And it’s a big no-no to reverse osmosis water without ample amounts of Malawi cichlid salts. You’ll need the support of mechanical filtration, biological filtration, frequent water changes, and plenty of aeration for that.Īnd due to a high level of tectonic plate activity under the lake, Malawi is exceptionally rich in minerals which lend it high levels of pH, general hardness (GH), and carbonate hardness (KH).Īs for decors, you can add calcareous, lime-based decorations or filter media to keep pH, GH and KH buffered. And how can you emulate this chemistry in the tank? So, mbunas are used to clear, pollutant-free water that’s highly oxygenated. So, the mbunas you and I love really swim in blue, sunlit water around the rocky cliffs.Īnd as you guess, the water parameters in this big lake are really, really stable. It is 50 miles wide, 360 miles long, and 706 meters deep.Ī lake of this stature comes complete with sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, and whatnot. Okay, that might be a stretch, but early explorers really did confuse it for an ocean. Mbuna cichlids are natives of the beautiful Lake Malawi in Africa’s Great Rift Valley.Īnd it wouldn’t be wrong to call this lake a freshwater ocean. To give the best life possible within the 4 walls of the tank, it’s essential to understand how mbunas live in their natural state. But with Mbunas, both males and females display dazzling colors. In most species, males sport vibrant colors, and females are drab. There’s one more area where these fish hit the jackpot. To paint you a picture, there are around 100 species of Mbunas in different shades of blue. Of course, the most frequent shades are orange and yellow – but they come in every color you can imagine. And mbunas graduate with flying colors – no pun intended.īlue, green, red, yellow, stripes, spots – you name it, and there’s an exact Mbuna that exists. One qualification a fish needs to qualify to be an aquarium staple is color. Mbunas come in such vibrant and eccentric colors that they’re often mistaken for marine fish. Even a standard fish tank would come unstuck if it had to hold that many species since they all need to be kept with their own kinds.Īnd that’s what makes Mbuna a cult favorite of all times ever since they were first introduced to the fishkeeping hobby.Ĭaption: Scot Ableman on Flickr under Creative Commons license You cannot keep 30 different species of South/Central American fish in the same tank. It’s incredible how they can all be kept exactly in the same environment and fed the same food. Yes, you read that right! Your average Mbuna tank can easily hold 30 different species. They are:Īnd what’s interesting about Mbunas cichlids is there’s no other family of aquarium fish than them that can be kept together in a single tank. And among them, 13 generas are classified as Mbunas. Broadly, the name Mbuna refers to any of the rock-dwelling cichlid species of Lake Malawi.Īltogether, Lake Malawi is home to over a thousand species of cichlids. There are over 100 species of these beautiful fishes – all hailing from the ninth biggest lake on the planet – Lake Malawi. They’re hardy, versatile – and together, an explosion of colors. But mbunas are so much more than little angry fishes. Yes, they’re territorial, and feuds often end with a couple of fallen soldiers. Image credits: Calwhiz on Flickr under Creative Commons license
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