Addicted to Cichlids!

[CCXGT]

The tank is 3 weeks 1 day old.

It is a 240l Fluval Roma with a Fluval 306 Canister (for now).

It was cycled using 34 community fish for 2 weeks.

It was tested every other day and with the help of the lovely people from these forums, it has all run perfectly smoothly.

I went and got my first Mbunas yesterday :-

3 Yellow Labs (obviously)
and
3 Yellow Tail Acei

They are still extremely shy towards most things but progress is being made rather swiftly.

(The amount of crevices these fish can find is unbelievable!)

In short, I have completely fallen for these cute lil fishies and cannot wait to get to know them.

Thanks ?

 

[Ulrichsd]

Nice looking tank, great rockwork! I just ordered some acei and yellow labs (plus demasoni) this morning and will get them in two weeks, can't wait.

Are you going to add any other species?

 

[CCXGT]

Nice looking tank, great rockwork! I just ordered some acei and yellow labs (plus demasoni) this morning and will get them in two weeks, can't wait.

Are you going to add any other species?

Maybe eventually, I'm going to have to buff the filtration in 6 months or so anyway so might as well go for bigger fish alongside.

 

[mistersmith]

Great looking tank! Very impressed

 

[ichslayer]

cichlids

Beautiful setup! What kind of substrate is that?

 

[CCXGT]

Beautiful setup! What kind of substrate is that?

Just a bag of Play Sand I picked up from B&Q, the white look of aquarium sand didn't do anything for me.

 

[ichslayer]

play sand

I just read blip that said play sand can be bad due to granule size. Small air pockets form and things that flourish in these pockets can be harmful to your fish. I also used play sand along with some pea gravel as a top layer and have seen these pockets in my most recent African cichlid setup. So I'm going to have to get that sand out. A process i'm not looking forward to. Check with some of the real experts in these forums for a more scientific explanation.

 

[CCXGT]

I just read blip that said play sand can be bad due to granule size. Small air pockets form and things that flourish in these pockets can be harmful to your fish. I also used play sand along with some pea gravel as a top layer and have seen these pockets in my most recent African cichlid setup. So I'm going to have to get that sand out. A process i'm not looking forward to. Check with some of the real experts in these forums for a more scientific explanation.

I know what you're talking about but the sand layer in my tank is quite thin.

You can also help the gases disperse with good surface agitation.