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Beginner african stuff


sharn

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At work (just started at animal antics) we have a couple of african tanks. Thing is i know nearly nothing about them :oops: other than they like a high ph (8-8.5ish?), like/need lots of rock work and can be nasty.

Are there any good sites that give you a run down of the species with a bit of compatibility info so i can print them out and keep them on hand incase i am asked about them? I dont even know the scientific names of half of the species so i cant say 'weve got this and this' but my boss says i can go on the comp to gather info on them

When it comes to diet does it differ greatly for certain species or do they generally eat the stuff? We have spirulina flakes for them but any other ideas will be greatly appreciated so i can get some more variety into their diet.

Thanks in advance :)

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Thanks guys, i will have to give them a good look over when ive got some spare time :hail:

Haps Vs Mbuna??? *woosh as it flies over my head* :lol: i know what a giraffe hap looks like so i know a little something :lol:

i guess it will all take a bit of time to read and learn but i enjoy researching so thats no problem- all this talk of malawis, tangs (can they both be kept together?), Mbuna *mind is boggling*.

Afrikan- thanks, ive only been at it two days but its been good fun and ive enjoyed helping people.

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haps = haplochromis - there are three main groups of malawis, these are typically the biggest.

Mbuna means rockdweller (another one of the groups) and that includes electric yellows, all the zebras, melanochromis and anything else with that general shape.

Peaocks are the other group, all of them come from the aulonocara genus, also called peacocks.

tang is short for tanganyika (spelling?) for example tropheus come from there, all the lamprologus, frontosa etc. You can keep them with malawis but not many people do.

HTH

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Theycan be mixed though they do like slightly different water conditions

IE Lang Tang averages about PH 8.5 as well as getting as high as 9 in places

Where Lake Malawi is generally PH 7.6 and as high as 8.4

Though my African display has a mix of Lake Tang Lake Malawi Lake Victoria and some riverine species as wel

Brad

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Heep's of info on here could be a starting point.

:wink:http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/i ... n_list.php

Species Recommendations For Beginners

:bow:http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/s ... inners.php

African Cichlid Compatibility Issues

:cry:http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/compatibility.php

A good site for those in the know and those who might not know !

Lynn :bounce:

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I was going to add to why Malawis & Tangs might not mix, but the link added by Johannes Visser covered it very well.

I have some mixed tanks. There are some tips & tricks too with certain combinations. & some I will never try, oh & some I did that didn't work.

Have to consider how fish breed too. Egg layers will want an area while raising fry....

Frenchy :D

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thanks angela :)

we have a tank down the end that has duboisi (with the orange belt) along with some little blue, black and white stripy, elongated fish (around 20 bucks each if that helps cause the name totally escapes me now) and it says those are from malawi. they look like johanni (sp) but their stripes are vertical. now arent duboisi from another place and shouldnt be mixed?

ill have to find time to write down all the species in the display tank and go thru whats what and who likes who, im still a bit slow being my first week so i dont find i have too much time to do extras. they seem to get on ok and we currently have one girl holding.

its quite neat learning about these guys cause im more of a south american gal myself.

tiden- thanks, its amazing how your attitude changes when you are doing something you like!

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The duboisi orange belt fish ur talking about is probably an orange flame tropheus and yeah i think its from lake tanganyika, the black and blue little stripey ones are probably demasoni most likely form malawi but they seem to get along ok.

(tropheus) duboisi are black with white dots as juvies, very cute but very expensive and from memory u guys dont have any.

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