Hey guys, I have been thinking about adding some sort of loach or catfish to my malawi cichlid tank....However im not sure what to get. I had two pleco at one point but they were eaten by the cichlids. I would love to add loaches but i realize that its not exactly a natural selection and their water parameters wouldnt exactly match. let me know what species you would recommend to add.

I keep plecos, clown, skunk,dojo,royal loaches, yoyo botia, 3 cory cats with my cichlids they do just fine. If you have enough hiding spots you shoulden't have a problem. As far as water conditions. I have yet to have one croak on me for that reason. I have snails growing in my underfilter that occasionally get out the loaches take quick care of them. You could also add some synodontis cats. They use cichlids to carry their fry. Here are a few pictures.
Synodontis cats:


Yoyo Loach:

Huge common pleco and lemon jake.

You might try a school of clown loaches....people have succsess keeping them with Mbuna and other African Cichlids....just make sure you get a good sized group of at least 4+

yeah but clown loaches get huge, im not sure i would want really large loach. Thanks for the ideas though guys.

Uh....clown loaches do get fairly large, but they are very slow growers...especially compared to most Malawi Cichlids...I'd be more concerned about my cichlid getting too large than a clown loach

i think most of my cichlids have hit their peak since some of them are adults now. I think i have decided on dojo or horse face loaches and probably 1 or 2 pleco species. I chose those loaches because I remember having had them in the past and how they loved to dig themselves in the substrate, which is kind of what i am looking for. I will have to see what my lfs has.

red-tailed blue botias/loaches are really awesome and are great in african tanks.

be careful with the horse-faces... i'm not sure if hard water is what they prefer (i thought they were more of a soft water fish.. but you know.. in todays aquarium world it seems less and less of an issue)

I agree. I keep all my fish in soft water. I have a water softner. My water is at 8.0 ph every time I use it. So all I have to do is add a little stress reducer, and it's ok. My african cichlids breed, and my oddballs thrive.

african cichlids are supposed to live in hard alkaline water. 8.0-8.2 or higher is ideal for them. I am talking of adding some sort of bottom feeder to compliment my lake malawi tank not change the tank. thanks for everyones help.

i didn't say to change your water.. i was saying the horse face loaches may not thrive in your hard water.....