Something wrong with my cichlid?

[NyteGTI]

How many is a nice number for a 75 gallon? I have about 25-26. I'm hearing I can add more. Plus I'm running 2 filters. And do regular WC and test everyday (OCD) I have it bad. I also feel they have a lot of hiding places. Pics are in my profile.

I'd really like to add more. Oh an I have 2 catfish. 1 upside down and 1 cuckoo.

Dino,

I've got 17 cichlids, a gourami, a RTS, and some snails in my 55 and I'm probably (if I can keep them alive!!) going to keep 3-4 yellow lab fry & that will complete my tank more or less. If they get killed/die ill let them try again until I can keep some.

you've got some pretty solid filtration but jmedic is right, if you want 35+ fish (or something of that nature) you're gonna need a sump. good news is you can use one section as a refugium for any holding females

How have your water parameters been lately? have you been steadily at 0/0/20-40?

Ryan

 

[Convict2161]

Hey Ryan,

My friend has a fluval 400 is that too much? Also has a 303. I'm totally new to these. Are they hard to set up? They sit under my tank in the stand right?

I got the itch now.

Not sure how it works though. Never had dealings with a canister. It just hangs over the edge? Do I still run the HOB's?

 

[Malawi Freak]

Once you switch to a canister you will never want a HOB again.

 

[Convict2161]

Once you switch to a canister you will never want a HOB again.

Are they hard to set up? I know nothing about them or what size to get. Do I run the HOB's for a while since the canister is new? I really have no clue.

 

[NyteGTI]

They shouldn't be too complicated... What's the GPH rating on the 400 & 303. that will determine wether they're too big or not. but in the cichlid world it's a lot like the SW world, turning your water 15 times and hour isn't a problem for most of them. I stay closer to 12turns / hour in my setup but im still HOB as my main focus has been my nano reef lately.

 

[Malawi Freak]

They are extremely easy. Some people say it takes a couple hours to set up but I think they are usually new to the fish world. All you have is a tube to suck up the water and a return line. The toughest part is deciding how short to cut the lines. I always tell people leave them a little long in case you ever want to move it or upgrade to a bigger tank. (I had my 305 on my 29g then put it on the 125 and the return hose is about 2" shorter than I would have liked)

 

[Convict2161]

They shouldn't be too complicated... What's the GPH rating on the 400 & 303. that will determine wether they're too big or not. but in the cichlid world it's a lot like the SW world, turning your water 15 times and hour isn't a problem for most of them. I stay closer to 12turns / hour in my setup but im still HOB as my main focus has been my nano reef lately.

The 400 just says 400 gallons. What should I look for? I have a nice credit at Petsmart and John will hook me up. He has at the moment fluval 303 and 400

 

[Convict2161]

There's a Fluval 405 says 340GPH.

 

[NyteGTI]

well if it's saying it's good enough to filter 400 gallons I'm thinking it should be fine for your 75G "overstocked" cichlid tank in the future. research on how they work & what's involved as it's not just a plug in & go thing like the HOB filters are.

this is a fluval FX5 right? those are the fluvals rated for 400G.

 

[Convict2161]

well if it's saying it's good enough to filter 400 gallons I'm thinking it should be fine for your 75G "overstocked" cichlid tank in the future. research on how they work & what's involved as it's not just a plug in & go thing like the HOB filters are.

this is a fluval FX5 right? those are the fluvals rated for 400G.

Yes it's the FX5 and John will hook me up. Wondering if I should pull the trigger and go for it. What do I do with the HOB's let them run? They have all the BB right?

The 303 does 130gph if I do this I wanna do it right. So what's my best option?

EDIT:

He has the FX5 in stock!!

 

[Lady_Alia]

Can you over filter?

I have 2 hob filters on each of my 55s. My frontosa tank has 2 penguin 350 bio wheel filters that turn the water over 12.7x per hour. My Skittles tank has a penguin 350 biowheel filter and a whisper power filter and they turn the water over 12.3x per hour. With that turnover I should be good right? Along with my weekly water changes.

 

[joejeff]

25 should have the aggression spread out. If aggression is still issue then water temp needs to ne lowered or the tank needs to be rearranged more often... I wouldn't try anymore fish... Just.me though.

 

[Convict2161]

25 should have the aggression spread out. If aggression is still issue then water temp needs to ne lowered or the tank needs to be rearranged more often... I wouldn't try anymore fish... Just.me though.

Temp is 78 and my OCD has me changing the tank A LOT!! So far I rearrange the tank 3 times. But I had 1 death. Like others have said. Could have been a fluke, maybe a sick fish to begin with from the LFS. The answer may never be known.

It's not like the whole tank wants to kill each other. For the most part everyone gets along from what I see.

EDIT:

Also feed them every other day. I'm interested in these canister filters. Just not sure which one is best.

 

[Jmedic25]

I contribute the 4 deaths I had last month to stress from rearranging my deco too much. I had done it about 7 times plus a substrate change in the first month after cycle. I think this caused stress which caused bloat. FWIW its all an opinion of mine...But there was no other cause for the bloat. I can tell you that you cant hurt anything by NOT messing with your deco. The fluval is a great filter. FWIW if your a DIY guy, you can get some powerful BB filtration by building a sump...A million different ways but this one is neat...I dont like the overflow setup but I really like the sump in this one.

 

[joejeff]

This is a fairly pop design it seems seen a few if these on YouTube. Wat I want to know is how to get water out of tank w/o drilling... I am anti- drilling... I want to add a sump to my 75. Wonder why sump is where a lot of folks put heatr

 

[Convict2161]

I don't have the money right now for a good canister or the DIY knowledge to do the sump so I just upgraded one filter to another AC 110. So now in running 2 Aquaclear 110's on my 75.



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View attachment 64485

 

[Jmedic25]

This is a fairly pop design it seems seen a few if these on YouTube. Wat I want to know is how to get water out of tank w/o drilling... I am anti- drilling... I want to add a sump to my 75. Wonder why sump is where a lot of folks put heatr

I dont want to hijack Convicts thread. But what your use in place of drilling is a skimmer box and overflow box.