# My new Malawi tank(no cichlids yet)



## Cerdik

Hello all, new guy here! 
I came here to share my new Malawi tank (finished last week).

300Litres/80galons? Self-made background, river sand, no plants, no cichlids yet. :roll:

Photos below


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## Cerdik

Step by step....























































Sand changed:










And finally last update (for now): Lights change(Silvania Aquastar 10 000k) and photo from today:


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS

It looks nicer with the new sand! :thumb:


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## Mr.Dempsey

thats a awesome 3D BG looks soo real awesome job :thumb: Is that play sand??


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## JimA

You did a nice job! The background will look even more natural with time.


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## brandon O

nice blue gouramis


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## ridley25

10/10 matching the natural rocks with your fine back ground. I am too useless to build rocks and went AquaTerra; matching them with real rocks was my biggest challenge.

Kevin


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## Cerdik

thank you  
took me like 14 days to finish it. (my wife was furious about the mess all around it :lol: )

Actual photo with 20pcs of Ps. Demasoni and 10pcs of Labidochromis yellow...










And feeding time


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## gliebig

Great job!


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## des

That's fantastic!

Would you be able to list specifically all the supplies and tools you used from start to finish? If you haven't already posted in the DIY perhaps do so there?

Thanks.


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## zimmy

The final results look great! =D>


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## Cerdik

Photo with plants (Anubias barteri var. nana)


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## JAyliffe

That background rocks! (sic) Sadly my list of (non-aquarist) tasks has grown so large I fear I shall never find the time to make one and the bad part of a custom tank is that no-one sells a stock 60 * 32 background


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## Shahlvah

WOW, I love your background it looks awesome. and I really like how the damasoni and yellow labs look together. Great job!!!!


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## Cerdik

Thank you  ,
one more from yesterday....


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## Cerdik

Side View


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## JSI

One of the best backgrounds I've seen, and the rockwork matches so well. Really nice natural looking tank.


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## Cerdik

Thank you, im glad you like it.

Another photo "Mornin breakfast".


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## r-fishies

I like the fork in there lol Awesome job.


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## treym563

great job on the whole setup, looks bada$$!!!


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## Gags

Look awesome 
Did you paint those thermocol ? With what type of paint 
Or first applied cement


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## Cerdik

Hi, no color painting, no cement  .

Im using synthetic resin "Epoxy 1200" with river sand (sand must be perfectly dry! and small-grained) 
Just paint thermocol with resin, than throw sand on it (before resin drys out). Wait 24h before next resin/sand layer (synthetic resin needs at least 6hours to become hard ) . Im using 3 "coatings" of this. Looks perfectly natural and its hard like stone .

(sorry for my English)


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## Cerdik

Hi, 
First video of my new tank!!


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## Oscar Madison

Wow! :thumb: :thumb:


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## Cerdik

Green and brown algae is starting to grow.


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## Vadimshevchuk

One of the most natural looking tanks i seen on this forum. Fantastic Job!!


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## Cerdik

Lights customized!, one 6500K light replaced with 10 000K (bluish)


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## Cerdik

My fish school :fish:


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## Gags

Those are looking awesome 
:thumb: 
I would love see them for hours and hours :fish:


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## Cerdik

Thx , here is one from today (cryptocoryne added)


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## JAyliffe

Cerdik said:


> Thx , here is one from today (cryptocoryne added)


Beautiful! Your background literally rocks!


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## Raydee

Wow that is a awesome setup. Might have to copy that when I get my 120 gallon.


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## Guest

Not adding another specie/color for the tank? Haha


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## Cerdik

phister said:


> Not adding another specie/color for the tank? Haha


No more space 

Here is my big buddy


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## Cerdik

And todays photo.

In fact you can see 5x new guys in there. (Aulonocara - 4F +1M)


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## Guest

i told ya so, i knew you'd add more fish haha!

do they go well with each other? the peacock and mbuna? cause mbuna tends to be crazy hyper compared to the peacock


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## Cerdik

No problems so far. But **** i need a bigger tank for more fish  . (i know my wife would kill me though  )

Here is actual state with slightly different lighting. T8 40W 865 (Daylight).


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## Gags

Now video with close-up.....  
Will waiting for video opcorn: 
Cheers


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## Guest

yea, some new pictures or video would be nice :thumb:


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## Cerdik

Here you go


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## Gags

Your big Yellow lab is stunning...
Few questions 
How many percentage water change and how often you change your water ? 
What are you feeding them ?


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## Guest

Absolutely amazing. I wish you had more fish lol


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## Cerdik

phister said:


> Absolutely amazing. I wish you had more fish lol


Tryin to convince my wife, that we need bigger tank  . No luck so far...

Gags:
Every sunday morning, 50% water change :thumb:. And feeding them with Sera flora/sun (Sprinula flakes).


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## Cerdik

Edit: Spirulina lfakes


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## Guest

Cerdik said:


> phister said:
> 
> 
> 
> Absolutely amazing. I wish you had more fish lol
> 
> 
> 
> Tryin to convince my wife, that we need bigger tank  . No luck so far...
> 
> Gags:
> Every sunday morning, 50% water change :thumb:. And feeding them with Sera flora/sun (Sprinula flakes).
Click to expand...

get her something she wants and then randomly come home with a larger tank, that always works haha! :thumb:


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## Cerdik

Hello,
just posting some new photos from today  .


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## Gags

As Always it great to see updates from you.
What is size of tank ?
Your dems are growing...
If possible post close up Big Yellow lab


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## cichlid-gal

Cerdik said:


> Here you go


I would have to say this is the most beautiful setup I have seen yet...not only the combination of fish (the beautiful beautiful Yellow lab along with the blue demonsi) but your background and substrate and plants just make the tank outstanding overall

Oh and your music choice is wonderful...relaxing and calming...makes me want to just sit and watch your tank all day

KUDOS on an excellent job =D> =D> =D>


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## Cerdik

Hi,
Just updating here with new photo .


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## metricliman

Nice!


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## turbokev

I love this tank.. the background / rocks / substrate works so well together.

Is this tank 3 feet long? or 4 feet long? (90cm or 120cm)

..and where is the big yellow lab??


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## cengherbogdan

great tank.
only 1 light bulb day light you have ?


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## ricco73

Vey good looking tank Impressive


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## pablo111

Amazing aquascape and background!

Just wondering, are peacocks and demasoni compatible? Never seen it done before.


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