bay black fish blue markings in the head with white fins, another blueish fish yellow fins...we have 3 different varieties in Aussie, I think there is about 15 types all up. In Lake Victoria some species are cross breeding as of polution, the water in one part of the lake is clouding up, around one major river. Some haplochromis species are very similar, the females can't tell if the male is their species or not as they can't notice the difference in colour. Then again an accident in Lake Tangy where a boat carrying a species of Tropheus sank. Where it sank, there were already a another different species of Tropheus. Unfortunitly these species are breeding with each other, :oops: So to answer Tanksman question, some in the wild will breed back against each other given the chance, some don't. Alot that are very similar are seperated by deep water, river, bays.... alot of predators live in deeper water. In a fish tank, well we know that Protomelas & Aulonocara females will cross breed at a drop of a hat. So those species are always not to be mixed. As for mbuna, they will breed with similar colour/types if the same species isn't available. I have mixed yellow, with aceiis, with demasoni, with mbambas....not a problem{touch wood} As long as a have a good male of each who holds there own, there is room for them to get along....then I haven't had a problem. {tw} Yet in display tanks, some mbuna like electric yellows, pulu points{red zebs}...the males & females of the species look the same. So if you accidently get a female of one, then with no other option it may breed with a member of another species, especially if they look similar. Blue zebs used to be common here in Aussie, only the odd shop has them now. Most people here have clicked they are a hybrid, so refuse to buy them, hence they are dying out. Unfortunitly, you can see plenty of Protomela cross breed in shops. These are harder to tell as they are all silver at a small size, it's just the subtle differences in markings that give it away. Yes I am one of the types that tries to bring up how thats not right, but you can guess what the reaction is I get.{I do it politely :lol: } Aulonocara's{peacocks} are very hard to tell to, well females are impossible, males well easier once they start to colour up. Scientific names are a must over here{anywhere}, easier to buy direct imports{if properly named}or from a very reputable breeder. I hope this helps, sorry if it rambled on. :roll: Frenchy

Look at humans as an example. Different parts of the world look different. But if I live say somewhere like Japan, the urge to, cough cough is still there, I have limited choices Remember a small mbuna is seperated from similar species in the next bay by deep water. What lives in deep water, predators. I will post up more reasons tonight when I have time. Work calls. Frenchy

Electric Yellows have been line breed for generations. Not many problems there. Even though most will say its not the best way to go. Most of the studies I have read show that it has taken a good number of generations before any abnormalities have occurred. Sometimes people have no options anyway with new illegal imports. Or with realitive new species they all stem back to the group orginally imported, or that breeder overseas. Just see how you go, I suppose is the best advice. Frenchy

Well pretty simple really. It will take me multi lines to type up all the reasons. Do some seacrhing on the net, read some books by Ad Konnings or George Barlow. But I fail to see how this has anything to do with me saying these blue zebs are a cross breed, trust me I have seen plenty in my time. Frenchy

I bought him as a blue zebra from Jansens. Pretty sure thats what he is A blue zebra is just that. A name given to mbunas, that look like pseudotropheus. No one knows what they really are. Cross breed. Frenchy

Most meds with white spot state to dose at 1/2 rate when catfish, loaches..are in the tank. As said by fishboi, try & find the cause to. New fish, dirty water, bully fish.... Frenchy

Judging by some comments/pics lately, make sure you get what you pay for. Frenchy

To me it looks like all the old school zebs. Cross Breed. Frenchy

Regenerate with any netraliser that dosent have slime coat products. eg; aloe vera. Try & find a product that only has sodium hyroxymethane in it. {I think thats the right name} Frenchy

In response to the numbers being on the low side, at the start the tank will look a little on the light side. When follow grown it will look great, each dom male should be able to hold enough ground to breed....that is why at the start I said to go a little on the heavier side, that way when they grow, get rid of excess males, dull females & the like. Frenchy

Is that meant to be wouldn't? Frenchy

Just be careful when adding fish to tanks in multiple hits, makes you more prone to water spikes. I use 2 internals in my 4 footers that have malawis. One tank is at 1600lt/h the other 2200lt/h. I do run bio material & have a couple of tricks. One tank has 18 mbuna. The other has 30 odd easy. Now these fish are all 4 to 7cm. But I do take out excess males, ones that aren't so great.... Because of my stock load its one small feed a day & weekly water changes. The heavier stocked tank is getting a good sort out soon as I am sure that tank is due to be a problem Back to your tank, add an internal filter. I would look to get 15 yellows, so over time you would want 2M & 5-8F. & yes Johanni can be rough buggers. Frenchy

What did you feed them last time? Baby brine Shrimp, live is best. Micro worms. Frenchy

If you are that keen, as Cameron said. Also try & find a Seachem product called Purigen. Its a synthetic adsorbent, that is easily replenished so its only a one off outlay. It removes impurities out of your water & polishes the water too, making it crystal clear. I use this on some of my tanks. Frenchy

What you have is not a Melanochromis vermivorus. The body shape is different as is the markings & colourations. Frenchy