The Mbuna Aquarium

Lighting
If you do not have any plants in your aquarium (there are no plants in a genuine mbuna biotope) the lighting is not important. One or two fluorescent tubes isenough The fishes actually show their colors better in dim light. If you have plants in your aquarium, more light is necessary and in large tanks (more than 70 cm deep) metallhalogene-lamps are an expensive but good alternative to fluorescent tubes. These lamps make a difference in your aquarium, whichis worth the extra expenses. Pesonally I use Aqua Glo floruscent tubes, they have a pleasent glow and both my red M.estherae females and the blue males have nice colors.

The fishes
I think an aquarium with few species but many of each species is better looking than having many species and few of each species. Many mbunas are very colorful. To get a nice looking aquarium the composition is therefore important. Some colors do not mix with each other.

Plants
In the lake, plants are common only in shallow bays, where no mbunas live, therefore the most biotopical is not having any plants in your tank. However, if you still want to have plants, then choose Vallisneria or Ceratopyllum. Another aspect that makes it more difficult to use plants in your tank is the love for redecoration that adult males have. You risk having the plants immediately dug up.

The background
The background is probably the most important item of the tank decoration, but many aquarists do not recognise this. The easiest form of background is either painting the back of the tank or buying a wall chart with a motive on it. However, by far the best way is to use an intank background. You can either make your own one from styrofoam (this is a versatile material) or (if you can afford it) buy a "Back to nature" background.This is an artificial background developed in Sweden that looks exactly like a real rock.

The water
The water of lake Malawi is an important factor. The pH should be between 7.0 - 8.5. In the lake the temperature varies a little during the year but in the tank it is better to keep the temperature steady between 23-28^oC. The oxygene level is another important factor and a good filtration system and regular water changes (30% every or every other week). Some enthusiasts want their water to be identical with the water of lake Malawi, but it is not necessary, as long as you do your regular water changes your fishes will get along fine.

Filtration
To keep the water clean and non toxic is very important, Lake Malawi has a large water mass and the concentration of waste products is extremely low, this must not however be the case in an aquarium.

Here we keep our fishes in high concentrations in small water volumes, good filtration is therefore important, the filter should be able to do two things, first be able to keep the water free from particels, this most filters, internal and external manages. But most important is the capacity to supply good substrate for nitrification bacterias to grow on, the larger the volume is the better it is.

Internal filters has a very small surface area, canister filters are better they can be stuffed with diffrent filter material. Even better however is a trickle filter, its dry/wet conditions combined with a unlimited supply of oxygen makes it a good complement. The most space efficent is a fluidising bed filter, filled with very fine sand it has an enourmous surface area. Both trickle and fluidising filters need some sort of pre filtration that prevents large particles from clogging the filter.

Food
In the lake, mbunas feed both from the biocover, (algae that covers the rocks) as well as plankton in the free water, but in an aquarium they will eat everything you give them. All food is not good for mbunas. I feed my fishes with Shrimpmix only. Another important thing is not to overfeed. Adult fishes should be fed once per day and not too much. If they are overfed, they grow fat and will seize to spawn.

Decoration
The decoration of an mbuna aquarium is important, not only because agood decoration is pleasant to look at, but because, a sensible decoration can decrease the aggressivity. To start with, place a 1 cm board of styrofoam on the bottom of the aquarium. Then place the larger stones on theboard; use as large stones as you dare. It is better-looking this way. By placing the stones directly on the board, you avoid the risk of them falling down if the fishes decide to dig a nest near the stone. If you have decided to have a permanent decor you can secure the stones to the bottom and to each other with "silicone".

The bottom substrate, is another important part of the aquarium decoration. I prefer coarse sand 1-2 mmin diameter in a darker color, but you can use virtually any substrate you want. Coral-sand is an alternative that has one advantage. It buffers the water so that you do not need to bother about the water values. It is white, though and not very nice or biotopical.

How many
Another important thing is to have at least twice as many females as males to decrease aggressivity. Therefore, I think the color of the females is as important as the color of the males. Many species have very brightcoloration of the males but pale greyish of the females. It is not so fun having a few great males and maybe three or four times as many grey females. Therefore, I always check the color of the females when I buy my fish.

If you keep many individuals of the same species (10 or more) you can keep as many males as females. Another aspect when you choose fish is how aggressive they are.
Mbunas are aggressive fish. Therefore, never mix Mbunas with Peacocks orUtakas.

How many fishes you can have in one tank is difficult to say, but if you have a lot of fish, the fishes will be less shy and aggressive. One fish per 15 liters is good. If you have a "Back to nature" or any other intank background, you cancreate a decoration without any caves (just a few smaller stones in eachcorner). This will make it impossible for any male to hold a territory and agressivity will decrease.