African conversion

[cogburn]

Okay I'm nuts but im gonna convert my 180gal to a lake Malawian rift tank... These are my plans and I'd appreciate any input or advice... I used 200 lbs of playsand when I originally set the tank up but honestly I think it's a little too much so I ordered 160 lbs of Tahitian moon black sand... I'm taking out the driftwood and t-Rex skull and going with rockwork to make it more natural... The water out of my tap is a ph of 7.0-7.2... I'd like to raise it some so they have a more natural ph... I don't wanna use a chemical.. I'm thinking of putting crushed coral in the filters and maybe using limestone to stack rocks in the tank for decor hoping this will naturally buffer the water and raise the ph a little... Also what are your thoughts on overstocking to prevent aggression... I wanna stay with mbunas... I'm thinking maybe 30-35... But my 2 cascade 1500's have a 700gph turnover... Do u think I can do more like maybe 40-50? I'm in the planning stages any advice is greatly appreciated... Thanks I'm a little frazzled here

 

[treym563]

Limestone and coral won't really raise the pH much, it acts more as a buffer which holds it stable rather than raise it. If you slowly acclimate them to your tank they should be just fine. I have a high pH from my tap water, around 8, and use crushed coral in my canister and used 100% limestone for the rockwork and it stays basically the same.

 

[Big.Jon]

Obviously crushed coral does raise your ph and buffer it, but anyways your tank sounds awsome. I hope to see some pictures or videos in the months to come. I am setting up my first african tank probably almost cycled. I am kinda already regretting not going with black substrate. Good luck!!

 

[HUKIT]

I'm not familiar with those filters so I can't really comment on them, but when filtering a large overstocked tank I'd shoot for 8-10x turnover rate.

As far as substrate Tahian Moon is 90% of my tanks, only really reason it's not 100% I wanted to see what the PFS craze was all about...don't like it as it washes the fishes color.

Your PH is fine where it's at for store bought fish, limestone rocks will certainly help buffer it but personally I'd skip the crushes coral as long as your PH is stable. It won't hurt anything to add it as filter, but IMO once you start messing around it turns into a never ending battle. Just acclimate them properly and keep it stable.

Stocking with mbuna I'd go for 5-6 species with the correct 1m/5-7f ratio, so final numbers would be around 40-45 adult fish. I'd go a little lower like 35 mbuna and add some a small school of a synodontis catfish, my favorite is multipunctatus.

 

[cogburn]

Alrighty I won't mess with ph it's always been a consistent 7.0-7.2 I don't wanna start swinging it around making it worse...

 

[cogburn]

Today is the day... Been working on the tank the last 3 nights... Old deco out... Old sand out... Tahitian moon sand rinsed and put in... Just gotta get the fish going back to the lfs out, put the rocks in, and go pick up my mbuna and it will be time to sit back crack open a sam adams and enjoy the fruits of my labor... Pics to follow

 

[cogburn]

K... Next weds or thurs is the day hahaha... His supplier didn't have any mbuna so he is special ordering them for weds... Gotta put plans on hold until then *sigh*

 

[mdawg75]

Sounds great Heck im excited for ya. Makes me want a bigger tank sooo bad.

 

[cogburn]

Grrrrrr... Lfs making me mad... He's trying to tell me he won't sell me mbuna for less than $6 and they'll barely be 1/2"... Nope sorry... I ordered em from liveaquaria.com yest on sale for $3.49 each all in the 1-1/4" - 2" range with a delivery date on thurs (I'm way too swamped at work tues and weds to go home and acclimate fish)... So a couple more days of waiting but I like liveaquaria... I've never ordered fish online before but their customer service seems top notch and they assured me they ship thousands of fish every year with great success.... So I'm keeping my fingers crossed it all works out

 

[mdawg75]

understood but ya know alot of chain stores and well even alot of mom and pop get them by delivery

 

[cogburn]

All new decorations put in... I decided to keep my clown loaches they are all around 4" and I'm ready to move them out if need be I just couldn't part with them... I'll have a pic thurs after I acclimate the mbuna

 

[HUKIT]

I kept my five clown loachs in with my africans for years. But since moving them into the big tank with the big boys their growth is like that of weeds. Where the mbuna outcompeted them for food, the slow oscars and jags are no match for those five clowns sipping around.

 

[cogburn]

ill target feed them if i have to... all 5 of these guys have great personalities and ive had them almost 3 years i couldnt part with them like i said im ready to move them if need be

 

[cogburn]

Just got the email confirmation from liveaquaria my mbuna will be here tomorrow by 3pm *does happy dance*

 

[cogburn]

They're here!!! Acclimating now I'll take pics in a few hours when I feel safe turning the lights on

 

[cogburn]

Can't really see the fish but they're in there and eating like pigs

 

[mdawg75]

Nice tank and good luck with the Mbuna, enjoy thier personalities

 

[cogburn]

Thank you theyre already so fun to watch very interesting how they explore caves and every nook and cranny

 

[HUKIT]

How many and of what species did you add?

 

[cogburn]

An excellent question... There are 5 clown loaches and 50 mixed mbuna... I haven't been able to pinpoint the number of each and their exact species but I see labs, zebras, bumblebees, and some albinos that I'm pretty sure are peacocks... I need to sit and really study them to determine what they sent me