Journaling Rescape/Stocking 30gal Holding Tank for Mbuna - Input Welcome

[erikmoseley]

Since you said waste....With that many rocks in the aquarium their poop with find it's way around the rocks base and if holy rocks in the holes. A good flow and good cleaning is a must...Just keep that in mind. I have seen friends with gin clear water and when I asked them to move a few rocks poop starts flying out like missiles. I cut down on the rocks I had and switch it around a bit....At the same token find other means of having shelter for them. sometimes they find a place that you dont want them in. One of my yellow labs loves sitting in the powerhead when I shut it down for their feeding. After he eats he goes inside. I always have to check that he is not inside before I flip it back on.

You want the aquarium to have a nice structures for your cichlids but at the same time easy for you to clean and keep up. Once it becomes a chore, the love for the hobby ends fast. Good luck.....

I agree. My old tank. Pic 1 below had tons of strategically placed smaller mixed rocks that were a pain to clean because I hated trying to rebuild. So with my new tank pic 2 I went with BIG river rock that's easy to randomly take out and put back to clean or look for a potentially sick or missing fish. Still have crevices and caves.

Either way best tip I ever got was to use a small powerhead as a hand tool right before water change and blow out in between all the rocks. Gets all poop up in air and in filters and for you to suck out as tank drains.

 

[erikmoseley]

 

[jhawk__]

Nice tanks everyone! A agree with you guys. I don't want lots and lots of rocks that is hard to clean. I'd like to keep it simple.

Where do you all get your rock from? Online, lfs, or find it yourself. I've been looking at Texas holey rock on eBay but it's very expensive to ship and I've already spent a lot rescaping the tank to the way it is.

 

[molliwopp]

Nice tank! Infact most of the tanks posted are really awesome from erikmoseley too!

This looks like the perfect home, so much space! Is that a 125?

Rocks are really expensivr if you cant source them outside of the aquarium trade. Which you should try to do. I dont know what they call garden centres over there. A place that sells outdoor things like ponds, plants, garden furnature ect is a good place to look

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[jhawk__]

Found a nice 9lb, 12 inch piece of holey rock on a website that I can get for $37 shipped. Good or bad deal? I just feel it's pricey for a rock.

 

[erikmoseley]

It's 5$ a lb local in my pet store in Massachusetts. And btw u can still use your driftwood. I like it! In your smaller tank look into Maine doing species only with like a group of 13 saulosi. 2 males and 10 females. Good colors and stay small. One of few where males and females are both bright an colorful but look different.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1

 

[jhawk__]

It's 5$ a lb local in my pet store in Massachusetts. And btw u can still use your driftwood. I like it! In your smaller tank look into Maine doing species only with like a group of 13 saulosi. 2 males and 10 females. Good colors and stay small. One of few where males and females are both bright an colorful but look different.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1

Yeah, I don't think a piece of rock is worth paying $37 for. It just seems pricey. I'll have to find a different kind.

Like I said, lfs doesn't have a super huge variety of mbuna so I doubt they'll have the fish in your link,very good looking fish though. They sound like a perfect match.

 

[erikmoseley]

Yeah, I don't think a piece of rock is worth paying $37 for. It just seems pricey. I'll have to find a different kind.

Like I said, lfs doesn't have a super huge variety of mbuna so I doubt they'll have the fish in your link,very good looking fish though. They sound like a perfect match.

I know but maybe if ordering all at once the shipping would not be bad. All the ones you'll be able to get at petco will outgrow that tank rather quickly. I have 1.5 inch fish on 90 gallon. That are already showing aggression. Finding a good dwarf mbuna u like and ordering online is your best bet I'd say. It's a good start off point.

 

[erikmoseley]

If ordering all at once though ship shouldn't be too bad. Any fish available at petco will likely outgrow tht tank quick. My lil 1.5 inch mbuna are already aggressive. I'd find a dwarf mbuna I like and get a colony of that one. That way comparability isn't a huge issue and they don't get big. It's a good starting point. Then when u get big tank you can reevaluate.

 

[jhawk__]

I just think shipping fish would be so stressful for the little guys though.

 

[erikmoseley]

I hear you nice never done it as I'm lucky locally. But there's awesome stores that have good reps. Daves rare, cichlids are special, wet spot.

 

[jhawk__]

I hear you nice never done it as I'm lucky locally. But there's awesome stores that have good reps. Daves rare, cichlids are special, wet spot.

Lucky you lol. The one mom and pop store used to have very nice fish but I think they're starting to go out of business and just don't order the fancy, less common ones anymore.

Might try out another store down the road a little way and check out what they've got. Might be worth the drive. If all else fails, I might have to consider ordering offline...

 

[Rare]

Nice tank! Infact most of the tanks posted are really awesome from erikmoseley too!

This looks like the perfect home, so much space! Is that a 125?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Correct. Like I said I had plenty of rocks and it was a pain to get to there poop. Before the change it was looking like this.

Every so often when doing a clean up I will change it around and sometimes take it all down. Once I start adding more cichlids, I will add more rocks back but finally found a place where I can hand pick them. Dont go crazy, get small-med rocks and work them up around. Trust me it will be better in the long run as big rock will eat up vol. lvls of water and less space to work with since they take a big chunk of real estate

If you live in Texas and know where to go it's free. lol They get them for penny's on the lbs. I had plenty of white holey rocks but wanted something with more rawand aged color to the rock. I found the seller decoymaker01 on ebay and cut a deal with him. I had 4 big boxes of rocks....Mailman wasnt happy at all...

 

[jhawk__]

To bad I don't live in Texas lol. Uhg this is much more complicated than I would've thought. I've been searching the web for 30 mins now and can't find a good deal on rock.

 

[Rare]

Start looking local to where you live & check what they have. (think - nursery for plants & landscape etc) Again, if on ebay, send a PM to the person and ask if they will give you a deal if you buy "X" amount of rocks.

 

[jhawk__]

I'll definitely check into some local garden/landscaping stores. Great idea!!

 

[fishyfriends3]

I get all my rock from local garden and landscape stores. River rocks look really good as in erikmoseley tanks.

 

[erikmoseley]

That's where I got them! Probably about $60-80 for the rock in this one. Keep in mind there's a whole base layer under sand unseen as well.

 

[jhawk__]

That's a reasonable price...considering the one I was looking at was only 1 rock and was half the price of all yours. Lol

 

[jhawk__]

Just a random question, can I keep convicts with mbuna? Or are they to aggressive? I know convicts can be little butt heads.