Malawi's

[CichlidChick77]

Hi everyone,

I got a 4ft tank and stocked it with malawis a while back. Since then, some have had fry and I've loved every minute.

I have the bug now and have acquired a few more tanks to accommodate for the babies and have decided that I'd like a more practical breeding set up with some different species.

I'm not doing it with the hope to make money or anything, it's simply because I really love it. My question is, what are some malawi species that are in pretty constant demand? I want to breed them but don't want to end up with a heap of fish I can't pass on to people and become too over stocked.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

[malawi sand diver]

Hi, Malawi species are my favorites aswell. They are colourful and have so many different personalities.

You can't go wrong with electric yellows as a fish to breed. They are coloured up from the start, grow fairly quickly and everyone loves yellows.

The fry that are easy to pass on are also the most commonly available ones aswell. e.g. red zebras, blue dolphins, red empress, red rubin peacocks are the easiest to move. A lot of the rarer haps that I think are the most interesting don't have much of a market for them, there are a lot less buyers than for the common stuff.

Regards, Rob

[krellious]

Pick fish you like the color of. I have trouble selling fry cheaper then others and am stuck with alot of fish that i cant sell. Just glad i like the adults otherwise i will have to start selling colonies

[Matthew_]

I would pick some of the rare variety and try and successfully breed them. Always a challenge. Good looking rare Malawis tend to sell pretty fast.

Matt

[DFishkeeper]

Whatever you choose to breed, please make sure you obtain and breed from only good quality stock. There are already too many "breeders" flooding the market with cheap poor quality fish. If you don't have the knowledge yourself, make sure you only buy your breeding stock from recognised legitimate breeders or a lfs that is run by hobbyists who know their fish. Maybe even look into joining the NSW Cichlid Society and attending meetings as a way to improve your own knowledge and meet some serious hobbyists and genuine breeders.

Cheers, Doug

[rosco]

Well said Doug. I say just breed fish you like and enjoy keeping. I have pretty much done that from the start. some i have bred for the challenge but mainly because i like the fish. Just make sure you get good true stock and Just don't breed for the cash you may end up being disappointed.

Cheers

Rosco

[CichlidChick77]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

All the fish I have are from lfs and I have some that are nice and some that have turned out crap, to be brutally honest. At the time if buying them I didn't really know the difference and have learnt along the way. I still have an extremely long way to go and a lot to learn.

My plan for breeding them is to obtain the stock from breeders, like you said Doug. I don't want to add to the low quality stock that is out there.

I am not expecting to make any money out if it, I just find them fascinating and I have fallen in love with the hobby.

I'd actually love to be able to go check out what others have and see their stock and set ups but am not sure if that's a possibility.

Thanks again for the info