# Setting Up a 55 Gallon African Ciclid Aquarium



## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

I am upgrading to a 55 gallon aquarium soon and have a few questions. How much filtration and how do I aquascape it. I am an experienced keeper, however my Cichlids are out growing my current setup. I also have live plants in my current aquarium and would like to incorporate them into the new tank. What would work better for adult and juvenile African Cichlids, rock or fake driftwood. So how much filtration, and I need aquascaping instructions.


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## Mschn99 (Dec 24, 2012)

What species and what kind of stocking levels are you looking to have?


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## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

I will have 2 yellow labs, 2 kenyi, 1 moori, 1 unknown, and 8 juvenile unknowns.


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## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

Is anyone still following this thread?


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

The kenyi will end up killing everything. The moori should be in a tank of it's own with other Tropheus.
Do you have pics of the others?


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## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

The fish are adults and the I dont have territorial issues!!


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

How big are they?


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## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

All of the fish with the exception of the Yellow Labs and the fry are around 5.5 inches in length. I just found out that the new aquarium that I will be getting could be larger than a 55, it might be a 60 or 75! I am so excited. I'm getting it tomorrow!!


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## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

As far as aquascaping, if you've ever seen underwater pictures of Lake Malawi, it's unusual in that it's almost completely devoid of plant life. It's made up of boulders and rocks, and sand along the bottom. Here are a few examples:




























The rocks will serve as territories for the Mbuna, and they need places to hide. You will need several groupings; you can look at many of the tanks posted on the forums to get an idea. As far as substrate, most people like pool filter sand the best. It's cheap, it looks good, the fish like it, and it's the perfect grain size. It's small enough so that it mimics what the fish like, but large enough that it makes it hard to vacuum it up when you're cleaning the bottom. You will need to clean and rinse the sand before you use it. There are threads on here on how to do that properly.

Here's what my tank looks like (this was just before I got my fish):









As far as live plants, from what I've heard, Mbuna can be brutal to them. They tend to tear them up and kill most plants pretty quickly, so I don't know how well that will work.


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## Stussi613 (May 8, 2009)

RedRaider15 said:


> The fish are adults and the I dont have territorial issues!!


Yet.


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## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

Stussi613 said:


> RedRaider15 said:
> 
> 
> > The fish are adults and the I dont have territorial issues!!
> ...


This is why I'm getting a larger tank.


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## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

DrTenochtitlan said:


> As far as aquascaping, if you've ever seen underwater pictures of Lake Malawi, it's unusual in that it's almost completely devoid of plant life. It's made up of boulders and rocks, and sand along the bottom. Here are a few examples:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I love your tank, but how do you support the rocks. I have been keeping Malawi Cichlids for one year, but in a small tank. I just want to know how to aquascape like you did!


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## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

RedRaider15 said:


> I love your tank, but how do you support the rocks. I have been keeping Malawi Cichlids for one year, but in a small tank. I just want to know how to aquascape like you did!


I have eggcrate underneath my sand. (Eggcrate is just the name of the see-through crisscross panel that you can put over florescent lights in a drop ceiling in the workplace. It's not completely necessary since your tank will support the weight of the rock, but it distributes the weight and ensures your bottom glass isn't scratched or chipped.) You need to make sure that the rocks are resting on the glass or eggcrate, NOT the sand, or the fish can dig underneath and cause the rocks to move. Most of my rocks are simply on the eggcrate. I only have two that are stacked up, and one is a small flat angled rock at the left side of the tank that makes a small cave. It's so low and flat, it isn't going anywhere. The other rock that makes the cave on the right rests against the background and the two rocks below it. It actually lays pretty level, and it's not going anywhere either. My rock is just chunks of granite that I purchased by the pound at a landscaping store. You can also look for what's called "rip rap", which are stones that the highway department uses for culverts and hillsides as a retaining method. DON'T just go to a roadside and take them, because they'll probably have chemicals from run-off. It's easy to find them from a rock supply or landscaping company.

My background is a Universal Rocks "Rocky 3D" background. I posted a review of it in a thread a while ago with lots of pictures. It's $77 (for 55 gallon size), and only about 1/4 inch thick. You can't hide anything behind it, but given the small front-to-back footprint of a 55 gallon tank, it works very well.

Here's a link to the thread.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=247196&start=15


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## RedRaider15 (Oct 25, 2012)

Thanks for all of your help, but I still need to know how much filtration do I need?


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

There are a couple different aspects to filtering - chiefly biological and mechanical. A canister filter will do a good job of biological, and will suffice for mechanical. A Rena XP3 or 4, or a Fluval 405/406, something along those lines - though I do find the flow and lack of significant circulation in the tank to leave me wanting more than just a canister. I've found HOB's to be more effective at mechanical and water polishing too - so on my 55's I run a canister and a HOB or two. Aqueon HOB's provide great flow... specifically the 55/75 model, and they really improve overall circulation in the tank.

If you wound up with a 75 (or really a 55, though IMO it would be a bit much), you could go with an FX5 canister and a spraybar for super biological and great flow. This is what I run on my 75's and I'm very pleased with them. The higher flow helps keep particles suspended longer which will help them get sucked up before settling in a dead spot. If my 75's weren't in the living room, where we want to reduce noise, I'd throw a couple HOB's on as well, just for water polishing and finer mechanical filtration.

Now that I think about it I do have one 55 that only has two HOB's on it, and it works fine, though the bioload isn't as heavy as yours.

It sounds like your Kenyi isn't the neurotic kind, so I'd stay the course, though be prepared to remove him IF he changes. I had a Kenyi for quite a while that was very peaceful, and made a great peacekeeper in my all male tank. They are famous for being aggressive but I never saw it... Just be ready, that's all people are saying.


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## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

I have anubias and amazon swords tied to some manzanita branches my cichlids seem to leave them alone


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## tcald429 (Dec 27, 2012)

DrTenochtitlan said:


> RedRaider15 said:
> 
> 
> > I love your tank, but how do you support the rocks. I have been keeping Malawi Cichlids for one year, but in a small tank. I just want to know how to aquascape like you did!
> ...


Where did you purchase that 3D background from?


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## DrTenochtitlan (Jun 17, 2012)

tcald429 said:


> DrTenochtitlan said:
> 
> 
> > RedRaider15 said:
> ...


Anyone who's interested in the background, PM me and I'll send the links for the US.


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