Hi first timer here...

10 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


tiger86
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:38 pm

Hi first timer here...

by tiger86

Hi, first post,

is this too much for a 4 foot aquarium?

2x Otopharynx Lithobates "Zimbabwe Rock" 1m1f

2x Cyrtocara Moorii "Blue Dolphin" 1m1f

4x Nimbochromis Venustus "Giraffe Cichlid" 1m3f(?)

1x Malanchromis Interuptus "Interuptus" 1m

1x Malanchromis Johanii 1xm

2x Cynotilapia Afra Cobwe "Afra" 1m1f

3x Sciaenochromis Fryeri "Electric Blue" 1m2f

3x Labidochromis Lombardi "Electric Yellow" 2m1f

1x Labeotropheus Fuelleborni (Chidunga) "Tropheus" 1m

2x Maylandia callainos "Cobalt Blue" 1m1f

2x Labidochromis Hongi "Hongi Island" 2m?

1x Bristlenose Catifish 1f?

1x Aulonocara O.B Peacock "Marble Peacock" 1m

1x Aulonocara bencshi "Sunshine Peacock" 1m

1x Aulonocara rubiscens "Red Ruby Peacock" 1m

1x Tropheops "Kaiser" 1m

1x Pseudotropheus elongatus mpanga "Elongatus" 1m

I am upgrading to a 8x2x3 with trickle and the works in a few months, i am changing out 30 percent of water weekly and only using RO water in my tank with african salts and ph up if needed. Is there anything I should watch out for with this much fish? The community is established and no one is coping it.

Here is a pic of my OB:
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/friendemail.php/33882

thanks for advice :)


esparzar1
 
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:31 pm

by esparzar1

Hi Tiger,

WOW.....you have a huge variety of fish in your tank. Honestly, your asking for trouble with the mix of species you have in there. It's good that you are going to a 8ft tank because some of those fish need a tank that big. It looks like you have a mix of Mbuna as well as Peacocks and Haplochromines. My suggestion to you would be to decide to go with just one of those three. Your tanking the right steps with changing your water weekly but all hell is gonna break lose in that tank real soon. Personally, I would go with either mbuna or peacocks but with a 8ft tank you could have a sweet hap set-up. It's really up to you. Whatever you decide, make sure you do it before deaths start to occur. See if your lfs will take trade-ins and help you narrow down your selection.

If you decide to go with mbuna, I would suggest a 1/4 male to female ratio. You could do probably 6 different species with that selection (in the 8 ft tank). There are also all types of different ratios and mixes you can do with mbuna in a 8ft tank.

For peacocks you could either do a really colorful all male tank or possibly the same thing as mbuna (6 species 1/4 m/f ratio)

I'm not very familiar with Haps but I know you could have a killer set-up in the 8ft tank.

My last suggestion is to do some more research :) We all have to start somewhere, this website is very friendly and helpful with fish typical questions but in all honesty, I would check out cichlid-forums.com for any African Cichlid related questions.

Good luck


tiger86
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:38 pm

by tiger86

Thanks for the reply!, Wow not even the 12 fish stores I have been to have told me that... They dont think much of the mix I have in the tank. Its suprising to me because my tank seems like a community at the moment there is no fighting out of the ordinary or any dieing fish and some of the fish are quite big already. The tropheops, the elongatus, the cobalts and the johanii are all going to go this weekend to help reduce that risk, I think I am going to go for a Hap tank.

I have done a bit of research already, making sure that all my fish are close to wild color as possible and making sure they are not from the same batch of fry to reduce inbreeding, along with trying to obtain as many F1 as possible.

I would like to keep the mix until the "hell" unleashes at which point I will start taking out trouble makers. Most these fish have grown up together tho and leave eachother alone... The latest inclusion was a 4.5 inch male venustus and even that has fit into the group. I want to have a Lake Malawi tank... not just have my tank dedicated to 1 genus of cichlids.

When my 8 footer is ready it will be modeled around the actual lake these fish come from so I can replicate their environment for that ultimate viewing pleasure and satifaction.

Which of the species above do you see being the most trouble and able to kill something when they get older in my tank?

Thanks again :)


esparzar1
 
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:31 pm

by esparzar1

The ones that I would worry about the most right now are the Interuptus and the Johanii. Anything that starts with "Melanchromis" is usually asking for trouble...lol...unless you have a really big tank. The other fish really shouldn't be that bad while they're young. I would still try and figure out which direction you wanna tank you tank (mbuna/hap/peacocks) you really can't go wrong with any of those choices in a 8 ft tank (how many gallons?)in a 55 gal you're kinda limited on what you can do. Check out the cookie cuter section on this website. This will give you a good idea on where to go. Hope this helps.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/q ... e_list.php

Again, I love the rate my fish tank website but for African Cichlid related questions I would check out cichlid-forums.com


Bigdog
 
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 12:12 am

by Bigdog

Welcome to the forum.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

sales people are notorious in selling fish without any questions asked: how big is the tank, compability, types of food, temperatures, ph levels, etc

I was in the store the other week, at Petsmart, a sales girl sold 4 Tiger barbs and 6 Platys because the little girl (customer) thought the colors were pretty, she only has a 10 gallon tank. I commented, but the mother brushed me off.

Poor platies will be in for a heck of a time


tiger86
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:38 pm

by tiger86

thanks all.

The interuptus and johanii fight all the time, when the tropheops comes around they piss off immediately... im more worried about the tropheops i think if he skitzes it he will kill every living thing including algae in the tank. hes a wild beautiful fish but hes got to go. I only see his bright orange/yellow band on his body when i enter the room, even if i sit and stay for an hour he behaves himself and stays solid black its quite odd...

and yes, i hate how the sales people are, only 1 fish store has given me clear direction because I have spoken to the owner on numerous occasion and he has given me the privelige of ordering fish from his wholesale list, i admit the first few I purchased I was left confused because I had an electric blue dominating the interruptus which sort of went against everything I had heard about them...

I like this website better than cichlid forums i have ghosted both and decided to post here. :)

Heres a picture of my 4 foot tank and a few of its inhabitants.
3f72b-DSC00661.JPG
72304-DSC00662.JPG
ba3eb-DSC00663.JPG
8d3cd-DSC00664.JPG
cb107-DSC00665.JPG


esparzar1
 
Posts: 164
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:31 pm

by esparzar1

tiger,

That's cool that you like posting more here....I actually post on both websites...lol...anyway, the fish look good. If the tropheous is giving you the most problems then obviously get rid of him. A lot of the aggression is also coming from the size of the tank. When will you have your 8ft tank up and running? Oh, and how many gallons/liters is it? I could only dream of having a 8ft tank..lol


tiger86
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:38 pm

by tiger86

not for a while yet my friend, I have only just found the right person to build it and the place to put it. Today I visited the builder and got some quotes on the tank, and I think I am going to go with a 6x3x2 (depth=3) foot tank now because the difference in cost of the extra thickness in the glass from both tanks is stupendous ( mostly because i want the extra depth because i want more room than 2 feet in depth. I'm going to be buying a fully reinforced tank which has ~34 cut pieces of glass that make up the final contruction not including the end overflow tanks and its going to be a monster. The filtration system will be a trickle wet/dry sump filter with Cermedia (porous ceramic cubes) instead of bio-balls. All on a solid pine cabinet with no hood...

i think today i fell in love with what makes a tank a good tank, i got to understand that today by a professional and a sales person not a professional sales person if you get what i mean.

today i played around with making my own trickle system with much success on my 28L tiny quarantine tank, i am getting 3x 3 foot tanks with simple stands which are going in my room as breeding tanks, electric yellows, red empress and otopharynx lithobates or iceberg blues in the last tank and decided that i am going to be making trickles for all 3 out of lexan if i can get my hands on it or perspex that i have used previously for making pc cases and home stereo speaker boxes.

I am a bit crazy when it comes to hobbys, I know what I want to get out of this so I am going for it lol.


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

they welcome to the forum. i don't know much about cichlids had a tank with them a long time ago. I do know you shouldn't mix area breeds. As far as LFS's 1 out of the 12 probably gave honest info. most LFS with tell you anything to sell you anything. Best piece of advice i can give is do research online or ask people on here for info.

Hi first timer here...

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