# New here



## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Hello,
First post on here so I'm saying hi to all and looking for compliments comments suggestions and constructive criticism.

Wife finally let me get back into the hobby and now it's a little easier on me for the larger purchases. Katrina took my last 55 gallon cichlid tank away and I just never got back into it. Now, well Christmas 2013, I took the leap and bought a lot larger of an aquarium. See signature. As for deco I have random plastic plants (temporary) until I jump into planted. As well as about 40 pounds of flagstone.

As for stocking I have:
5 yellow labs
3 bumble bees 
2 albino peacock
1 maingano
8 assorted danios
4 black skirted tetra
5 nerite snail

I'm looking for an kind of feedback, positive and/or negative, on what others think of it. Personally I love it as it is but I'm still feeling like it needs something, just can't put the finger on it. Any help is appreciated. And thanks in advance.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Though I could post pics from phone but I dunno how


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## mrose222 (Feb 2, 2011)

Welcome to the forum somebody. Happy to hear you have taken another leap into cichlid world.

Here is the "How-To" link regarding posting pictures/videos, hope it helps:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=255444


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

mrose222 said:


> Welcome to the forum somebody. Happy to hear you have taken another leap into cichlid world.
> 
> Here is the "How-To" link regarding posting pictures/videos, hope it helps:
> 
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=255444


Thanks


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

http://imgur.com/TTjupVA


Boom I think I got it


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

http://imgur.com/IHbv7AP




http://imgur.com/EFdyXZG




http://imgur.com/eVFk65K




http://imgur.com/m3IA7oL




http://imgur.com/ta3KJv1


these are actually when the tank was done cycling and I first got the fish before the flagstone and new lights I will post more updated photos


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## mrose222 (Feb 2, 2011)

Somebody, have to give you props on that tank.....nicely done!!! Like the cabinetry and overall aesthetic look, awesome job!


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

This photo was taken about an hour ago


http://imgur.com/5enu6wd


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

mrose222 said:


> Somebody, have to give you props on that tank.....nicely done!!! Like the cabinetry and overall aesthetic look, awesome job!


Thanks i was going for the industrial look with a clean, simple, natural look in the tank. The picture really makes the stand and canopy look good.


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Awesome tank!!

Do you have something specific you are wanting to do with this tank? Breeding? Mbuna? All male peacock setup?

As far as suggestions go, it will help a lot knowing your intensions for this tank.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Demasoni1 said:


> Awesome tank!!
> 
> Do you have something specific you are wanting to do with this tank? Breeding? Mbuna? All male peacock setup?
> 
> As far as suggestions go, it will help a lot knowing your intensions for this tank.


 I'm not sure exactly where I wanna go. I wanna stay Africans is what I do know. I guess the culmination of all my hard work I want to be a tank that is completely self sustaining. Ie plants n stuff. The only thing I want to provide for it is light and heat ( in a dark location in the house and heat only when needed). I want it to be a completely self sustaining ecosystem food oxygen nutrients. Will that happen on the level I describe probably not bUT I can sure get **** close. aestheticly I want it to be more tropical. Eventually I'll will convert to a better substrate for plants but down the line. I'm actually going to pick up my first plants tomorrow (anacharis and amazon sword) because I'm dealing with a diatom bloom right now. I know my tap water has phosphates in it and I'm assuming that's the culprit ( atleast not helping it) saving for a ro system but that's a larger purchase I gotta convince the wife that it is more useful than a fish tank. All in all I really just posted to get others opinions of things they would add. Trying to see it from a different point of view so to speak.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Welcome! To display your pictures, you'll need to grab the image URL from the host site, and then use the


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

I think that you can get pretty close to a self sustaining tank, but you will still have to do water changes and change filter media. As far as food, you can get an automatic feeder from most pet stores. I just picked up some live plants myself today, Java Ferns, amazon swords, and a few anubias. THey are in my 20g long. I have them in sand.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

thanks for the advice triscut

Demasoni1
Thanks for the input when I said food I mean like shrimp living breeding and being hunted like they would natrually. Sorry I was very vague. I got ya on the water changes and filter media and top off also. Just as close to mimic nature as possible. I know that's years down the line but that is as far as I've thought.

I guess what I'm looking for is ways/plants and stuff I can do to to it visually. It just feels like the tip half the water column is empty. I chose anacharis because of its heartiness and growth rate. And amazon sword cause I like it. I think I might pick up a bit more flagstone that might help. And turn around the background to add some depth. Eventually I might do a 3d background, diy of course.


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

If I was stocking this tank I would do: 6 Yellow labs, 6 Ps. Acie 5 Cynotilapia (what ever variety) 2 Bushynose pleco, 15 Ps. Demasoni. Although you don't want to get a blue barred Cyno so you don't get over aggression or cross breeding. This is just what I would do. One other thing that might help with the look is switching to sand. I switched to sand a month ago and am loving it (so are the fish)! It looks way better in my opinion, and is much cleaner. I think this will help you with your aquascape as well. I am in the process of making DIY 3D backgrounds for all of my tanks. The 20g long background is almost done.


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## hose91 (Mar 5, 2014)

+1 on the sand, if you're willing to do the work to switch it out. The mbuna seem to love it, and they're constantly moving piles around the tank. I like D1's stock advice. There are other options for blue/black besides demasoni, but they're an active and striking fish. Assuming the Bumblebees are actual Crabro, I think I'd rehome them via CL or your local club or LFS, and replace them with Cynotilapia sp "Lion", very similar gold/dark brown, but don't get as big and not as hard on the tank in terms of aggression. Metriaclima Zebra Golds are also similar, but I'm not sure how easy they are to find.

I'd agree with building up the left side of the tank, but I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of the flat slate "house of cards" look for the whole tank. I think finding a landscape/rock yard and picking up some larger pieces of a color that you like and stacking them together gives you much more heft and depth, and you can look for taller pieces to give you some height towards the top. I have one rock within 4 inches of the surface of my 23 inch high 75G, and the fish definitely seem comfortable in the top half of my water column (this was a concern I had in planning, for sure). Good luck with the plants! They're on my bucket list somewhere down the line as well.

Love the stand canopy, very nice work!


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Ditto as far as the Bumble bee, they get VERY big, and IMO ugly once they reach adulthood.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Thanks for the tips. I do wanna switch to sand eventually but I think it will hurt my filtration design I have those egg crate light diffusers raised 1/2 inch off the bottom to create a flow space in between the substrate and the bottom. I put Window screen to stop the gravel from falling through the diffuser. I put 1/8th plexiglass glass on the corners acting like underflows (not overflows) the intake side of the filter is behind the plexiglass pulling the water through the gravel and up the underflows. I'm afraid the sand might be too small and fall through the screen, completely rendering my filtration [the way I want it] useless. Which sand type has large grain size and is still white or atleast bright? Also it can't compact or it will cause no flow through the diffuser. What's your opinion on the crushed coral for a planted tank?


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Never had crushed coral, I just have my plants in PFS (pool filter sand), this is a much cheaper alterative to pricy pet store sand. As far as your filtration, IMO undergravel filters aren't near as effective as a few canisters, although the system you described could be.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Demasoni1 said:


> Never had crushed coral, I just have my plants in PFS (pool filter sand), this is a much cheaper alterative to pricy pet store sand. As far as your filtration, IMO undergravel filters aren't near as effective as a few canisters, although the system you described could be.


Yea it's not a ugf in the common sense of the word, it's powered! My reasoning behind doing it this way is that all water has to pass through the gravel. That accomplishes two things 1) provides an extra layer of biological filtration and 2) eliminates all dead spots in gravel. I have tested on another tank with food coloring and an eyedropper and an old powerhead. It worked like a dream! It's only been in actual use for a month now so I guess later this year I'll post an update on it. More than one way to skin a cat.


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Now that you completely explain it, that sounds like a nice filtration system. It doesn't sound like it would work with sand though. And sand I guess is just a matter of personal preference. Cichlids do fine in gravel as well. Although, I think sand is better because its there natural substrate. But ever hobbyist to his/her own tastes!!


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

I'm gonna give this ugf a few months and see how it does. If it doesn't work out like I'm hoping then I will prolly move to sand. that's if I don't get a hair up my ass be for then to switch


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

So have you decided what you are wanting as far as stocking?


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Bright, active, schooling ones. I really like the yellow labs and while I'm sitting here looking at the tank this morning I believe I'm about to have a few more yellows the big male is chasing the girls around and shaking his but at em lol but I think she is turning him down. We will see in nine months though


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Nine months? They should hold the eggs for 20-30 days.


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

From your stock I would ditch the Danios and the Tetras, these in the long run will not get along with cichlids. I would also get rid of some of the singles and replace them with a nice group of 7 Ps. Acei.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Yea 9 months was a joke but 20-30 days?! I thought it would be longer than that. I'll keep an eye out. The danios and tetras were my cyclers I could care less about them they can turn into fish food for all I care. I'm actually surprised they have lasted this long. I had a month where I had two fig 8 puffers and they, the danios and tetra, survived. My lfs does do exchanges or trades so I might try to catch the one day.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

The wife likes fronts so hopefully to keep her interested I might get a few of those. I also like the primrose


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Those would be cool.


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## Tigerfish85 (May 12, 2014)

My advice would be to try as hard as possible to take it slow as you pick the species, and since Africans especially Mbuna have such personality they are best kept as harem breeding groups. 1 m multi female and you can have 4 or 5 awesome species in that size tank. I am jealous as I upgrade in a couple months back to a 75 gallon. Frontosa would be a problem most likely with mbuna since they are from different lakes in Africa and Frontosa get pretty huge. Some of the guys on here have a frontosa species tank that is beautiful as they grow to foot long fish!! ENJOY and can't wait to see some of the groups come to life!!


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

I ahve seen Fronts kept with mbuna with very little problems.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I'd skip the Acei in a 55 gallon. Frontosa thrive in species only tanks. A 55 would be a grow out for a few fronts. Mbuna would be the worst tankmates for them.


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

The OP's tank is a 125g 72" x 20" x 18"


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Demasoni1 said:


> The OP's tank is a 125g 72" x 20" x 18"


Whoopsadaisy...

Still wouldn't mix Fronts with Mbuna, regardless of tank size.


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Somebody, I would listen to Iggy not me...........he is a very experienced mod, and I have only been keeping cichlids 2 1/2 years.

This is a big step for me I don't like admitting that I am wrong.....


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Thanks for the vote of confidence but I'm learning something new everyday.

Whenever you see a tank on YouTube that has Malawi fish with Frontosa, the fronts are near the bottom or in a corner. They looked spooked. Haps, Aulonocara and mbunas are just too rambunctious in nature to be suitable tankmates.


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## Tigerfish85 (May 12, 2014)

+1 agree with iggy so many cool things you can do with haps and peacocks though or 50 mbuna lol )


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> Thanks for the vote of confidence but I'm learning something new everyday.
> 
> Whenever you see a tank on YouTube that has Malawi fish with Frontosa, the fronts are near the bottom or in a corner. They looked spooked. Haps, Aulonocara and mbunas are just too rambunctious in nature to be suitable tankmates.


Your welcome!


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Thanks for all the advice yall. I wouldn't consider myself new but I sure ain't a veteran fish keeper. Yall helped me out in atleast guidance with were I want to go and a one ideas I haven't though of. I appreciate all the support. I'll drop in ffrom time to time in here and post some pics on the progress so keep an eye out


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Good luck!!!


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Have tried mixing Fronts and Mbuna before ---- will not recommend this.

When Mbunas go on its spawning rituals.......bloat city !!


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Well here's a much needed update for those who care to look








updates:
Crushed coral to PFS
Flagstone to limestone
Fake plants to real plants ( jungle vals/amazon swords)

I still have the 306's running but also have a plumbed 1" overflow to a diy 55 gal trickle filter and fuge with 10 gal ato. With roughly 1000 gph flow.

I also got rid of most of the fish and decided to stay with just yellow labs right now and let them populate the tank. I still have the 5 originals plus 30 or so fry they have produced. I'm going to sell them when I can to help pay for the peacock hap setup I'm going for. And the wife's new discus/angel planted 100 gal.

feeding homemade food and nls to help the fry grow out faster and show more color.

I think it's coming around nicely. A little algae bloom and diatoms at the moment but that will go away. Hope yall like it.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Nice job!

Most haps and peacocks will mesh with the Labs.


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## stalefish83 (May 22, 2014)

Looks awesome! Much more natural looking than the slate. Maybe it's just the picture, but I can't even tell the fake plants from the real ones. Great job!


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

Thanks,

Iggy:
That's why I'm going with them!

Stale fish:
Those vallisneria were just put in that day so they are kind of melting, but are showing signs of growing/ recouping.


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