hmmm . . interesting idea.
sort of a home made pre filter for the pump. maybe 2 or 3 might work

"kush" wrote in message
...
I have a suggestion that may work for you, although I haven't done this on
anything larger than a 20 gallon tank - most of my smaller tanks are
unfiltered. Anything much over 30 gallons I do prefer to use some
mechanical
filtration.

I use a simple water pump ($5 at Agway) in a chamber in the center of the
tank with enough medium gravel to be level with, but not cover, the
opening.
Over the pump, resting on the surface of the gravel, I place a stone
ring -
I don't know what they're called; it's like a reddish molded stone? both
my
lfs and Petco always has them- entirely wrapped with java moss tied on
with
fishing line. The stone becomes colonized with bacteria. The pump pulls
the water through the gravel bed and pushes it through the java
moss-wrapped
bio ring. It's very effective, at least on the scale I've used it.

I don't have much experience with cichlids other than angels, but I've
found, and heard from others, that they pretty much ignore java moss. You
might also want to try Sagittaria subulata (even though it's western
hemisphere). Once established it will tolerate an incredible amount of
physical abuse and contributes disproportionately toward maintaining water
quality. I'd plant a really large, well-rooted clump to get it started,
though, as individual plants are prone to being dislodged by lively fish.

Plan on doing LOTS of water changes and I don't think you'll need to give
any unusual consideration to stocking levels. Good luck.

kush

LeighMo wrote in message
...
no filtration? Good luck.... fish poop... it needs to be cleaned..
filtered... whatever.... it's possible to have a non-filtered tank...
but
you can't put many fish in it... 5 maybe for a 75g....

I guess that's what the plants are for. But I think this will be a very
difficult project. A Walstead-style tank with Africans...

An
alternative would be to put 5 males of different families, and no
females...
that arrangement will only have a pecking order fight, maybe once, or
twice... and after it's established, no more fights...

That's an interesting idea. It would be pretty, but not very natural.
And I'd
worry about the tank being big enough for this. Malawi cichlids tend to
get
big. One 4" fish produces a lot more waste than four 1" fish. I
wouldn't
want
to keep several large fish without filtration. Plus, you'd need a much
larger
tank than you ordinarily would, if you're trying to go with no
filtration.
For
many Malawi species, 75 gallons is the minimum even with filtration.
Perhaps a
single breeding pair of some small, peaceful, monogamous species would
be
better? (Not that I can think of any at the moment. :-)

btw, Leigh is probably the foremost authority on plants around here...
99x
out of 100, if she says it, you can put your money on it...

Wow, thanks! But I'm sure that honor goes to the likes of Chuck or Tom.
I
just post more. :-D


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/