# New 130G Aquarium, and I'm even newer...



## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

So I'm completely new to this whole aquarium thing, largest tank I've ever had was 10 gallons and I kept pet smart Tetras. This is way over my head. I made a post on craigslist asking for help and the nicest guy ever showed up and spent 9 hours with me setting everything up, and explaining it all in detail. He even brought me already cleaned PF sand and 6 Convict Cichlids to start the bio bed. I'm trying to figure out what tankmates I can eventually put with them if they survive the start of the tank. I really want to put these 2 pieces of driftwood/bogwood I have in there as well but they are in a tub sinking in the back yard right now. I guess my questions are this: A.) What would be some colorful tankmates I can add. B.) How long should I wait to add them? C.) What would be a good number of fish to keep in this tank? Dimensions are 60"x24"x30".

A little background on how I acquired this tank. A really close friend of mine had this tank and I always gawked at it when we went to their house. I loved it! I had always just had the small little 10 gallon tanks from PetSmart and never had any luck so I figured I could never care for a much larger tank. Fast forward a few years and him and I were in a terrible off-roading accident where we were both severely burned, him much worse than I. He made it 24 days in the hospital before passing. When his wife was going through his things the aquarium was brought up. I was intimidated by it. But I knew how much he loved it, and I wanted to carry that on for him. So I rogered up to caring for it. So here we are a few months later and I've finally got it going. Currently its running on an Eheim Professional 2 and a Fluval 405. I bought a 20 gallon sump tank and a Rio+ 2100 sump pump to install later. For lighting I just bought a Current USA 36" LED and it lights it up pretty well, so I think I'm good on lights. I currently don't have any live plants in it, but would like to eventually move into live plants. I don't want to get TOO crazy with it as I am in the Military so we move a lot, and I'm probably going to have to sell/give away my fish and plants every few years. Any and all help, recommendations, comments, concerns, criticism, feedback is welcomed. Thank you!

V/R
Wade


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

Here is a picture of Steve's Tank (hints my username)


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

First off, welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear how you came about this tank. I do however think it's great that you are able to indulge in this hobby in honor of your good friend.

Before we get started answering questions, has the tank been properly cycled?


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

Can you explain in detail what you mean by properly cycled? I've only had the tank up and running since Sunday.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

StevesTank said:


> Can you explain in detail what you mean by properly cycled? I've only had the tank up and running since Sunday.


See this link: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cycling.php

Basically, cycling a tank is getting it ready to support fish.. before you add in the fish. Otherwise, the fish may end up perishing in their own toxic waste before the helpful bacteria can fully grow enough to neutralize the ammonia/etc. (That's a terrible tl;dr, take a look at the article  )

Some off the shelf products claim to provide "instant addition of fish!" by having you dump in a bunch of already existing bacteria. Other people tend to put in relatively unwanted fish to start the cycle.. knowing full well they will possibly die.

The person who came over with the Convicts for the "bio bed" may have had that in mind, not sure?


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

I just did a water test and this is what I came up with:
Ammonia: .75 PPM
PH: 7.6+
Nitrate: 5.0 PPM
Nitrite: 0 PPM


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

EnemyNSA said:


> StevesTank said:
> 
> 
> > Can you explain in detail what you mean by properly cycled? I've only had the tank up and running since Sunday.
> ...


I don't know if the demise of the Convicts was his plan or not, he mentioned they were hearty fish and would probably survive the cycle. But pretty much told me it was a necessary evil. Maybe its an old school way IDK, but I posted the results of my water test above. Looks like I may be in the Nitrate phase?


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

Wow what a great article, after testing my water, I think it may be giving me false hope that my Nitrite "fight" is over. I will still wait another week or 2 before I add any fish. What are safe levels? With my ammonia being at .75 PPM and my PH being at 7.6+ (If I read right, Cichlids like higher PH levels) and my Nitrate at 5.0 PPM, I think I just need to do a partial water change now correct? After a partial water change do I add more water "conditioner"? Since its just tap water I'd be adding. I'm already having fun with this whole hobby, and I love learning new things! Once I switch over to my sump tank I think I need to take the Ceramic Rings from my Eheim Pro2 filter and put them in the sump since they will have already built up that bio bed correct? Yep, I'm addicted haha!


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

For the cycle to be complete you want to see 0 ammonia and nitrite.

As mentioned in the article, people do cycle with hardy fish. There is a way to do it without risking any fish, but it requires adding ammonia in yourself.

PH should be ok, but you'd want to check on what the species you hope to add like.. and change accordingly if needed.


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

EnemyNSA said:


> For the cycle to be complete you want to see 0 ammonia and nitrite.
> 
> As mentioned in the article, people do cycle with hardy fish. There is a way to do it without risking any fish, but it requires adding ammonia in yourself.
> 
> PH should be ok, but you'd want to check on what the species you hope to add like.. and change accordingly if needed.


Yeah I'm going to wait a few weeks before adding anymore fish. I think I'm going to keep African Cichlids since that's what my friend loved. All the reading I've done I've figured out they are picky but I think I'm up for the challenge.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Just remember those Convicts are Central American Cichlids, not African 

You can rehome them after the cycle is complete, may find someone to take them.. be warned if you do keep them.. they breed like the dickens! (I had 4 and now have like 50).


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

EnemyNSA said:


> Just remember those Convicts are Central American Cichlids, not African
> 
> You can rehome them after the cycle is complete, may find someone to take them.. be warned if you do keep them.. they breed like the dickens! (I had 4 and now have like 50).


Yeah I'm aware they are different breeds, and I plan to rehome them back to the original owner, and if he doesn't want them I'll give them to PetCo for adoption. Can someone answer some of my original questions please?


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

In regards to your original questions..

Before adding any more fish your cycle must be complete, meaning there should be no readings of ammonia and nitrites. If you've read the cycling article, I am assuming you have a decent understanding of this? When your cycle is complete, you can SLOWLY begin adding new fish. Do not go out and dump 20 new fish in your tank in a single day. Your newly established bb colony will not be able to keep up with the amount of ammonia they will produce. I would add a couple each week. As for number of fish for your tank, there are no real hard set rules. It will depend mainly on the type of species you decide upon. If you are set on Africans, I would first pick a location (Lake Malawi, Lake Tang, Lake Victoria, or West Africa) you would like to base your tank around and then stick to only species from that one location.

Keep in mind this is the Central American sub forum. If you have questions directly related to African species you will have better luck posting them in the proper African sub forum.

Good luck and enjoy your new tank!


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

There are no safe levels of ammonia and nitrite when you have fish in the tank. Since you are doing a fish in cycle, perform enough water changes to keep those levels as low as possible and add water conditioner that removes chlorine or chloramine from your tap when doing water changes.

If you are upgrading to a sump, just transfer the mature media from your canister filter to the sump.

Are you sure you have a reading of 5PPM on nitrate or did you mean nitrite?


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## wryan (Dec 6, 2015)

Deeda said:


> ... Are you sure you have a reading of 5PPM on nitrate or did you mean nitrite?


Was wondering the same thing myself ...


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## StevesTank (Feb 17, 2016)

Deeda said:


> Are you sure you have a reading of 5PPM on nitrate or did you mean nitrite?


I did another test today and I'm in stage 2 of the nitrogen cycle with the Nitrite being elevated at 20 PPM and Nitrate at 5 PPM, and PH still at 7.6, I was going to do a 50% water change but realized I don't have any water conditioner left so I'm going to pick up some Prime tomorrow and do the water change. I'll also be doing a partial water change everyday or every other day for the remainder of the cycle to ensure the least amount of harm possible is done to these little guys. As stated before had I known about the "cycle" before I started I would have went fishless but thats not how things happened. I appreciate the help and I think I'm going to keep Lake Malawi African Cichlids so I will jump over to that subsection, thank you for the advice! That being said, anyone in the SoCal area want some convicts?


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