cool to see that you have a 55g tank with african cichlids soon going in it. in fact, i just set up a 55g mbuna cichlid tank myself about 2 months ago or so.
first off, lake malawi cichlids need a steady pH around 8.0, so ur in luck with ur tap water. i also keep my tank around 82-84 degrees. Africans are most likely to appear vibrant and colorful in aquariums with a general hardness ranging from 160 – 320 ppm or 9-18 DH. exactly how hard is ur tap?
to help keep the pH steady around the 8.0 mark, many mbuna cichlid experts use crushed coral as a substrate. it really is great stuff to put in this kind of setup. using crushed coral not only keeps the pH around 8.0, but will slowly release calcium, so keep an eye on the hardness of the water.
as for plants, i have no plants except one amazon sword. the amazon sword was such a beautifull peace, that i couldnt throw it away or put it in another tank. i just put it in there and hoped for the best. well soon after, they started uprooting it. :( they really like to arange the tank to their liking, so if you put plants in there, (which i strongly do not reccomend,) be prepared to do a lot of replanting and what not...
onto decoration. they NEED caves. they absolutly NEED caves and hollowed out crevices. the more crevices, the better. you can not have too many knoocks and crannies in an african cichlid tank. remember, a lot of the males are extreamly terratorial and sex-a-holics, so they will chase the pool females around constantly. a 1-1 male/female ratio wont work at all, and will result in the female dying of stress and/or injury from the male. i work with a 1:3 male/female ratio. and i keep one male per species of fish.
so you like the blues? tons of blues. lets see, you can get some johannis, the males have a slender blue body, with a black stripe running horizontally. you could also try some kenyi's. theyre not as slender, but are just as stunning IMO. females are a pastel-deep blue with black stripes running vertically. males are yellow with gray to black stripes. demasonis are amazing. now i never have experience with them, but males and females are pretty much identical for the most part. but they are of the most beautifull of the blues as far as lake malawi cichlids are concerned IMO. heres what i keep just for sh*ts and giggles:
4 yellow labs; 1 male, 3 female.
4 kenyi cichlids; 1 male, 3 female.
4 red zebras cichlids; 1 male, 3 female.
4 johanni cichlids; 1 male, 3 female.
2 leopard cories...
if you arent familiar with the yellow labs, theyre compeatly yellow, (duhh) with black on the dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins. males and females are nearly identical, however males have more black on their fins than females, and females tend to have a lighter shade of yellow on their underbellies.
unlike most mbunas, the red zebra females often tend to have the more stunning colors than the males do. female red zebras are a deep orange and show 0-3 yellow "egg spots" on their anal fin. males are a pastel blue and tend to show more "egg spots" on their anal fin. (4-7.) however, in rare cases, there are orange males, but this is pretty rare.
as for catfish, people say that you shouldnt keep cories with them, but i put them in there and theyre doing great. as for the pictus, im sorry to say but thats a deff no way. they need much more acidic and softer water than the african cichlids. however, its common for people to put plecos and synodontis catfish with them..
as for shrimp, good luck trying to find them after the first hour or two... THIS IS A BAD IDEA. not only will the shrimp be destroyed, but mbunas cant tollerate fats and proteins like most fish do. for the most part, they are strict vegitarians, so feed them a vareity of algae based flakes, and blanched vegatables. if you dont feed them their proper diet, and introce too much fats and proteins, then they will enevitably get the "malawi bloat." they'll balloon up and get all off balance, and its a mess, trust me, they can even die from it.
however, ur not totally out of luck in the crustacian department. ive seen some african cichlid setups with a crayfish in them. looks really cool actually. plus, they look like a huge shrimp or a mini-lobster IMO. lol. but remember, like shrimp, crayfish cant tollerate a lot of copper in the water, so you might have to stop using certain chemicals...
well that was deffently more than i intended to write! lol. hope i helped, and if you have anymore questions, please ask us! let us know what you end up doing, and post pictures! tank builds with pictures are awesome!
