Tank maintenance
Malawi cichlids are hardy, not indestructible. Almost every problem we hear about comes back to three things: unstable temperature, soft acidic water, or a rich diet. Here is exactly how we run our own tanks.
The numbers
These ranges suit every fish in our gallery. Stability matters more than hitting an exact figure — pick a target and hold it.
Temperature
75–82°F / 24–28°C
Stable within 2°F per day
pH
7.6–8.6
Buffered, not chemically chased
General hardness
10–20 dGH
Crushed coral or Aragonite in the filter
Ammonia
0 ppm
Any reading means act now
Nitrite
0 ppm
A cycled tank never shows it
Nitrate
Under 20 ppm
Water changes keep this honest
Turnover
8–10× tank volume per hour
Plus strong surface movement
Water changes
25–30% weekly
40% for large haps
Water chemistry, in plain English
You do not need a chemistry background — you need to understand what each reading means and what to do when it moves. Work through these once and water testing stops feeling like guesswork.
Malawi water is warm and, more importantly, steady. Fish cannot adjust their body temperature, so every swing is stress.
One reliable heater rated for the tank, a thermometer you actually look at, and a lid. Never change more than 2°F in a day.
The first waste product — from gills, urine and rotting food. Even a small amount burns gills and is the most common killer in new tanks.
Any reading above zero means a water change today, stop feeding, and test again tomorrow. It should never be readable in a settled tank.
What ammonia turns into. It stops a fish's blood carrying oxygen, so fish gasp at the surface even though the water looks clean.
Same response as ammonia: large water change, no food, daily testing until it clears. A cycled tank never shows nitrite.
The end of the cycle. Far less toxic than the first two, but it builds up quietly and is what water changes are really for.
25–30% weekly changes keep it honest. Rising nitrate with a steady routine usually means you are feeding too much.
How alkaline the water is. Rift Lake cichlids evolved in hard, alkaline water — soft acidic water leaves them prone to illness.
Do not chase a number with pH bottles. Buffer with crushed coral or aragonite in the filter and keep it stable instead.
GH is dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium; KH is the carbonate that holds pH steady. Together they stop the water drifting acidic overnight.
Aragonite sand or crushed coral raises both naturally. Test once a month — hardness creeps down with every water change.
Tap water is treated to kill bacteria — including the bacteria your filter depends on. Chloramine is the tougher version and does not gas off.
Dechlorinate every bucket, every time. Rinse filter pads only in water you removed from the tank, never under the tap.
Cichlids are active, waste-heavy fish. Still water lets waste settle and leaves fish short of oxygen at night.
Turn the whole tank volume over eight to ten times an hour, and aim a pump at the surface so the water visibly ripples.
Testing
Use liquid drop test kits, not strips — strips are hard to read at the low end, which is exactly where ammonia and nitrite matter. Test ammonia and nitrite on a new tank, then ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH weekly once it has settled.
Keep a log
Date, readings, water change size, anything unusual. A single reading tells you almost nothing; a month of readings tells you whether your tank is drifting before the fish show it.
Start here
Nearly every beginner loses fish in the first month, and nearly always for the same reason: the tank had water but no bacteria. The filter is the life support, not the glass box.
01 · Fish produce waste
Food goes in, ammonia comes out — through gills, urine and anything that rots uneaten.
02 · Ammonia builds
With no bacteria to process it, ammonia climbs fast and burns gills. This is the lethal stage.
03 · Bacteria convert it
Colonies settle in your filter and gravel, turning ammonia into nitrite, then nitrite into nitrate. This is the cycle.
04 · Nitrate is removed
Nitrate does not evaporate or wear out. Water changes are the only thing that takes it out of the tank.
Your first six weeks
We will send you home with a seeded sponge or a bag of filter media from one of our own tanks. It is the single biggest shortcut to a stable tank — ask for it at pickup.
The routine
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Bringing a fish home
We will walk you through this at pickup and give you the parameters of the tank your fish came out of. Following them is part of the live guarantee.
Feeding
Herbivore-leaning. Spirulina pellets, gel food and blanched vegetables should be the base. Keep protein low — mbuna bloat is almost always a diet problem.
Micro-predators that sift sand. Small sinking pellets, mysis and daphnia. Feed light and often rather than one heavy meal.
Carnivores. Large pellets, prawns and chopped white fish two to three times a week. A big predator does not need daily feeding.
Bloat shows up as a swollen belly, stringy white waste, a fish hanging at the surface or hiding with clamped fins. It is usually caused by a rich or high-protein diet, overfeeding, or stress from bad water. Stop feeding immediately, do a large water change, and act the same day — bloat does not fix itself. Call us if you are unsure; we would rather trouble-shoot than replace a fish.
If you keep more than one tank, a two-to-four week quarantine tank saves more fish than any medication. Watch for white spot, flicking, rapid breathing and unusual waste before anything goes into your display. Cheap sponge filter, bare bottom, a hiding cave and daily observation is all it takes.
Questions about your setup before you buy? Ask us — we have made most of these mistakes already.
Contact Mike