ff.rice
Aquarium Advice Freak
Well they seem to be pretty happy.... I think I'm just gonna work in making them more caves and hiding places..... And I guess work on getting a bigger tank..... Not too sure the wife is gonna like my new hobby!!!! Haha
Fairly new Cichlid tank
- Thread starter ff.rice
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Convict2161
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yea lol. It cost me! New shoes and a purse and I got my 75 gallon setup.
Crawdaddy
Aquarium Advice Freak
That's a steal. I don't know how many shoes and purses I've had to buy, and I still don't have my 125. Seriously, in the last two years, I know I have bought at least 3 Coach purses, and all the other crap that comes with it such as wallets and change purses. By my math, if one set got you a 75, them I'm due a 225. I need to get on that, I like that math
imtcurveball
Aquarium Advice Freak
Just to let you know.. You'll never be satisfied with how many tanks you have.
Stumpyjr
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Never Satisfied
I agree.....just finished new 55 and I am already looking into a 125 ! Caught the bug ...again....and can't stop !
I agree.....just finished new 55 and I am already looking into a 125 ! Caught the bug ...again....and can't stop !
Scottyhorse
Aquarium Advice Addict
Now I am no cichlid expert, but IMO, you will need a larger tank, and I think you've got some incompatible cichlids. Did you cycle this tank?
ff.rice
Aquarium Advice Freak
They seem to be doing fine right now... And seem to be quite happy actually! And I'm very new at this so what do you mean by "cycle the tank"?
Rlavassor86
Aquarium Advice FINatic
ff.rice said:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/i-just-learned-about-cycling-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now/
That's info on cycling. And he's right with the mix if fish and tank size it is likely you will end up with some serious aggression. Typical recommendation for mbuna is a 4ft long tank since they are a hyper aggressive species. If not given adequate space they will get highly territorial and you could end up with all out war or one fish systematically killing ever other fish.
ff.rice
Aquarium Advice Freak
Well thanx for the info... But which one is the mbuna? Is that the blue striped one?
garfy
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes and the Yellow lab.
garfy
Aquarium Advice Addict
Oh and the yellow tailed Acei too
ff.rice
Aquarium Advice Freak
Well if I told you that I am planning on switching over to a 55 before too long would it make a difference? I'm really diggin the colors of these fish! Will a 55 gallon tank make them less aggressive?
garfy
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes that would help immensely.
ff.rice
Aquarium Advice Freak
Cool!!! Well that's the plan!!!!
Rlavassor86
Aquarium Advice FINatic
ff.rice said:
Yea a 55 will be just fine for mbuna. Stay away from any Haps though, as they require a min of 6ft long tank. They are open water swimmers and most get to be pretty large
ff.rice
Aquarium Advice Freak
Thanx for the advice you guys!
ff.rice
Aquarium Advice Freak
Ok.... I scored a 55 today and I'm gonna be working on getting it going and building a new stand..... Any suggestions on equipment to put in it? And gravel/rocks or sand?
imtcurveball
Aquarium Advice Freak
Don't buy a hang on back filter and if you already did plan on upgrading soon to a canister filter or refugiums. You want something with a pump rated at at least 450 gph. If you don't have a Test kit yet.. Buy a API master test kit. They're about 20 bucks and extremely useful. Especially when cycling a tank. If you don't already have one buy a gravel vacuum siphon. And also a few 5 gallon buckets dedicated completely to you tanks. Because if you have all your equipment for maintenance more accessible, then you will be more willing to do it.
Rlavassor86
Aquarium Advice FINatic
imtcurveball said:
What's wrong with HOB filters? The aqua clears are fantastic filters. Now I do prefer a canister but hang on filters work just fine. There's a lot of members here that run hang ons only or hang on in tandem with a canister and have nothing bad to say about them. It's always a good idea to run two filters anyways for redundancy.
Rlavassor86
Aquarium Advice FINatic
ff.rice said:
If recommend the eheim 2215 with like an ac 70 or two eheim 2215 or 2 ac 70 for redundancy incase one fails and also the over filtration is pretty necessary for cichlid set ups. They are very messy fish. I'd go with sand substrate because it won't trap detritus like rocks or gravel, it just sits on top making for easy cleaning. I just hold my siphon about an inch above the sand and it sucks up all the nasty stuff but not the sand. There are tons of cheap alternatives to LFS sand like play sand, pool filter sand, black diamond blasting sand if you want black. All can be picked at like lowes or Home Depot except the black sand. That's at any tractor supply store like northern tool and equipment or farm and fleet. Black sand is bout 8 bucks for 50 lbs and the play sand is like 4 bucks for 50 lbs not sure bout pool filter sand but I've heard it's very cheap as well. For deco use lots of rocks. I got all mine from a landscape place for bout 15 bucks and got over 200 lbs of rocks. If you have questions on safe rocks ill try and find the link to a good article that explains all of what's safe and what's not. The rocks will also help bring up the hardness and ph of your water which the cichlids(if African) will enjoy. I'm sure there's tons I'm leaving out but it's time to get ready for work now so any more questions or need advice just ask. =)
