My mbuna tank has a capacity of 500 liters - 125 gals (150x50x65 cm). It is filtered by two external cannister filters and two internal sponge filters (total 3600 L/h), and lighted by 7x40 W fluorescent tubes of various brands and colors. I always use two Penn Plax Ultra Tri-lux tubes and the others are either Penn Plax Tri-Lux or normal greenhouse lamps (PHILIPS Aquarelle or OSRAM Flora) to reduce the cost. The lamps are changed once every year, not all together but one every month. The average lighting is more than 0,5 Watts per liter. UV sterilization is also in line (two 8-watt units from Aquanetics) to the external filters and stay on for 8 hours daily. It also has a CO2 injection system, which consists of a 2.5 Kg (5 lbs) CO2 canister, regulator and silicon tubing (the normal airline may lose as much as 50% of the carbon dioxide injected). There is a bubble counter on this system and a CO2 diffuser which was later removed because I found a more effective way to increase the dissolution of dioxide in the water. I drilled a hole in the intake of the external filter and attached the end of the silicon tube connected to the CO2 cylinder. Thus, the carbon dioxide is forced to travel in the water stream for many meters, get in the canister where it is dissolved and then is returned in the tank. There is also enriched gravel and continuous pH monitoring. Typical water parameters are Temp 26-30C (the latter in the summer when four ventilators are pointed parallel to the water surface to increase water evaporation and cool the tank a bit), pH 8.3 (before the injection), GH 10° and KH 14°. Maintenance routines include a 50% water change every week, and regular additives such as liquid plant fertilizer, aquarium salt, baking soda, and others. Among the fish species are Melanochromis auratus, Melanochromis chipokae, Melanochromis johanni, Metriaclima lombardoi, Cynotilapia mbamba, Labidochromis caeruleus, Choirorynchus acanthopsis and Pterigoplichtys multiradiatus. Lately, a trio of Haplochromis nyererei was donated by a fellow hobbyist . Plants include Echinodorus bleheri, Anubia barteri, Anubia nana, Cryptocorine willissii and Hygrophila corymbosa. Needless to say, there have been quite a few other species which were initially tried but they didn't make it, either because of mbuna consumption (Egeria densa) or the water conditions.

I think that the best advice with this sort of tank would be to take care of the fish and not the plants - this is rule number one and should be followed strictly. I do my CO2 injections with the eye on the pH meter. The starting pH is 8.2-8,3, the KH of the tank is 14° (which means a very big capacity for CO2 without dramatic changes in the pH) and I wait till the pH drops to 7,6 over a four hour period. Then I stop the injection and let the pH come back to 8.2 (it takes another 8 hours to do so). This is the normal day cycle. I always have heavy aeration with the internal filters pointing at the surface, even during the actual injection of CO2.

When the tank was initially started I used a mix of teralite / gravel 1:3. Actually it took 35 Kg of teralite and 100 Kg of gravel to get the 4 inch substrate I wanted. I used some plant pellet fertilizer buried next to the roots (Tetra Crypto tablets) for the first 6 months after setup and then stopped it. The plants in the tank will not thrive. They will have a steady growth, which is enough to compensate for the consumption of leaves by the mbuna. Mbuna when fed correctly, should always starve in order to be active, spawn and display their beautiful intense colors. The recommended feeding is small quantities every other day. This means that in the "non feeding" day, almost all mbunas will attack algae and plants. They will eat egeria densa (except the top of it, which is regularly replanted when the rest of the plant is consumed), will eat Amazon swordplants, Vallisneria gigantea (yes, they will eat that, too), Hygrophila corymbosa (which grows much quicker than mbuna can consume). They will even nibble on anubias (to a far lesser degree). The only plants they will not attack is cryptocorine and nymphaea lotus.

If such a tank is to be aesthetically pleasing and safe for the fish, one needs to spend much more time on it than with a regular tank. You must remove eaten leaves at least twice per week and clean filter intakes every other day. Strong filtration is essential (at least 4-5 times the water volume per hour) and an established biological filtration of outmost importance. All plants should be planted with their pots (if supplied) or else secure them in place with rocks, big enough for the mbuna. It is even better to create "rock pots" fill them with gravel and whatever else you want to add (teralite, laterite etc) and then add the plant. It is a very good thing if you can decorate your tank before adding the fish. If you can allow some time for the plants to establish it will pay off later since the growth will be enough to compensate for eating. Another point is to use fast growing plants, able to survive and grow (not thrive) in a pH around 8 and a GH around 10°. The exception is anubias, which are not eaten so they will grow in peace, they will even produce flowers every now and then. Intense photosynthesis will be observed for about 4 hours You should also take into account the need for shelter for your mbuna and plan your tank correctly from the beginning. Please note that this is not the only setup that will work with plants. This setup guarantees that more plant species will grow and the overall look will be like a "Dutch" aquarium

Another setup is used for Malawi Haps in a 1.300 liter tank - also planted. Here I kept things simpler. I selected plants already existing and growing in my 500 liter tank (accustomed to extremes like pH=8.3 and GH=10°) and used them in the big tank. There is no carbon dioxide injection, not much lighting (usually less than 0,25 Watt per liter, Hagen Aqua Glo tubes) and no fertilizer in the substrate which is plain sand. Take my word for it. Anubias will be fine, Cryptocorines will thrive, Amazons will grow slowly but steadily and Vallisnerias will be eaten all the time (this has to do with the particular species I keep I guess). The tank is running for a year now and all plants are doing well (see photo 3). A tip for interesting aquascapes is to locate the plants between rocks. This gives a far more natural appearance (and the Africans can't remove them). Anubias will stick on rocks and create interesting spots with juvenile fish finding shelter among the roots . The non-mbuna tanks has Nimbochromis polystigma, Nimbochromis livingstoni, Nimbochromis venustus, Cyrtocara moorii, Chilotilapia euchilus, Buccochromis nototaenia, Aulonocara stuartgranti, Protomelas taeniolatus, Protomelas steveni Taiwan reef, Placidochromis electra, Copadicrhomis azureus, Sciaenochromis fryeri and Nyassachromis boadzulu. Scavengers include Choiroryncus acanthopsis, Pterygoplichtys multiradiatus, Synodonits decorus and Synodontis multipunctatus. Plants include Hygropila corymbosa, Anubia barteri, Anubia nana, Echinodorus bleheri and Cryptocorine willissii. My Valissneria gigantea is consumed to the roots.

In this photo, there is a carrying Melanochromis auratus (she released two days later) hiding in the dense vegetation of my tank (here is a Cryptocorine secies, while the plant in the foreground is an Amazon swordplant). In this vegetation (which can very nicely substitute rockwork in your tank) the fish feel secure and relaxed since they can easily avoid the other females or males. If you watch this picture closer you will even see a 40 days old Melanochromis chipokae to her right. The small fish, in an empty tank would be readily chased if not killed on the spot by the carrying mother or during the spawning procedure. Here it can stay within 5 cm from the mother and be invisible. Bear in mind that these are two of the most aggressive species available in the hobby - most aquarists clearly avoid them for community Malawi tanks. Both, when grown adults, will fiercely attack fish double their size. That is the reason for many hiding places in such tanks and plants provide lots of them. You will need the rocks because most mbuna will just choose them for spawning but you don't need them as hiding places. You may arrange your tank chemistry to suit that of your fish and let the plants find their own way. You will be amazed to see how easily some plant species adapt to these conditions. Carbon dioxide injections should be performed very carefully. The elevated pH of the tank is needed for the fish therefore a continuous supply of CO2 is not recommended. Heavily planted mbuna aquariums are the exception rather than the rule and this is because vegetation in their original habitat is not dense at all. However, the mbuna most of us buy are born in captivity and, as a hobbyist once said, "they wouldn't recognize Malawi habitat even if someone dropped them in the Lake". This is true and I can ensure you that the fish will live happily and spawn readily in such a tank. Survival rate will be also high since the fry can hide for the first couple of months when they are more vulnerable, still enough food will come to them because of the water movement. It is not uncommon to get 40% survival rates even in this crowded tank.

Another reason for a planted aquarium is the removal of toxins, most importantly nitrates. Though biological filtration transforms ammonia to nitrites and then nitrates (much less toxic than ammonia) still there is nothing to remove nitrates from the tank (hence the need for frequent water changes). The addition of plants reduces that need because they will use nitrates as food.