If you’re captivated by the beauty and diversity of African cichlids and want to create a thriving aquarium for these fascinating fish, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we walk you through everything you need to know about caring for African cichlids. We cover everything from selecting the right tank size and setting up the ideal environment to choosing the appropriate filtration system and water parameters.
We’ll also address common challenges and share troubleshooting tips to ensure a successful and rewarding cichlid-keeping experience.
These are our top 10 must-do things to keep a Malawi cichlid species. Africa is a land of cichlids lake Malawi, lake Tanganyika, and Lake Victoria are famous among hobbyists around the world. Well, most of the advice in this article is common for almost all Malawi cichlids, but there will be exceptions in some cases. So this article is basically for someone just new to keeping Malawi cichlids.
1. Choose the right aquarium.
Malawi cichlids in common are aggressive, well most of them can be kept together if you can provide the right size aquarium. Say for example if you want to keep Lake Malawi Mbunas you need a min of 48x15x15 inches tank size for 12-15 specimens. If you wish to keep Lake Malawi Haps and peacocks you need a tank not less than 160x24x24 as these species are more aggressive while comparing the Mbunas and they grow large.
2. The right selection of Fish:
Both Malawi Mbunas and peacocks are from the same lake, so there is a very rare chance to face each other in the wild, make sure you do not mix both peacocks and Mbunas as they both have different tank requirements and aggrieve levels are different. Try to do your research before buying a fish.
3. Filters:
Filters are key for an aquarium fish, try to invest in a good canister filter. You can check out our listing here for all Canister filter models
4. The right selection of Foods:
Almost all African cichlids are omnivorous, try to feed them a balanced diet that has both veggies and insect protein in it. We always recommend you buy Teraa Hara cichlid pellets. Prefer a sinking pellet and keep floating pellets as an option.
5. Scape your tanks:
Malawi cichlids are all very territorial, always keep your tank fully scaped and lots of hiding places for the fish to hide in case there is any aggression they can find some hiding place. Here is one small video I made for African cichlids, this might help you to understand even more.
