Rocky reef aquarium type JBL Malawi Rocks®

JBL Malawi Rocks®

Rocky reef aquarium JBL Malawi Rocks®

The Malawi Lake resembles a coral reef with its colourful fish. In addition the cichlids display some very interesting behaviour: they brood their eggs in their mouth. Anyone looking for a colourful aquarium with very lively and interesting fish, will find it in the JBL Malawi Rocks®!

Malawi cichlids belong to the most colourful freshwater fish and their mouth brooding is one of the most interesting breeding behaviours of all fish. Since cichlids are territorial fish and they strongly defend their patch and therefore fights often occur. This is why it is important to create hiding places and territorial boundaries with the help of stones and plants. Because of the fish’s aggressive behaviour, it is difficult to add fish at a later date. However should you need to do this, it’s best to separate a part of the aquarium with a partition pane where you can add the “newcomers” until the stock is accustomed to them. Only then can the pane be removed. Please take this into account when setting up the aquarium.

Modelled on nature

The Lake Malawi in Africa has developed quite a unique fauna over millions of years. The cichlids have evolved to adapt to the lake’s diverse habitats and developed endemic (only existent there) species. Even within species colour varieties have developed since rocky reefs are often separated by large areas of sand, which are a natural barrier for the fish. This way a species can be blue monochrome coloured in one spot and blue striped 1000 m away at the next rocky reef. Many species from the shallow water (up to 15 meters in depth) are grazing fish species which scrape the growth (algae with microorganisms) from the rocks. Other species are predators which feed off other fish and their brood. Plants are only found in a few areas of the lake shore. Most of these regions consist of sandy areas with stones.

Description

Where is the best place to put your aquarium?

Dimensions: 100 x 40 x 50 cm = 200 litres, weight: approx. 260 kg (goes easily on your floor!)

What are the electricity costs?

Maximum € 16.40 per month.

Who takes care of the aquarium during your holiday?

An automatic feeder ( JBL AutoFood BLACK ) will provide the food supply.

What are the costs of the JBL Malawi Rocks®?

Aquarium with cover: approx. € 220

Aquarium cabinet: approx. € 160

Fish & plants & decoration: approx. € 370

Technical items & food & care products: approx. € 340

Aquarium information

Dimensions

100 x 40 x 50 cm = 200 l

Water values

pH value: 7.5-9.0

KH: 5-10 °dKH

Nitrite (NO2): 0 mg/l

Temperature: 24-27 °C

Special features

The aquarium shouldn’t be set up in too bright a place since direct sunlight promotes algae growth.

Miscellaneous

One peculiarity of the water in Lake Malawi is a carbonate hardness that is higher than its general hardness. In most tap waters it is the other way round and the GH shows the higher value. With the help of a special mineral salt ( JBL Aquadur Malawi-Tanganjika ) you can adapt your tap water so that it emulates the water of Lake Malawi. For hard starting water we recommend a reverse osmosis system and the specific adjustment of the water with JBL Aquadur Malawi-Tanganjika .

When adding the stones please take care that the stones are firmly placed on top of each other. To be on the safe side you can bond them with JBL PROHARU UNIVERSAL . The stones need to be tilted towards each other or be glued that way, so that no pressure builds up on the side or rear glass pane. They must not touch the glass.

Tap water is not always suitable for fish. That’s why it needs to be adapted to the requirements of the fish with an appropriate water conditioner ( JBL Biotopol ), before adding them. Add a bacteria starter ( JBL Denitrol ) one hour later and you can add fish. Please check the nitrite content with the JBL NO2 Nitrite Test every 2 days during the first 2 weeks.

The decoration to suit your JBL Malawi Rocks®

Here you can see which substrate and plants you need for your aquarium to look like a piece of Lake Malawi.

Substrate

JBL Sansibar SNOW

Snow-white substrate for freshwater and marine aquariums and aqua-terrariums

  • Very fine sandy soil for all aquarium types: substrate for fresh and saltwater aquariums as well as aqua-terrariums and terrariums
from 24,23 €
Stones

Lay a foam mat ( JBL AquaPad ) under the stones to protect the bottom pane. Position the stones before adding the sand (not shown in video due to lack of time).

Porous rocks

20 kg

Plants

These plants suit a rocky reef aquarium.

Plant (A)

Jungle Val - Giant Vallis (Vallisneria americana gigantea)

4 plants

Plant (B)

Dwarf Anubias (Anubias barteri var. nana Bonsai)

10 plants

Planting plan

Here you can see the exact plant location and species in the aquarium. The letters characterise the plant species, mentioned above.

Aquarium technology

This outline shows all the technical products you need for the Lake Malawi themed aquarium and a price quotation to give you an idea of the costs involved.

Used products
JBL CRISTALPROFI e902 greenline
External filter for aquariums from 90-300 litres
from 166,36 €
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JBL LED SOLAR NATUR
High-performance LED light for aquariums
from 129,32 €
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JBL LED SOLAR EFFECT
LED effect light as supplement to JBL LED SOLAR NATUR
from 107,39 €
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JBL PROFLORA m502
Plant fertiliser system with refillable cylinder and night switch-off
from 271,71 €
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JBL PROFLORA Direct
High performance direct diffuser for CO2
from 28,23 €
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JBL Aquarium Thermometer Slim
Slim glass thermometer for aquariums
from 7,09 €
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JBL PROTEMP S 200
Heating for aquariums, 200 W safety heater-stat with protective basket
from 37,18 €
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JBL FLOATY II
Floating glass cleaning magnet for aquariums
from 18,11 €
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The animal stock for the rocky reef aquarium

The following animals suit your Lake Malawi aquarium:

Yellow lab

Labidochromis caeruleus

5 animals

Demasoni cichlid

Pseudotropheus demasoni

5 animals

Dwarf Lake Syno

Synodontis lucipinnis

3 animals

Tiger snails

Neritina sp.

8 animals

Video about the setup of the JBL Malawi Rocks®

In an 8 minute video we show you how the completed aquarium will look like and how to set it up step by step

How to maintain your rocky reef aquarium

Water change

Every 2 weeks 1/3 partial water change with substrate cleaner JBL PROCLEAN AQUA EX 45-70 .

Plant care

If the Giant Vallis plants become too long and start taking away too much light from the water surface, the leaves need to be pruned or removed. Please remove dying or wilting leaves – this can be easily done with long scissors ( JBL PROSCAPE TOOLS S CURVED ).

Fertilisation plan

Add weekly 15 ml liquid fertiliser ( JBL PROFLORA Ferropol ).

CO2 application in Lake Malawi Aquariums

CO2 system is also useful in this aquarium type, even if it’s something almost nobody talks about. With a lack of CO2 a phenomenon occurs where plants start to extract CO2 from the carbonate hardness of the water. As a result, the carbonate hardness decreases and lime deposits form on the plant leaves (key word: biogenic decalcification; for more information see Water values ). With the use of a CO2 system you can prevent this problem arising, keep the carbonate hardness stable and promote plant growth that is plain to see.

Maintenance time per week

30 minutes.

How often do you need to empty and to clean the complete aquarium?

Your JBL Malawi Rocks® can stay healthy and beautiful for many years with the care described above. Redecorating your aquarium a few years later is no problem.

Feeding

2-3 x daily as much as the fish can eat in 3 minutes.

Food
JBL NovoMalawi
Main food flakes for algae-eating cichlids
from 7,31 €
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JBL NovoGranoMix
Main food for medium-sized and large aquarium fish
from 10,41 €
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JBL Krill
Premium main food flakes for all aquarium fish
from 4,98 €
More View product

Experiencing the habit up close

A JBL expedition has already taken us to Lake Malawi in East Africa. In our report you can find out what research findings our team brought back with them and the many photos will give you an impression about the beauty of this habitat above and under water.

Expedition 2006 - South Africa and Lake Malawi

From 7.09.06 - 23.09.06 the JBL Research team traveled to Africa with specialists from Germany, Holland, South Africa and Switzerland. The program focused on aquaristic research and SharkProject and Dr. Erich Ritter’s shark school.

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