# First Cichlid (Mbuna) Tank / Lots of Pics / Need Feedback



## crod1423 (Jan 27, 2014)

This is only the third tank I've ever started in my life. When I was really young I had a 10 gallon tank that I just crammed fish in that I liked. Not the greatest outcome obviously and I lost interest.

I had a 15 gallon tetra tank that my son and I started and saw success so we tried our hand at a 48" 75 gallon tank. It's been a work in progress for the last 8 months.

I bought the tank used. It was a saltwater setup and the tank had a ton of scratches. I did all the buffing work myself. This is what it looked like after weeks of removing scratches and buffing. 









This was the final project before adding fish. The fishless cycle took five weeks, but I was determined to do it right. 









It was a battle getting all of the fish into the tank. I ordered from a vendor on this site and they were awesome, BUT Delta cargo lost my fish in Atlanta (I'm in L.A. and vendor is in FL) for four extra days. Had to drip acclimate because of low PH and all the fish have made it for three weeks except for the 5 Acei which were dead on arrival. Vendor was kicking himself for putting them in the same bag and has given me a full refund.Two of the Acei made it and one I was sure was dead I didn't acclimate for three hours. He just sat out on top of a plastic sack. He survived. His name is Lazarus. 

















The stocklist is 6 Metriaclima sp. Blue Dolphins. 1m/5f
6 Labs/ 1m/5f
2 Acei
4 Syndontis Cats. Luccipinis

Female Blue Dolphin









Big Daddy Yellow Lab









Good looking lab female









Anyway, I'd LOVE to have some feedback, the good, the bad and the ugly about what you think. Again, this is the first cichlid tank I've ever set up and I did a lot of due diligence to try to do it right. Thanks to everyone on this site who answered my questions or anyone I searched and received answers from!


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## Jeff1192 (Aug 19, 2014)

Love the setup. Looks awesome. I might be tempted to add a few more rocks to the pile on the left. Your tank is similar to the look I'm hoping to achieve with the 90 gallon I'm in the process of setting up.

Jeff


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## Chester B (Dec 28, 2012)

Looks great! And I think a pretty good outcome for what occurred. My only recommendation would be to get the replacement acei to get your numbers up a bit. You may find you might need to add some additional fish to keep the harmony later on.


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## crod1423 (Jan 27, 2014)

Thanks Chester and Jeff! I'm working with the vendor on getting the fish here ASAP. He is trying to wait for the shipping to refunded so I don't have any additional costs. Do you think that the rocks are high enough on the left? Jeff mentioned it and it is something that has been bothering me.


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## Chester B (Dec 28, 2012)

I think its a matter of personal taste. I like it the way it looks, but I also think it would look good with more rocks. In my opinion I rather have fewer very large rocks than a whole bunch of small or medium ones. The one problem with putting too many rocks in is that it takes up space and decreases the actual amount of water in your tank.


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## cumbrianewbie (Jul 25, 2013)

Wow, where can I get one of those impressive colour changing stands ?

That stand has gone from Brown to White and then to Black within three pictures 

The tank looks great by the way. I must admit that the thought of a fish delivery being delayed is the worst nightmare of most fish keepers. At least some survived though. Here in the UK, with our cold climate, that would be pretty much impossible unfortunately.


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## boomer92 (Apr 17, 2013)

Great tank all around. Like your stock list, almost exactly what I would pick if I am blessed with the opportunity to do a bigger tank some day. Agreed on replacing the acei to increase numbers. As far as the rock scape: agreed with Kanorin that it is personal preference, and it looks nice the way it is, nice choice of rocks. If it was me, I would probably add just a little more on the left to add a little more variation in rock height. Would also give a few more caves. Just got my first cichlids 4 days ago and it is amazing how much those caves get used! Anyway, congrats on the great tank, and I'll be following!


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## crod1423 (Jan 27, 2014)

Thanks boomer! I do think I'll add a few more rocks on the left side. My wife wants some plants but I told her to think about it and now the rocks cape is growing on her so hopefully I avoid it. I'm chomping at the bit to increase the numbers.

Cubrianewbie the stand is actually still white I just turned the light off to take pictures.

Anyone with experience or knowledge with the sp. Manda's know if it is natural that they are supposed to be as black as mine often appear to be as juveniles?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Setup looks very good. If anything, I'd add a very large rock to the right, about a third of the way from the end of the tank. As it is now, there is not much of a territory there.

Other than that, it's a great setup and something to be proud of.

Can't comment on the M. sp. 'dolphin' as I've never kept them. Give them some more time to settle in.


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## crod1423 (Jan 27, 2014)

Thanks for the replies guys. It's been an awesome experience so far. The fish have so much personality. Hoping to fill out the rest of the tank soon with the additional Acei.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I haven't kept them and can't seem to find any pictures of juvenile Met sp. Dolphin online, but based on keeping other juvenile Metriaclima, the grey coloration is about what I would expect at this size. Hopefully you'll start to see your males coloring up more in a month or two.


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## Chester B (Dec 28, 2012)

I just picked up the one and only of these dolphin manda at my LFS and it looks just like yours.


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