Buying a 55 gallon wahoo!

[skibum100]

Hello despite all the suggestions to go bigger i will be purchasing a 55 gallon tank i believe Unless you guys really oppose it? just do to my already small room it is best option i think space wise. my plan is to have 2 HOB filters running and to build a slate rock wall as decoration and hiding places for all the fish i am debating sand or gravel but what i hear is sand sometimes ruins filters so maybe a fine gravel? BUT now the fun Stocking it!!
so i have a 20 gallon tank should i just use my water change from that to startwith water in the 55 to establish or speed up the nitrate cycle? or is that just stupid because im putting just dirty gunk in the tank?
i would like to make it an african cichlid tank and i currently have one yellow lab (others call it electric yellow) and 2 blue ones with huge foreheads( ve read somewhere i can remember they are called blue buffalo) i was thinking transfering those fish over. But mainly i guess if the blue ones cant coexist establishing a tank around the yellow lab:
so now im not sure please comment and help me with stocking i want my fish to be happy and not TOO tempormental towards eachother so thinking about getting
2 more yellow labs
2 peacock
3 electric blue
a couple Zebra Cichlids hopefully different colors
some snails and shrimp (algae eaters) please suggestions...?
and maybe i know if it cant work its a no go but a red tail or rainbow shark?
along with if you have any suggestions for a black colored fish to go with the tank id love to have a black one to throw some color contrast in thanks so much guys! all responses are encouraged and welcome and please if you have a better combonation of fish im all ears!

fish tank im looking to buy is attached

 

[Mako_]

Well, if you want a black fish, I personally would go with the black-finned sharks but they might not go well with some of your fish. I think Chichilds are supposed to be only with other chichilds. They can grow to 2 feet and it is possible for them to get bigger, I'm sure of it. They are school fish too so if you were to put them in, they do good with AT LEAST a group of 3. But of course, with your other fish, they probably aren't reccomended. They do good with Bala sharks it seems.

 

[jeffwisely]

from experience i know that most chichlids are agressive towards any other fish even there own kind. as for setting it up you realy don't have to worry to much about your tank cycling if you use your substrate from your other tank. i would also go with gravle if you are using a hob filter. to set up with out realy having to cycle it i would get a good bactieria supplement from you LFS.

 

[BigJim]

Water from your 20g won't help much. Filter media will help the cycle. The nitrifying bacteria live on surfaces, not free swimming in the water.

 

[skibum100]

awesome yea i planned on using a substrate from an LFS to kind of kick in the cycle time so i can transfer the fish! but you said cichlids and especially african cichlids are aggresive to most other fish..though i know this already i was wondering if there are any sharks that get along with cichlids or if they can fend for themselves? or am i just living in fantasy land?
if you have any ideas for stocking a 55gallon please let me know id love to build it around my yellow lab (electric yellow) beauty and really have a colorful display! of active swimmers thanks guys!

 

[jeffwisely]

most sharks will fend for themselves so which ever ones you buy i think you should be ok

 

[skibum100]

any good algae eaters that wont take up alot of "water space" i guess really what im trying to say is id ideally like to shy away from getting an 8' pleco and maybe supplementing snails and or shrimp? would that work with African cichlids and a shark?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

first off welcome!!! 55 is perfect for you if thats as big as you can go or want to go. I would recommend not getting an algae eater before you have an algae problem and this is only because they really kick up your bioload without really doing anything. They need to have a source of algae or something to feed on and you really wont get that in a 55. As long as you clean your water and glass while doing weekly maint. then you wont have to worry about algae.

Also, if your gonna go with african then you will need to stick with african. now, with that being said everyone has their experiance and stories, but generally you will want to keep africans to the same lake and water params and not introduce different species and that includes algae eaters. Just advice..take it or leave it!!! Post pics when its up if you can too!!!

 

[jeffwisely]

yeah i would say the snails and the shrimp would work with them

 

[skibum100]

sweet im making the trip to pick it up today! yay i cant wait to start this project...though i understand its not big its big for me and super exiting!

for a rock appearance that goes to the top of the tank do you guys have any ideas on how to create a good rock wall decor? do i just stack river rocks? do i glue them? should i have them located on each side with swimming space in middle?

 

[mfdrookie516]

shrimp wont work.. at least for very long. I periodically give my mbuna shrimp as a treat. Also, any small snails will be toast too. I kept two mystery snails in my 150g for a while, but even the golf ball sized snail got killed.

For stocking, you want to ideally have 3 or more females for every male of each fish. In a 55g, two males of the same fish will fight. I'm afraid if you put peacocks in there, they wont be happy. Personally, I would get 1m3fm yellow labs, 1m3fm red, cobalt, or albino zebras, and 1m3fm johanni or socolofi (just based off your want to get a blue fish). Of course, the choice is yours

 

[skibum100]

well i got it up and running currently filtering it it has a HOB filter that filters 380 gallons per hour good enough?? it also has an under ground filter thoughts about it keep it get rid of it? then it has two more pumps that seem to not fit the under ground but is it a bad idea for me to keep them in tank it seems like it will push the water around which can't be a bad thing right? and finally what type of substrate should i use? gravel, sand? sand on top of gravel? and how much since i want it to be an african cichlid tank i hear more is always better for these diggers....oh one more! (sorry) will my tank be able to take weight of an elaborate rock decoration or should i do something to glass under gravel ive heard weird things like chicken wire, egg cartons, and like steal mesh? necessary or bad idea?

thanks for the help!!

 

[BigJim]

The HOB will probably be adequate if you don't go nuts on the stocking. I'd personally prefer more filtration.

Either use the UGF or remove it. Don't let it sit there. It'll collect fish waste and create a time bomb of nitrates.

I'm partial to sand. It's cleaner and less maintenance than gravel, but I don't know how well it'd go in a cichlid tank.

If you're worried about supporting your rockwork, put some plastic egg crate (light diffuser) under your rocks. It will spread the weight out on the glass and protect the glass from small landslides. Glass can take a lot of pressure, but it fairs poorly against sharp impacts.

 

[skibum100]

yea im trying to get another HOB filter to double team it especially with a cichlid tank or a cheap canister filter if i can find one.....any other ideas for keeping it as clean and low maintenance as possible? id rather deal with it now when its just a tank then fully stocked and decorated... as for landslides should i glue my rock formations together??

since i really would like a small red tail rainbow shark, tell me if this is terrible idea please, but should i introduce it first in the 55g tank or last if i want it to be a cichlid tank or will they just not coexist what so ever?

 

[BigJim]

I'm a big fan of the AquaClear HOBs. They're reasonably priced, simple to use and clean, and they do a good job. Add an AC70 or AC110 and you'd have plenty of filtration.

Use silicone to glue your rocks together. You can use the stuff from the hardware store, just make sure it's 100% silicone with no fungicides, etc. in it.

 

[skibum100]

okay so i am getting another HOB filter to bolster filtration and thus if one fails when im not home i will still have some filtration. I am going to get rid of the ugly gravel that i purchased it with and put some play sand in from homedepot (cheaper). construct a rock structure (please help! ive researched all over but i dont know how to build a good structure that looks natural for cichlids while also being cost effective, so probably not alot of texas holy rock) thanks. Now stocking for african cichlids im going to try to stick to all mbuna species but i would really like to have and algae eater or two in there as well any ideas of what CAN work with i know everyone has different experiences but if i have a list of fish i can atleast research each and find as much info as possible....and will a rainbow shark work in the tank with cichlids? cab any shark coexist? thanks sorry for being needy but i appreciate all your help so yea im new but trying to be the best newb fish owner to my fish so research and ask as many questions first is my strategy compared to trial and error. thanks all comments good or bad are appreciated!

 

[BillD]

The last tank of Africans I had (P. flavus) I stacked stones right to the top along the back wall, these were smooth lake stones that were fairly flat. There were many hiding spaces, which was good as they chased each other constantly.

 

[BigBear]

A lot of people prefer the bristlenose pleco with african cichlids, they grow to 5 inches.
Have heard others say the pleco fights with labs or vise versa, but it seems to be the most common pleco to add.

I use flat rocks and need to add more, just found limited selection to start. They stack easy without use of glue or other things. Could also drill holes through them and use plastic ties or a plastic rod to hold them together, but that is getting fancy.

 

[skibum100]

awesome thanks for the advise i just put in about 60 pounds of sand and flat rock i stacked the slate to the top middle part of the tank making sure that it was sturdy. But when i put in the water it has become all murky obviously from dust and sand, though i did scrub the slate rock and washed the sand fairly thoughly.... so i am wondering do i keep just doing water changes until its clear??? or can my filter clean it up after running a couple days with it allowing debris to settle??

thanks for all the help!

 

[SnailPowered]

In my experience it will be cloudy for a few days at most. After the water has cycled through the filters a couple times it will be fine. Did you already get another HOB filter? I found this one the sellers ratings are very high but I have not personally bought anything from them. Just a suggestion.