HI ALL!! I CURRENTLY HAVE A 55 GAL CICHLID TANK THAT I HAVE HAD FOR A FEW YEARS NOW (A VARIETY OF MBUNA, SCOLOFI, AURATUS...). WHEN I FIRST STARTED WITH CICHLIDS I DID IT FOR THE VARIETY OF COLOR (KNEW ONLY WHAT LFS HAD TOLD ME ABOUT THEM) NOW THAT I HAVE AN ESTABLISHED TANK I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT APPEAR MORE REEF LIKE WITH ROCK AND CRUSHED CORAL. HOW CAN I GO FROM GRAVEL TO THE NEW SUBSTRATE WITHOUT DISTURBING MY ECOLOGICAL BALANCE IN MY ESTABLISHED GRAVEL? ALSO I HAVE BEEN HEARING MORE AND MORE ABOUT NIGHT LIGHTS? IS THIS SOMETHING JUST FOR LOOKS OF MAYBE I COULD BENEFIT FROM. SO IF ANYONE COULD HELP ME OUT I WOULD APPRECIATE IT. THANKS
HELLO NEWBIE WITH CICHLID ?S
- Thread starter luvmygt
- Start date
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Fishyfanatic
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Welcome to AA Luvmygt! In the future, do not type in cap locks.
As long as the tank is established, you can take out the substrate safely. I did the following:
Unplugged the heater, filter, and airstones. Wait 15 minutes after unplugging the heater before doing anything else.
Removed about 70% of the water
Bagged up the fish
Dug out the gravel
Sucked out the nasty debris water that was left in the tank
Cleaned the new sand/gravel and put it into the tank
Refilled the tank with new dechlorinated water
Turned on the heater, filter, and air stones
Re-acclimated the fish into the tank
I did not notice any type of mini-cycle by doing it this way. The filter holds a big majority of the bacteria that you need anyways.
A light set that I have found that works great with Africans is a triple tube strip. Then used 1 Actinic bulb and 2 50/50 bulbs. It really brought out the coloration in my Africans.
On a sidenote: watch your Auratus. They are one of the most aggressive Africans and have been known to tare apart other fish easily. I had a docile female that wasn't very aggressive but I have seen others rip apart other fish larger than them.
HTH
As long as the tank is established, you can take out the substrate safely. I did the following:
Unplugged the heater, filter, and airstones. Wait 15 minutes after unplugging the heater before doing anything else.
Removed about 70% of the water
Bagged up the fish
Dug out the gravel
Sucked out the nasty debris water that was left in the tank
Cleaned the new sand/gravel and put it into the tank
Refilled the tank with new dechlorinated water
Turned on the heater, filter, and air stones
Re-acclimated the fish into the tank
I did not notice any type of mini-cycle by doing it this way. The filter holds a big majority of the bacteria that you need anyways.
A light set that I have found that works great with Africans is a triple tube strip. Then used 1 Actinic bulb and 2 50/50 bulbs. It really brought out the coloration in my Africans.
On a sidenote: watch your Auratus. They are one of the most aggressive Africans and have been known to tare apart other fish easily. I had a docile female that wasn't very aggressive but I have seen others rip apart other fish larger than them.
HTH
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