new 125g upcoming

[steez]

I'm about 90% positive that I'm picking up a 125g tank tonight, and the 10% is only because he also has a 100g and I haven't decided which one I'm going to take. The 125G was used as a terrarium and has never held water before so I'm a bit iffy about it, but I mean... I don't see how that would hurt the sealant.

(Opinions??)



Currently I have a 55g tank and 40g breeder. My 55g has assorted African cichlids. Kenyi, venustus, demasoni, labs, afra, zebra, etc. and my 40g has my female Electric Blue Jack Dempsey and a 6" Senegal Bichir.


I'm considering merging the two tanks into one. I'll take a couple of the smaller cichlids and rehome, but anything bigger than 3-4" I will keep with her. Do you see this being a problem? My plan is to cut off part of the tank with eggcrate for a while and see how they act towards one another. I will not be keeping all 3 tanks, I'm going to be bringing it down to 1 single large tank. My options are:
1. Merge the two tanks and occupants.
2. Re-home the occupants of the JD tank and make it a very large African tank.
3. Re-home the africans and make it a large cichlid tank. I could probably get a beautiful array of fish in that 125g with that JD.

(Opinions?)


Filtration. I currently have an API Nexx Canister & AQ110 HOB on my 55g tank and a Topfin 60 HOB & Fluval 304 Canister on my 40g tank. I'm thinking of just putting all 4 filters on the big tank for the time being, seeing as they are all cycled. Will this be enough filtration for a while until I upgrade?
With that said, I know I'll want to get a nice big canister filter. I'm leaning towards Fluval fx5.
What would be adequate in the future? AQ110 + Fluval fx5 be enough filtration?
I do not have the funds to get the fx5 immediately.


I would love to be able to merge the two tanks instead of keeping one or the other. I've seen many instances where JD's have lived with Africans and she is an EBJD which makes her even more docile.


Thanks for taking the time and reading this. I'd love to hear some opinions on this and if you have any great ideas for me don't hesitate to tell me!


Thanks!

[daneek155]

i was always crazy about planted discus tanks and a 125 is perfect for planted discus......... with about 20 cardinal tetra.... i never had african cichlid i just keep south american dwarf cichlids. but an 125 all african tank would look sick

[jlk]

Hi! I will not be of any help in respect to your proposed fish plans but I am concerned about the terrarium tank. Do you know if this tank was originally purchased as an aquarium & is just being used as a terrarium? Terrarium-only tanks are not designed to withstand being completetly full of water so this is something worth investigating. Good luck with your new tank!!!

[steez]

Definitely going to ask that jlk, I'm pretty sure it was an aquarium used as a terrarium. I will double check. He also said we could fill it up to make sure there's no leaks and such.

[jlk]

Yes, a leak test would be a smart move, too!!

[steez]

Hopefully I can get some more viewers to comment on my other questions!

[Aski247]

A lot of people say don't mix NW/Af. Cichlids. My concern on doing the merger would be what are the PH differences between the tanks now? Jd's are a low ph fish 6.0ish. While the Africans need a higher ph. Long as it isn't a very large diffrence you should be ok to switch. Fish will adjust as long as the new surroundings are constant.

Me personally, I would move the JD/bichir to the 55. (that's basically a life long tank for them)

The african's to the 125.

Use the 40 for a breeding pair of med sized cichlids to feed the larger tanks with.

As far as filtration. 1 ac110 will work on the 55 for the JD/bichir

Adding the others to the 125 should be enough and you can buy whatever for the 40 if you even decide to do anything with it.

Hope any of this helps.

[didysis]

Just merge them all at once, keep a small tank incase someone gets beat up a little that you can move them into or section off a part of the tank. best to put them all in at same time to get use to each other rather than let someone find a sport thats they own and have for a while and then put another fish in that will want it and they fight over it. Move stuff around in the tank. Setup allot of spaces for fish to claim.

[didysis]

Looks at my pics I mix every type of fish and then some that you would think could not live in that warm of water and such. I also just did a review on an FX5 great filter, pm me if you have any questions.

[steez]

Originally Posted by Aski247

A lot of people say don't mix NW/Af. Cichlids. My concern on doing the merger would be what are the PH differences between the tanks now? Jd's are a low ph fish 6.0ish. While the Africans need a higher ph. Long as it isn't a very large diffrence you should be ok to switch. Fish will adjust as long as the new surroundings are constant.

Me personally, I would move the JD/bichir to the 55. (that's basically a life long tank for them)

The african's to the 125.

Use the 40 for a breeding pair of med sized cichlids to feed the larger tanks with.

As far as filtration. 1 ac110 will work on the 55 for the JD/bichir

Adding the others to the 125 should be enough and you can buy whatever for the 40 if you even decide to do anything with it.

Hope any of this helps.

Appreciate the information.

My JD is already accepting my current ph. It's about 7.8 and she has never had issues with it because it is consistent. They both live in the same water conditions, not buffered at all.

I'm really only planning on keeping the one tank. If I wanted two tanks still I would probably just keep what I have now.

[steez]

Originally Posted by didysis

Just merge them all at once, keep a small tank incase someone gets beat up a little that you can move them into or section off a part of the tank. best to put them all in at same time to get use to each other rather than let someone find a sport thats they own and have for a while and then put another fish in that will want it and they fight over it. Move stuff around in the tank. Setup allot of spaces for fish to claim.

Appreciate it.

[didysis]

Originally Posted by steez

Appreciate it.

No problem look at my pics posts I have So many different types of fish. Just feed them So they don't want to eat each other