MrPhazeWun
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hey all,
My 72 Gallon Bow Front is about a week away from fishless cycle to be complete (more or less, I'll wait more if I have to). Being so close to the finish line I would like opinions on how much I could stock my aquarium. I've decided to stock a Mbuna only aquarium, while attempting to stay away from bigger mbunas (I hope to stick to 5"-6" max growth). I'll detail my set up and leave a picture to get a better understanding on my setup to give a better opinion...feel free to ask questions if information is needed.
The main display is the 72 Bow Front. The first layer of substrate is crush coral. The layer on top of that is fine black gravel. While looking at the display, to the left I have some stacked Texas Holey Limestone. To the right I have a large piece of "Malaysia" driftwood, with what seems like small pieces of river rock. From what I could see, plenty of hiding spots.
My lighting is a bit extreme, but it has a timer, and that in itself will help me out a bit. It is a Odyessea Quad T5 with Timer. It has 6700K at the moment, thinking of doing 10000K and blue atinics. I have dual air pump outputting (and are at full blast to help the cycle) and a heater beside the overflow.
As far as filtration, I have an emperor pro 400 and a diy refugium. The refugium was modified in a 29 Gallon Tank, so I'm assuming (i haven't calculated) around 90 gallons of water. I have a custom overflow, built and designed myself (ideas from other aquarist I've seen online) with a vacuum pump to prevent siphon break. In the refugium I have big pieces of crush coral in the first compartment holding down the mechanical media in place & buffer the PH, wisteria growing in the second compartment to absorb nitrates, and a return pump in the third compartment rated at 1300 GPH at 0' (I'm sure quite a bit less with the 90 deg elbows I have). Most of my plumbing is hard plumb (I've actually learned quite a bit from experimenting). I have an auto off float switch to prevent overflow in my sump.
I've attached a picture so we could get the gist of the picture I've entailed above, but it's somewhat of bad quality...I'll post more pictures when I get home tonight. So what is your opinion as far as stock?...I have a list at home of more or less what I like types of mbunas to achieve the color and size I want, but all I could remember at the moment is yellow labs, acei and demasoni. So let me know your opinion and what you think.
My 72 Gallon Bow Front is about a week away from fishless cycle to be complete (more or less, I'll wait more if I have to). Being so close to the finish line I would like opinions on how much I could stock my aquarium. I've decided to stock a Mbuna only aquarium, while attempting to stay away from bigger mbunas (I hope to stick to 5"-6" max growth). I'll detail my set up and leave a picture to get a better understanding on my setup to give a better opinion...feel free to ask questions if information is needed.
The main display is the 72 Bow Front. The first layer of substrate is crush coral. The layer on top of that is fine black gravel. While looking at the display, to the left I have some stacked Texas Holey Limestone. To the right I have a large piece of "Malaysia" driftwood, with what seems like small pieces of river rock. From what I could see, plenty of hiding spots.
My lighting is a bit extreme, but it has a timer, and that in itself will help me out a bit. It is a Odyessea Quad T5 with Timer. It has 6700K at the moment, thinking of doing 10000K and blue atinics. I have dual air pump outputting (and are at full blast to help the cycle) and a heater beside the overflow.
As far as filtration, I have an emperor pro 400 and a diy refugium. The refugium was modified in a 29 Gallon Tank, so I'm assuming (i haven't calculated) around 90 gallons of water. I have a custom overflow, built and designed myself (ideas from other aquarist I've seen online) with a vacuum pump to prevent siphon break. In the refugium I have big pieces of crush coral in the first compartment holding down the mechanical media in place & buffer the PH, wisteria growing in the second compartment to absorb nitrates, and a return pump in the third compartment rated at 1300 GPH at 0' (I'm sure quite a bit less with the 90 deg elbows I have). Most of my plumbing is hard plumb (I've actually learned quite a bit from experimenting). I have an auto off float switch to prevent overflow in my sump.
I've attached a picture so we could get the gist of the picture I've entailed above, but it's somewhat of bad quality...I'll post more pictures when I get home tonight. So what is your opinion as far as stock?...I have a list at home of more or less what I like types of mbunas to achieve the color and size I want, but all I could remember at the moment is yellow labs, acei and demasoni. So let me know your opinion and what you think.
