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im switching my 75g tank from a mbuna tank to a dwarf tank. as far as lacking personality i think this needs to be explained a little. they dont LACK personality as a fish, they are like every other cichlid they are packed with it. with that understand you have to realise that with mbuna and tangs the advice most often given is to over crowd the tank. this will lower agression so none of the fish get killed. now the downfall with this method is you can toss individial personality right out the window. they no longer act as one and shine with natural behavior, they swim back and forth in a mass and never seem to have a destination. they just wait for food and hope not to bump into each other when waiting. this is why im getting out of them, i like to look at a tank where fish act as fish not 100 starving children rushing the icecream truck.
im not gona try to talk you into or out of any decision you have made because if your anything like me you wanna find out yourself no matter what others say. so with that i wish you luck and hope you get what your looking for in the switch.

Sin

I am with jimmy here africans are boring fish but we cant stop you from converting! haha

Tanganyikan cichlids have every bit as much personality as any South or Central American cichlid. I've never kept Malawians, so I can't comment on them (they're pretty, but I'm guessing they are the Africans Jimmy is referring to).

Eric

dont do it... americans are much better, africans are personalityless drones that arnt nearly as good looking as your texas... that said im not telling you what to do thats up to you but dont do it if you are looking for fish with personality

I don't think you'll need to change lights, but you might need new gravel. Generally africans prefer small-sized substrate so the can dig. Sand is good and looks nice too. You can also use something like crushed coral or shell, this will help raise and buffer the ph. Then the most important thing is getting plenty of rocks, filling the tank with caves if you are going for mbuna, leaving some open swimming space if you are going for haps or peacocks. Tangs should be pretty similar as well, I think. Then it's just a matter of figuring out which fish you want!

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde