# 840 L/220 gal Tropheus tank



## canart (Jul 2, 2005)

Hi, after some time here is my new tank. Some details:

Volume: 840 L/220 gal
Dimensions: 190 x 62 x 70 (high) cm
Background: Back-to-nature Malawi white + 3 modules and some piece of slim BTN background
Sand: silica white
Rocks: white limestones
Filtration: internal, behind the background and 1 filtration module...both spaces filled with filtration foam, 2 powerheads.
Lighting: 1x21W daylight, 1x21W blue, 2x14W daylight T5 tubes
Fish: 
- Tropheus moori Chaitika - 21 WC (7:14)
- Tropheus sp. Ikola - 8 adult and 18 F1 young
- Eretmodus cyanostictus Kasanga - 8 WC (4:4)
- Callochromis macrops Ndole Red- 8 F1

The tank journal is here:http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=208532

The Chaitikas settled nicely and all species are breeding and holding ATM :lol:

The cycling tank...with Tropheus Ndole  No rocks yet 


















The whole look









Chaitika


























holding


















Hope you like the tank and fish


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## myjohnson (Dec 28, 2007)

Dude, super sweet tank and fish!


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## canart (Jul 2, 2005)

Thanks! IÃ‚Â´ve added rocks to the tank, so it looks much better now. The only thing which is nasty is the dark brown algae covering whole bacground. The background lost its 3D look and structure...but IÃ‚Â´ve added some Ancistrus and they started to do their job


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## dwhit0725 (Feb 29, 2008)

Thanks what I'm talking about. I need a background like that!


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## canart (Jul 2, 2005)

Newest pics...brown algae not fully removed but Ancistrus will do it  More rocks will be added too.


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## mobas4-life (Aug 11, 2008)

great looking tank and fish!!! :thumb:


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## flynn (Dec 20, 2005)

I will ask ... I'm always wondering, with this this of "behind the back ground" filtration ... How do you clean your sponges ?? Do you remove all the sponges from the space behind the BG to rinse them on a regular basis ? How often ? What power head do you use ?
Thanks !
And great looking tank !! :thumb:


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## canart (Jul 2, 2005)

Thank you!

Flynn: I think it will not be an issue as the cleaning will be necessary after years...I will clean the sponge which is placed on the suction site at the bottom time to time and it will be enough. This sponge filters the particles from the incoming water so the sponges behind the background will not clog and therefore will not accumulate the detritus. In case of need I will remove some of the sponge and rinse it...not all the sponges. It works like external filter, sump, but it is placed in the tank.
The powerhead is AquaClear 50 (Hagen) 990 L/h (260 gal/h)
The second powehead in the filter module is 660 L/h (175 gal/h)


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## flynn (Dec 20, 2005)

Thanks for the info. Robert.
It's amazing how low gph on those pumps and it's sufficient for such a large tank ! I have heard it before, but we are at the opposite with tanks that have to be filtered at 10 times (or way more!) the tank volume (for gph)... Meaning that you should have something like 2200 gph turn over (for your 220 gal) ... but your "not even 450 gph" does the job !!


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## canart (Jul 2, 2005)

Hi Flynn, I use to use much lower turnover in my tanks than other people do...But one thing is water movement (incl. the mechanical filtration) and the second is the biological filtration turnover. You can use much bigger turnover in the tank than biofiltration turnover. If the biofiltration turnover is high the biofiltration effectiveness will decrease. The bacteria need slower turnover to convert the amonia to nitrites and then to nitrates. Important is good water oxygenation in the tank with lower turnover as the bacteria require oxygen. So that's the differences in the turnover


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## eugenechng (Mar 2, 2006)

Great looking tank!! :thumb: I love the rockscape...


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