135g Mbuna

[agamberutti]

What kind of sponge would go over my intake? And what would the purpose be of that instead of letting them suck up the waste.

[ptran]

Dual jaebo 25

Jebao 25 rated for 530GPH to 1000GPH. I think you just need to point them more to the substrate to kick up the poo.

[Austy16414]

What kind of sponge would go over my intake? And what would the purpose be of that instead of letting them suck up the waste.

Just the little ones that slide over the intake, City Pets sells them for like 3 bucks a piece. I've got a few you can have. It just helps grab more waste, a larger surface area I suppose?

[agamberutti]

Can try it when you swing by to get your food. I may start to feed every other day ad well

[sountfc]

Tank looks nice! Lots of flow and the fish look healthy. I also love those big rocks.

[agamberutti]

Actually I may be dealing with the beginning stage of bloat. I have an srt in hospital tank feeding metro. Keeping an eye on everyone else

[ptran]

Mbuna is very pron to Malawi bloat. They will eat themselves to dead. What is the main stable food that you feed them?

[barrettsline]

To be honest the amount of rock you have in the tank is why you're having issues with waste and leftover food. It's going to get stuck in every crack and crevice. Yes you have a lot of flow, but it is disrupted by all of the rock. You will have a lot of time devoted to cleaning in between rock in your future.

As far as Mbuna being highly pron to Bloat, I have to say no. Yes the name is given to the fish because of where they come from but Mbuna can be abused to no end and be completely fine. I had 40-50 in a 150 that I neglected because i didn't feel like doing water changes for 1-2 months. (I did this for over 2 years, never lost a fish, and the would breed like rabbits) I would grab food by the hand full(Pellet, flake, livebrine, blood worms) and toss it in. I overfeed my fish to the point they should have gone into a food coma. No I am not saying that it isn't Bloat. But Mbuna cichlids can take a crazy amount of abuse for they show signs of ill treatment.

Another few things to consider with sick fish:

1. How long after the new scape did you put fish in?

2. Was all of your equipment cleaned before putting fish back in?

3. Did you thoroughly wash all of the rock before putting it in the tank?

4. Is this a new fish?

Far too complex for me, but I do like the scape. It looks beautiful.

[Rico04]

I use loaches to avoid left over food sitting in the bottom of the tank. They also stir up the fish waste and gives a chance to catch the current and into the filters. Running 8 tanks this way with no issues. I have several loaches in each tank.

[ptran]

As far as Mbuna being highly pron to Bloat, I have to say no.

I agree that Mbuna can take good amount of abuse and probably one of the easier fish to keep, but overfeeding will make them sick and will kill them. That is my experience. Not just Mbuna but any fish should not be overfed if you want to keep them healthy.

Besides he didn't say that there was left over food. He said that there was a lot of fish poo that can't get rid of. That would affect the water quality, leading to stress, and bloat. My 2 cents.

[ptran]

I use loaches to avoid left over food sitting in the bottom of the tank. They also stir up the fish waste and gives a chance to catch the current and into the filters. Running 8 tanks this way with no issues. I have several loaches in each tank.

I have great success with loach in Frontosa tank but not with Mbuna. They got attacked, stressed out, then died.

[barrettsline]

I'm having a lot of problems with floating debris and fish crap.

While that is true I attribute floating debris to extra food and fish crap to fish crap.

If the debris is not extra food, then the question becomes, what is it and where did it come from. Yes loaches are great for finding the extra bits of left over food. Yes they will move a little sand. They will not 100% clean in between all the rocks in this case. flow may be a bit of an issue here. But the distortion of the flow is why there is extra.

[agamberutti]

Mbuna is very pron to Malawi bloat. They will eat themselves to dead. What is the main stable food that you feed them?

I feed them kens veggie flake, kens troph flake, kens green granule pellet mix with nls. Main staple though is the veggie flake from kens. Everything else is a once in awhile treat.

[agamberutti]

While that is true I attribute floating debris to extra food and fish crap to fish crap.

If the debris is not extra food, then the question becomes, what is it and where did it come from. Yes loaches are great for finding the extra bits of left over food. Yes they will move a little sand. They will not 100% clean in between all the rocks in this case. flow may be a bit of an issue here. But the distortion of the flow is why there is extra.

It's mainly fish crap and particles in the water. I have no extra food floating as i only feed 2 small pinches and food is eaten within 20 seconds. I do 70% weekly water change. Nitrates only get up to 20-40 each week. Clean canisters every 2 weeks and rotate cleanings. Poop on some is partly white and appears stringy. Stomachs look ok on most, some may have a slight sunken look. Will take a vid here shortly. I only feed twice a day.

[agamberutti]

Tank and setup have been going for almost 6-8 months. Only new fish that were added recently were jalo reef trio and they are all healthy as far as I can tell. Rest of the fish have been there from the start.