Benjamin's 55g Malawi Cichlid Build

[mrbee2828]

I added some java moss in the refgium portion I got from jetajockey in the classifieds forums. I also got some seachem flourish and added a bit to see if the plants will benefit.

[NyteGTI]

Hey Ben,
How's this tank coming along? any pics of it painted & complete?

[mrbee2828]

Not much progress. Work, Halloween parties, family in from out of town and weekend sports have taken over for the moment. It sucks because I'm so close. I did order a Aqua Lifter Pump though to install in the hood as well. I just need some time.

I'm also looking around for a 15gallon tall tank to redo the sump. The power went out for about 15mins this week and let's just say it was scary close. I need some more play in the sump volume. I'm glad I work out of the house

[NyteGTI]

Darn! I was actually thinking of using the 10G tank I have as a sump/refugium as well. well I guess it'll stay a QT tank since it'll probably be too small as well haha. fyi i picked up some LEDs strips on ebay for 6$/pair with free shipping (30 cm each) so ill get those in when they are delivered. I know you were looking at LEDs this maybe an option but I'll let you know when I get them in how easy it was.

[mrbee2828]

If you skip the refugium section like I did and just had that whole area as sump / overflow you'll probably be alright. Having said that, what size tank are you going to use it for? Note that mine is a 55 tall so the surface area of the tank is smaller which means less overflow in a power outage.

[NyteGTI]

yea thats true, mines a long so a 10 G wouldn't een come close...

[mrbee2828]

QQ: Canopy people, do you have glass covers on your tank as well as the canopy? I can't use the hinged glass I have on there right now as the wood is a bit too thick on top. I'd have to sand the inside down almost an 1/8". I removed the plastic hinge and thought about just having it there and sliding it once I have the wooden hood opened. Thought?

[kdpuffer]

I would keep the glass tops and slide them. Having the wood without a barrier of some sort will cause the wood to get super wet and if you used any glue it could get into the tank. I know from experience lol.

[mrbee2828]

I picked up 2 melanochromis maingano tonight at the lfs. They were too cool looking and a good price not to. I hope they aren't too aggressive but I'll bring them back if there are issues or get to be too big. Who knows... maybe I'll just have to get a bigger tank lol I'll post pics later once I've acclimated them.

[mrbee2828]

I can't get a good picture of these guys. They are everywhere. Maybe this weekend when I have some time (time, yeah right). It's interesting how close they are staying in the tank. I'm wondering if I have a m/f pair... I wish it wasn't so hard to sex them.

[mrbee2828]

No canopy updates as of yet but yesterday I witnessed my first acts of aggression in the tank. I don't know what was up but everyone was fighting. It seemed that it was all centered around my obi peaocks. The 2 clearly striped, dark gray ones were chasing the not so striped lighter colored one. It got to the point where everyone in the tank started to gang up on it and it was curled up in the top corner behind my spray bar with it's side literally out of the water surface. I scooped it up and dropped it in the refugium for a bit. I'm not sure what was up but I try and return it next week.

[NyteGTI]

sorry to hear that. make sure you do it in the dark so they don't see him coming back in

[mrbee2828]

Sneaky!

[mrbee2828]

I did my first big maintenance on the tank yesterday. I have done some water changes and cleaned the filters on and off over the last few months but a full vacuum, water change and filter cleaning was needed. My levels have been fine which I attribute to the water vs. fish ratio I guess.

I built my own python over the weekend. This consisted of an old 15' garden hose I had in the garage, a barb adapter, a barbed on/off valve, an old siphon hose I had from the 10g, a $6 water bed fill kit from ebay and 2 $4 goose neck faucet adapters from Home Depot. With used parts this ran me about $15-$20. It worked great in the hall bathroom.



I also got rid of all the reusable blue air conditioner filter. I was cutting new pieces every other week, rinsing in between and I was finding that after a few weeks it was breaking down littering the sump, pump and tank with blue particles. I ran by Walmart and picked up some poly-fil in a roll for $5. I can cut this up into a ton of pieces so it should last me a few months. It's already grabbing much more debris because it's a tighter mesh. In just 1 day it's already got a ton in it :/

Anyway, it's SUPER clear right now even after running out of carbon a few weeks ago. I don't know if I'm going to replace the carbon after reading about using it with plants and having it strip nutrients from it they need.

[NyteGTI]

why not just get a regular one. want weverything about this tank to be DIY huh

Post up some shots of the tank!

[mrbee2828]

Last time I checked they were $30-$60 depending on the size/retailer. If you can find one for under $20 I'm all in

[NyteGTI]

ahh I paid 25 for my 25ft aqueon changer. works out great! but I'm also not a huge DIY person but love reading other people's stories(as you can tell)

[mrbee2828]

I got the corners cut and glued in after lunch today. I'm kid and wife free Saturday for some reason so my plan is to finish this weekend. I may cut the lid tonight. My only reservation is that the lid supports I got this summer may be too stiff. We'll see.

[Broke EF]

This is one of my favorite tanks on the site! Great job on everything, looks fantastic. I ordered up a custom background from Designs by Nature because of this thread! Keep up the good work.

Sean

[mrbee2828]

Ha, wow that's awesome. Thank you! Which background did you get? After all is said and done I would like to do black sand and a gray background next time. I think everything will pop more. But with the wood and mixed rock I got, I think this looks good.