Very excited to have discovered this hobby!

[acnuno25]

Hello, all! This obsession began with a little 6 gallon eclipse in my office and 3 angelfish--I moved from fake plants to real (I had terrific luck!). I had a tank when I was a teenager - goldfish, with an undergravel filter--not the best smelling but the new filters are incredible!

So, a few days ago I was speaking with a client about wanting to purchase a large one for my home, and he told me he had a 3 year old 40 gallon bowfront and all new accessories - and he sold it to me for $100--I was up at 4:30 this a.m. working on it!

So here is what I have: a 40 gallon, glass bowfront tank, an Empire filter, a 200 watt Rena heater, and of course a Rena air pump.

I chose Caribsea Tropic white sand because my home is in tropic, plus I love salt water fish but wouldn't dare go there yet. I rinsed it in a large pan, only 2 pounds at a time, I used 60 pounds total so there is about an inch and a half layer at the bottom. The tank of course is very cloudy, as the sand is fine. Any idea as to when it will clear up, or things I can do to help it out? Should I be running the filter? I've heard they can get broken - but my intake is high enough from the bottom so it wouldn't pick up clumps of it... second question is one that I get different answers everyone I ask - If I've placed a start up bacteria and a dechlorifyer into the tank, how long before I can place fish into it? and finally, last question--I'd like to put cichlids into the tank...in one that large, could I also put angelfish? How many fish can I have?

Thank you for anyone's help!

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to the site!!!

What a great deal you got on all that stuff.

The sand will settle over time, just give it a little bit. Since all your equipment is new, there's no point really in running the filter just yet, give the sand a day or so to settle out first.

What "start-up bacteria" are you talking about using? Almost all of the stuff you get from the LFS for instant cycling is junk and won't work. There's 1 exception, Bio-Spira, but even it's hit or miss. I highly recommend you read this article before doing anything.

Depending on the type of cichlids you want, most likely mixing them with angelfish isn't a great idea. Most cichlids are aggressive, and angelfish are much more laid back, so it's not a good mix usually.

 

[acnuno25]

Cichlids...

The kind I want are the bright yellow and bright purple - I'm trying to mimic a salterwater tank here...what size should I buy them, and how many? I'd like a really active, fun tank...

Yes, wasn't that an incredible deal? But do you suggest switching out the biowheel to new ones, or are the existing ones ok?

And the hood only has one light, but I'd like to create lighting that makes a "glow" effect - any suggestions there? Thank You!

 

[melosu58]

Sorry I dont know much about Brackish water but just wanted to say welcome to the site. Glad you are aboard.

 

[neilanh]

Cichlids arent brackish, so I think we're set there.

The cichlids you mentioned wouldn't go well with angelfish. If you read up on them, they can be quite aggressive and need to be kept only with other cichlids.

I assume the biowheel is all dried out now. If that's the case, I would start with all new, fresh media for the filtration.

If you want to add some "pop" to the colors in your fish, you could look into getting a second lighting fixture and using an actinic bulb. While these bulbs are really for SW use, theres no harm running them on FW tanks and they do help to pop the colors out of your fish.

 

[roka64]

Welcome to the site!

 

[FishEggs]

HI acnuno25. welcome to the forum. That's an incredible deal. Be sure to read the sticky Getting Started in the freshwater forum. it helps a lot of those beginner questions.

 

[warped1]

I just wanted to welcome you to Aquarium Advice - the people here are great and I am sure the will guide you through your setup with minimum discomfort - Patience and Time are the key ingredients to any successful tank

 

[cmor1701d]

The sand will settle as it gets coated with bacteria. That makes the grains just havy enough yo settle instead of staying in suspension. If you are runing your filter during this time you need to take it apart and clean it when everything is settled. Grains of sand can get into the moving parts and cause premature wear if you don't wash them out of there. Good luck with your new obsession and ....

 

[Ziggy953]

Welcom to AA!

 

[JustOneMore20]

Welcome to AA! Glad you found us!

Cichlids arent brackish, so I think we're set there.

The cichlids you mentioned wouldn't go well with angelfish. If you read up on them, they can be quite aggressive and need to be kept only with other cichlids.

I assume the biowheel is all dried out now. If that's the case, I would start with all new, fresh media for the filtration.

If you want to add some "pop" to the colors in your fish, you could look into getting a second lighting fixture and using an actinic bulb. While these bulbs are really for SW use, theres no harm running them on FW tanks and they do help to pop the colors out of your fish.

I totally agree. The cichlids you are describing and African Mbuna and they have totally different attitudes and feeding needs than Angelfish. They need to be kept in a dedicated African Malawi tank.

You definitely need to get your Angels out of the 6g and a 40g is small for Mbuna. They really need atleast a 75g tank to have a good mix and cut down on aggression. There are some that would be ok in a smaller species tank, but then you wouldn't get variety.

There are many fish that you could mix with your Angels that would still be colorful. Many schooling fish would be fine and you'd have a wide variety of colors to choose from. For the bottom, Cories are fun fish that are cool to watch.

I see you already have the sand, but you may find its a bit too light colored. Light colored sand shows every piece of leftover food and waste, but it could motivate you clean it more often...haha. I know it does me.


As for how many fish you can have, people will have different opinions I'm sure. If you want to center the tank around the Angels, then you could choose 1 to 2 schools of fish (1 school of 15 or so or 2 schools of 7-8) and then something for the bottom, like a shoal of 10 Cories. After that, you should have some room for a Bristlenose Pleco (if you like those) or a group of Otocinclus (once the tank cycles and is stable for awhile).

Whether you put your Angels in this tank or not (assuming you still have them?) is up to you, but they can't stay in a 6g...they grow far too large for that little tank.