Hi FD,
I think at the beginning of all the problems we had 24 fish or varying sizes (2.5" to around 5") so it was fairly heavily stocked. I think the honest truth is that we just didn't change the water frequently enough and thats what caused the initial problems.
the tank has been running for around 7 months now and we've not added anything for about 12 weeks now I should think. I stocked it quite quickly and regularly (approx 3 fish per week) with a view to leaving it for around a year before thinking of maybe a redecoration and some new fish.
I think it seems obvious I could have avoided all this by more regular maintenance or at least being able to recognise the signs of things getting drastic.
As the tank stands now, we've added Nutrafin Cycle to help boost the filter, replaced half (one basket in a four stage ext. filter) with Fluval BioMax, we've also added cichlid aquarium salts... Any other hints, or just keep an eye on levels and fingers crossed ?
Thanks everyone for the help and for not being nasty to me for getting myself and the poor fish into this situation.
I think tbh, it's a case of waiting it out now.
Although I still have an urge to go back to Malawi's, the thing that has me debating is the constant water changes to keep on top of the Nitrates. Water constantly lying around airing prior to water changes.
Never had any problems with my Mbuna at all, they where fantastic, even when my nitrates did creep up.
I also never played around with their PH, mine's was around 7.4 and I had them happily breeding regularly.
FD