55 gal Cichlid tank

[daltonxj]

I am setting up my 55 gal tank for Cichlid. got a few questions..

1. what is the best substrait for them?
2. best plants for the tank
3. temp for the water to be when getting ready to place them in the tank.


I have my API test kit I will be posting the status this afternoon of the latest test...


thank you

 

[cbourg746]

What kind of cichlids do you want to keep?

 

[daltonxj]

African Cichlids!!

will be live plants and drift wood also

 

[Rlavassor86]

I prefer sand. It's easier to clean and the cichlids love sand as they love digging. Also for that reason you may or may not have luck keeping live plants. Some people have been successful, while others like me can't even keep my fake plants buried cus they dig so much. Temp around 75-78 I keep mine right around 76-77. If you go with Africans I would also suggest building quite a few rock caves for them as lake Malawi is a rocky and sandy bottom. It will help to keep them happy. Also using rocks like limestone will help keep ph up. Africans like ph between like 8-8.5 some even higher. Also rocks help keep your water hard as well.

 

[Convict2161]

African Cichlids!!

will be live plants and drift wood also

I wouldn't do plants. Some have and have had success and some, including myself have not. I have a TON of Anubias and java fern. Once they matures all my plants became toys and they tore them all up. Driftwood would work.

It all depends on the kind of look your going for, natural look like from where they come from would be a lot of rocks and caves etc. or do what's appealing to you.

Here's my 75g African cichlid tank. I went with a natural look but something I liked. Not really what you would see them in, in the wild but hey... You have to look at it so it has to both functional for them and easy on your eye.

 

[Rlavassor86]

I agree, DW is fine but in my experience rocks work a lot better for building smaller caves for the less dominant fish to hide in if they are being chased. I keep DW in my cichlid tank too because I like how it looks and for my pleco.

 

[daltonxj]

So sand it is I heard the play sand from home depot works? is that correct?

what about rocks can I use rocks from home depot like flat rocks they have?

 

[Rlavassor86]

So sand it is I heard the play sand from home depot works? is that correct?

what about rocks can I use rocks from home depot like flat rocks they have?

Yea play sand works. Also if you like black sand I use black diamond blasting sand. Bout 8 bucks for 50 pounds. Yea I use a lot of flat rocks. I get all mine from a landscaping company. Just wash them really well with boiling water. Don't submerge them in boiling water though as there's a possibility the rocks could explode if there's any air pockets in the rock.

 

[Rlavassor86]

So sand it is I heard the play sand from home depot works? is that correct?

what about rocks can I use rocks from home depot like flat rocks they have?

Also avoid rocks with colors like orange or purple as its usually(not always, but usually) a sign of metals in the rock.

 

[daltonxj]

What about pond pebbles

 

[daltonxj]

Also what about red lava stone?

 

[Rlavassor86]

Also what about red lava stone?

All is ok. Just wash thoroughly. I've got lava rock with my cichlids. Some people advise against it because it can be sharp sometimes and injure fish. I've never had a problem with it though and have always had some in my tank.

The red rock in my profile pic is red lava rock

 

[daltonxj]

What about white limestone?

 

[Rlavassor86]

What about white limestone?

I've got quite a bit of limestone in my tank. It helps to buffer your ph(raises Kh aka as carbonate hardness.) So basically it will help you maintain the hard water conditions that African cichlids are accustomed to in nature.

 

[daltonxj]

Awesome just bought 3 now to wash sand and limestone

 

[phin]

My method for washing rocks doesn't include boiling them. Use a pressure washer (no soap) or a garden hose with a pressure nozzel. Spray out as much dirt and gunk as you can, if necessary. Then put them in a 5 gallon bucket, fill to the top with water and add a tablespoon of Kent's PolyOx (KMnO4). The water will turn purple. After a day everything organic will be oxidized and the water will be yellowish. rinse the rocks in some decholrinated water and place in the tank. It has always worked for me, I've done it multiple times.

 

[daltonxj]

OK waters in Sand is in limestone fixtures in for now...

Now for some pics!!!


Paid $5 for this 55 gallon tank

Setup tank and cleaned and filled with water

Week and a half later sand & limestone features added

 

[daltonxj]

Pics cont.....


Left Limestone feature!

Right Limestone feature!

 

[daltonxj]

well now for a water test....

 

[Crawdaddy]

You might want more rock caves. They provide hiding spots, and also helps to break the line of sight. This helps keep down on aggression. What you have done looks real good, but you just need more of it.