Start of my 55g Malawi tank

[Duddits]

Here's the beginning of my newest project. Picked up a 55g tank with wet/dry, pump, heater and a few various things for $40

 

[Duddits]

I am currently curing a few pieces of rock to go in the tank. My overall plan is to have a half rock half open sand tank for my fish. Using some pink Fiji sand, some old base rock, cfl lights (220 watts) with dusk to dawn timer and 4 blue moon light LEDs. 1 powersweep ph and artificial plants for deco and possibly a few pieces of PVC for the fish to move around under the rocks. As for fish I plan on a variety of haps and peacocks. Roughly about 15-20 fish in total

 

[HalfMoon B]

Sounds like a good plan!

 

[alLexX]

cant wait to see the finished tank,what species are you getting?

 

[Duddits]

Not sure on the species yet. I haven't really looked at my lfs to see what they're cichlid selection looks like. Before all I shopped for was saltwater fish for my reef tank lol

 

[Duddits]

Few more rocks added that I've cured. Curing roughly another 50-60 lbs of rock now. Best thing about Jacksonville, I'm surrounded by water. So finding rocks is easy

 

[Duddits]

The quality of rocks I find

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Sorry to get off topic, but nice screen name. I love Stephen King.

 

[Duddits]

The rocks that I'm curing

 

[Duddits]

Sorry to get off topic, but nice screen name. I love Stephen King.

Thanks. I use it on all my forums. A lot of people don't know what Duddits is from either. Gotta love Dreamcatcher

 

[spoonman]

What do you mean by "curing" the rocks? All they really need is a good cleaning and they can go in the tank. Are you soakiing them in something?

 

[Duddits]

Yes. I took the rocks out of the St. Johns river here in Jax and they need to be cleaned, soaked and current residents need to be evacuated lol. They get soak in a cooler with bleach. Then scrubbed cleaned and sprayed off. After that, they are soaked in hot water for a few hours. Rinsed again and soaked in water over night. Finally they are set out in the sun to dry and then sprayed off once more before entering the tank.

 

[Deckape]

Yes. I took the rocks out of the St. Johns river here in Jax and they need to be cleaned, soaked and current residents need to be evacuated lol. They get soak in a cooler with bleach. Then scrubbed cleaned and sprayed off. After that, they are soaked in hot water for a few hours. Rinsed again and soaked in water over night. Finally they are set out in the sun to dry and then sprayed off once more before entering the tank.

That should give the toughest of residents the eviction notice. Great looking tank and you got a wonderful deal.

 

[Duddits]

Thanks

Oh and if anyone is looking to do what um doing, very important that once you finish curing the rock, test the rock with a small amount of vinegar. Pour a small amount on the rock in a few spots and see if it fizzes. If it does, trash the rock. That means there is some type of metal/acidic material on the rock. This will throw your ph levels all out of whack not to mention alkalinity, nitrates and nitrites.

 

[Duddits]

Rocks after bleaching. Good color on these rocks. They'll look good under the cfl's

 

[Duddits]

Just a few pics of the new rocks and my tank under the 3 different lighting set ups.

 

[Duddits]

Going to try and find about 4-5 more pieces of rock today. So hopefully after that I'll have some fish within about 2-3 weeks. I'm going to leave the left side of the tank open for the haps who like the open water and I'll add another powerhead for good current through that area.

So what do you think so far?

 

[redsea]

Nice rock setup!

 

[Mogurako]

I think it looks really good just needs a bit more rocks.

On a side not, I am not sure what type of tank you are making but Haps, Mbuna and peacocks should not be mixed in the same tank do to differences in aggression, tank setup needs and stocking ratios. IMO a 55 would be to small for any open water swimming fish such as Haps since they are very active swimmers and some can grow quite large, they would be best suited in a 6' tank.

 

[Duddits]

Thanks for the advice. I was not aware of the haps seeing that I've read in other forums they are ok in a 55 but limited. I found a good thread on cichlid forums. What do u think? I think I am going to use this selection.

Select any 3 species (max 12 fishes):
• Metriaclima estherae
• Pseudotropheus saulosi
• Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"
• Labidochromis sp. "Hongi"
• Labidochromis caeruleus
• Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt"
• Labidochromis chisimulae
• Iodotropheus sprengerae
• Cynotilapia afra
Do not mix any Labidochromis species.