60 gal build

[New]

I got a 60 gallon tank, and i need help getting started. Some of the basics:

-dimensions: 4ft long X 2ft tall X 1ft wide
-filters: Penguin biwheel 350 (X2)
-Heaters: Fluval M200 (X2)

I'm looking to do an african cichlid tank (lake malawi) and I know absolutely nothing about cichlids. This is not my first fish tank and I know about the basics like cycling (I have seeded material from my 20 long). I'm thinking about electric yellow labs, yellow tail acei cichlids, and maybe electric blue cichlids (my LFS is petsmart so it would be nice if the recommendations could be based on their stocking).

 

[mdawg75]

Hello,
So you don't have a Mom & pop store where your at? Do you have to rely on Petsmart Fish or do you have other choices?

 

[New]

All i got is petsmart which sucks, but what can ya do? :/

 

[New]

So far none of the fish I have gotten from there have died or gotten sick.

 

[Cecil2010]

So do you have your new tank already set up and cycled?

 

[New]

its set up, well still need to get rocks and stuff; but i have everything all ready. I have seeded material from my 20 long for cycling

 

[Cecil2010]

Ok when setting up your rock work(or whatever you want to use) be sure that there is a lot of hiding spaces.

What are you going for, a natural looking tank with stacked rock and/or driftwood or volcanos and pirate ships?

What kind of substrate are you going to use?

 

[New]

i got cichlid sand (says it raises ph or whatever they like) and definitely the more natural look, i think it looks way cooler. I like to try to "mimic" the natural habitat of the species

 

[Cecil2010]

Ok cool. First off be sure to wash the sand very good before putting it in as it will cloud your water and really put a hurting on your filter.

And as for rocks I used slate that I got from a creek near my house and I also have a large lava rock from my lfs.

Just be sure to clean whatever you get before adding it to your tank.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

 

[New]

yeah, what should I do for stocking? I'm thinking: Yellow labs, Electric blue (haps i think), bumble bee cichlids and yellow tail acei cichlids. Maybe 3 of each? would this work?

 

[Cecil2010]

Well I know that the labs and acei are fine to go together but I'm pretty sure that haps need to be or at least thrive in an all hap tank. There are many many species that are compatible with labs an acei's like melanochromis, pseudotropheus(acei family), labidochromis(yellow lab family), and labeotropheus are just a few that are commonly compatible together. Just do your homework before buying and you should be fine.

And whatever you end up getting try to keep a ratio of 1 male to 3-4 female of each species.

If it is an electric blue jack Dempsey then defiantly not your tank is to small and they are not compatible with the other fish. If it was an electric blue Johanni, some people get away with stocking them with other cichlids but generally they are hyper aggressive and are not recommended. If its the "electric blue cichlid" that comes up on petsmarts website then that is a hap.

 

[New]

Yeah its the blue hap

 

[mdawg75]

You will get alot of differnt answers becuase there are many different configurations and each Tank has its own chemistry too. There are general things that suggest wont work well, like dont mix fish from different lakes and all. Check the Cichlid compatabillity for a general guide.


Oh and make sure you do a hospital tank that you put your new fish in to ensure they are not diseased, because once you get a nice tank going all it takes is one diseased fish to wipe out everything you have.

 

[Cecil2010]

Yes a hospital tank can be very handy especially if your going to be buying from petsmart. But you don't necessarily need one (IMO) it's just something nice to have for reasons like to prevent diseases in your main tank, as a fry tank, or for injured fish.

 

[New]

So would blue haps be compatible with yellow labs and yellow tail acei?

 

[Cecil2010]

So would blue haps be compatible with yellow labs and yellow tail acei?

It can be done but with this being your first cichlid tanks you probably shouldn't. I'm not sure what all petsmart stocks but stick with labs, acei, auratus, or things of that nature.

 

[New]

Okay, and what about the bumble bee cichlid?

 

[Cecil2010]

Okay, and what about the bumble bee cichlid?

Bumblebees can be aggressive. I have one in my tank and he's pretty docile. As long as you set your tank up good with a lot of hiding spaces and plants to break the line of sight then you should be ok stocking bumblebees with labs and acei

 

[New]

Alright, so in the "assorted" tank, those are auratus right?

 

[Cecil2010]

This is a auratus