A malawi aquarium setup in 260 litres

[dakora]

hiya,
got my 260 juwel bowfront set up and the coflake sand is good to go. got two big rocks, one's a beast and had to strain to lift it, gonna put 'em on under gravel filter system plastic, spread the weight out. five smaller rocks to create some water movement. no filter yet, still to get one. planning on adding 5 peacocks, thinkin of adding some saulosi, but not sure on numbers. also love clown loaches, but reckon they wouldn't mix with malawi, would they? tank's only 4ft long, 2ft tall and 1ft wide. cheers for the advice.

[zeniko]

I think you might be referring to the Juwel Vision 260, am I right?

When it comes to filtration, I always say go big or go home - get the largest filter you can afford. For stocking, I'm a fan of keeping things simple - one species at a time, in groups of 4-6. For saulosi, you could do 4-6, maybe 1 male and 3 females if you can sex them, or 2 males and 4 females if you go for six.

I'd probably leave the clown loaches out, they get huge and prefer to be in groups - a 6ft tank would be more their style. How about some smaller plecs instead? There's a list in the Pleco section that's got some great options that stay under 8 inches.

[dakora]

im not entirely sure, picking the tank up in the morning from a mate, but ill have a proper look then. yeah, i figured as much about the clown loaches, shame really, they would've added some nice colour. was thinking of using the 1 male to 3 female ratio for the saulosi, but what about 3 males and 9 females with the 5 peacocks i've already got, and maybe a couple of plecs? would that work in a tank that size? also thinking of getting a couple of external filters, one for each side, each doing 1000 lph, so that's 8 times tank turnover an hour, should be enough, right? cheers for the reply, mate.

[zeniko]

3 males to 9 females sounds alright on paper, but you're gonna need loads of hiding places because those males will likely go at each other. I mean, it's not just a possibility, it's pretty much a given. So, sticking to 1 male to 3 females is probably the way to go, and if you want more variety, get different ones with different colourings, that way the males won't see each other as competition. Make sense?

[dakora]

gutted mate, my mate's let me down, sold the tank to his sister and she's chucking 6 oscars in it, don't know what ppl are thinking

[zeniko]

Don't be disheartened, mate. What a right shame, though. You'll find another one, just gotta keep an eye out. I know someone who picked up a Rio 400 for a steal - 99 pence, can you believe it? Six oscars in a 260-litre tank, that's just cruel. Poor fish, I mean.