Planted 125G Mbuna Tank

[travis simonson]

Hi guys! I'm new here and thought I would say hello I was just pointed to this forum recently and have been poking around trying to find out where things are. I am very impressed with everything I've found. This is an excellent, well-run site.

I've been keeping African cichlids for several years now and have recently gotten into planted aquaria without getting out of Africans. They make an interesting combination for stubborn people like me - at least I've always got something to do in my aquarium. It's like trying to clean-up after a house-full of hyperactive third-graders who've had too much sugar

Here are a few pics of my 125G planted mbuna tank:

















I keep strictly Malawian mbuna: Labeotropheus fuelleborni, Labidochromis caeruleus 'Lion's Cove', Pseudotropheus demasoni 'Pombo Rocks', and Pseudotropheus sp. Elongatus 'Usisya' F0 Wild-caught. I've got unknown numbers of L. caeruleus and Ps. demasoni fry all over the place right now that are doing great in the community environment, likely due to the large amount of plant cover. I've got a few SAEs and Florida Flag Fish for algae control but the L. fuelleborni are doing such a good job of it that I may be moving them out soon. I've also got one very reclusive L-66 King Tiger Pleco that only comes out when the moonlights are on. Inverts are made up of Malaysian Trumpet Snails, Olive Nerite Snails, and a few Ramshorn Snails that are mainly snacks for my L. caeruleus

Plant species are: Pogostemon stellata (Fine- and Broad-Leaf), Ludwigia glandulosa, Ludwigia brevipes, Cabomba furcata, Rotala macrandra, Didiplis diandra, Limnophila aromatica, Hottonia palustris, Blyxa japonica, Ammania sp. 'Bonsai', Sagittaria weatherbiana, Micranthemum umbrosum, Mayaca sellowiana, Nuphar japonicum v Formosa, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Cyperus helferi, Ranalisma humile, Glossostigma elatinoides, Riccia fluitans, Cryptocoryne balanciaga, Cryptocoryne wendtii (v Tropica', v 'Green Gecko'), Cryptocoryne affinis, Cryptocoryne nurii, Cryptocoryne longicauda, Cryptocoryne blassii, Ceratopteris siliquosa, Echinodorus 'Red Flame', Marsilea quadrifolia, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Anubias barteri v nana, and Anubias barteri v nana 'petite'. Whew! I think that's it right now

The hardscape is all lace rock and a couple of good-sized wood pieces. There are numerous caves and hiding holes all over the place, with new ones being created daily by my crew of cichlids :P

I'm running two Rena XP3 canister filters with Cell-Pore bio-media, JBJ pressurized [acronym:3bac7666df="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:3bac7666df] injection with a Milwaukee pH controller and an AB AquaMedic Reactor 1000, an Aqua 25w [acronym:3bac7666df="Ultra Violet"]UV[/acronym:3bac7666df] sterilizer, and dual Hydor 300w in-line heaters on the filtration side of things. Lighting is 444 watts (2x96w [acronym:3bac7666df="Compact Flourescent"]CF[/acronym:3bac7666df] 10000K, 2x96w [acronym:3bac7666df="Compact Flourescent"]CF[/acronym:3bac7666df] 6700K, and 2x30w [acronym:3bac7666df="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:3bac7666df] 6500K) on a dawn-day-dusk-moonlight cycle.

Water parameters are: Temp 78F, pH 7.2 (low for Africans, but I've slowly acclimated them and they show no ill effects and are, if nothing else, breeding even more prolifically ), [acronym:3bac7666df="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:3bac7666df] 14, [acronym:3bac7666df="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:3bac7666df] 18, [acronym:3bac7666df="Nitrate"]NO3[/acronym:3bac7666df] <8 [acronym:3bac7666df="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:3bac7666df], [acronym:3bac7666df="Phosphate"]PO4[/acronym:3bac7666df] >1.0 [acronym:3bac7666df="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:3bac7666df], [acronym:3bac7666df="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:3bac7666df] 25-30 [acronym:3bac7666df="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:3bac7666df]. I dose with KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, CSM+B, and Flourish Iron using a modified version of Tom Barr's Estimative Index fertilization routine. The substrate is a mix of 30% Caribsea Cichlid Sand / 70% Caribsea Eco-Complete Planted Tank Substrate with some Seachem Flourite in strategic locations.

Hope you like it!

[Fluff]

Your tank is beautiful!

[Fluff]

Oh, almost forgot to say

Welcome to AA!

[Psyhampster]

That is an INCREDIBLE tank! great job!
and welcome!

[afilter]

Awesome tank!

I was checking out some pics in your gallery yesterday.

I love Africans, but I always kept them with rock work only because of their tendancy to move substrate. Is this a problem for you?

[acronym:9cb9cf3bd9="By the way"]BTW[/acronym:9cb9cf3bd9], Welcome!

[travis simonson]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by afilter

I love Africans, but I always kept them with rock work only because of their tendancy to move substrate. Is this a problem for you?

I've had a few problems with digging but I've found that, if I provide places for them to dig that aren't covered with plant growth, they'll dig there. I've got an area I call 'the sandbox' behind the wood in the center that they spend a lot of time moving earth in. There's also an ever-growing cave system under the large piece of lace rock on the left side of the tank that they are continually excavating. It's now well below 'ground level' but the rock is sitting on the styrofoam padding at the bottom of the tank so I'm not worried about it tipping - yet anyway

I've also noticed that, once the carpet has grown in, they don't seem nearly as interested in digging there as they used to. Too much work I guess. I don't really have a lot of hardcore digging species (the Ps. demasoni don't seem to dig at all) except for my labs. The dominant males are always carrying around mouthfuls of substrate when they're not busy trying to mate.

[Newbneedshelp]

WOAH!!

thats one of the nicest tanks i have ever seen. Pretty impresive keeping Africans and plants!!!

[Bearfan]

Very nice, thanks for the setup details as well.

And welcome.

[Billsgate]

That is a beautifull tank. I would love to be able to do the same thing someday .
Great job!!!

[Phlegethon]

Astonishing...