# 75 Gallon cichlid newbie tank [56k warning]



## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

Hey all,

Okay I think I am finally ready to get the ball rolling, I have asked about a million questions on this forum and I appreciate everyones answers and patience! I am going to start a thread and document as I get this thing setup, I would appreciate input/suggestions!

*Equipment*
75 Gallon glass aquarium
Eheim 2217 Canister filter
Single T12 Flourescent strip
Hydor 300W In-Line heater

*Here we go*









_An image inside the tank with the room lights off_


















_The reflections on the glossy black background_



















The substrate is "rainbow river rock" purchased at Ace hardware for a couple bucks, I used 100 lbs of it, it's small and all rocks are completely smooth, and I like the muted colors (but less bland than say pea gravel). I chose rock over sand because it's something I'm familiar with, and it's easy to clean. Also, talking to other Cichlid owners it seems plants to better in rock because the Cichlids have less of a tendency to dig them up.

The "big rocks" are tumbled edgers, also from Ace, basically cut rocks that have been tossed in a big tumbler two of the rocks still have a big, smooth chunk that didn't "chip" and is silky smooth and looks freshly cut, I think those are going to be prime spots for fry!

I plan on adding some more rocks for more caves, right now there are about 15 spots (including the pots) that I feel could be used as caves (nooks and crannies small enough for a fish but not big enough for two). I'm going to add more but my Cichlid count is going to be around 15 anyway.

As far as stocking, I've been looking at a couple of those cookie cutter setups but I am open to suggestions, I really like _Pseudotropheus saulosi_, and yellow labs, but I'm also liking that Acei/lab setup on this site, I think I'll play with it some more and see what works. I think I want to stick with more peaceful ones just in the fact that I will likely be purchasing them from a local fish store, as juveniles, so it will be difficult to get proper male to female ratios.

Also, I was thinking about picking up a cheap 10 gallon tank and sticking it on a shelf below this tank (It's on a commercial grade, 1500 lb per shelf rack that I reinforced further), and circulating water from the 75 into the 10 and using the 10 as a grow out tank, the idea is that by circulating water from the 75 there is no need for heat or filtration on the 10 gallon, and they can be easily switched between tanks.

Thanks for looking!

John


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## Bearbear (May 8, 2010)

Like the 10 gal idea, might work on something similar.
Looks good so far. :thumb:


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## upthecreek (Dec 27, 2009)

Hi.

Your equipment selection is good but I would go a much finer gravel or sand bottom. Get rid of the flower pots or hide them behind the rocks. The main rocks look too man made and do not seem t have the random look that is found in nature. If possible holey stone is great ...very pours and riddled with fine holes for fry etc plus acts a a buffer.


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## Chriis (May 16, 2010)

Nice!

Put water in!

Cycle is long way to fish!


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

upthecreek said:


> Hi.
> 
> Your equipment selection is good but I would go a much finer gravel or sand bottom. Get rid of the flower pots or hide them behind the rocks. The main rocks look too man made and do not seem t have the random look that is found in nature. If possible holey stone is great ...very pours and riddled with fine holes for fry etc plus acts a a buffer.


It's a no on the sand, the substrate I picked is there to stay. I appreciate the suggestions but I prefer the idea of this thin layer of gravel that's easy to keep clean and I think, still looks good.

Also, I actually like the flower pot look, I know it's not "natural" but neither are glass walls, I am going to see how I can tweak the big rocks to make it looks more natural, any suggestions? Maybe two piles on each side? Keep in mind it will be planted too.

Thanks!



Chriis said:


> Nice!
> 
> Put water in!
> 
> Cycle is long way to fish!


Thanks, and I don't have the Canister yet, so I'm not going to fill it until I do, (although it has been filled, just drained again)

Thanks all!

John


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## Chriis (May 16, 2010)

If you have, or can borrow a temporary Hang on tank filter, you can cycle your tank and seed your canister when it arrive,..just a suggestion

for your rock, go outside with them, and try to shape em with a chisel and a hammer, if you have any spare , maybe they are easy to shape.

give a lot of little shocks, instead of a big destructive one

by the way they are not ugly at all, just maybe too human shaped


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## Cichlidude (Feb 7, 2010)

Nice tank. You should shrink your pictures down from 500K to about 80K too.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

Thanks Chriis,

The only extra HOTB filter I have is a whisper EX20 10-20G filter I used to use on a 10G of mine, (that I now use a 30 gallon filter on because I'm overstocking it). I did fill that tanks current filter with extra fluval biomax though, that I plan on using to seed the canister.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

Hey all,

Okay I'm going to reupload those photos smaller (like I thought I originally had, but I didn't), anyway, and ask the mods really really nicely to edit the post for me with the new links.

Quick update, I moved the rocks to the back and stacked them much tighter, also, rather than them being longways, "parallell" to the front glass of the tank, some are perpendicular and some are at an angle, I think that this achieves a more natural look. I'm also thinking about making a "U" of tall rock structures around the back and sides of the tank, leaving a big open water area in front, thoughts? Right now there are 10 of those big rocks in there, I think I may go to 20, possibly more.

My other thought (which will require more rock) is to stack rocks all the way to the top on the back glass, to make a real 3D background of sorts, stacked thick where the intake strainer and spray bar will be, and the holes will reveal the black background so it will still look like the tank is "deeper", any thoughts? Has anyone done something similar?


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## sevmeera (Aug 8, 2009)

The need for finer substrate is not purely a cosmetic one, many african cichlids eat crustaceans that live in the sand of their "native" lakes, and they "eat" the sand as part of their natural behavior, you will notice them do this constantly as part of their foraging nature, also a great deal of cichlids will dig in the substrate to form nests on which to spawn. Not having sand as a substrate certainly won't harm the fish, but it takes away from what they perceive to be a natural environment and may affect their overall behaviors, for what it's worth, just another 2 cents.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

Thanks Sevmeera!

I have asked that question 5 individual times, three times in this forum (once I started a topic, with no conclusive answers except that gravel was easier to clean, and a few people posted the link on how to clean the sand, but nobody mentioned why one was superior to the other, the whole topic was about cleaning, the other two were in other topics where I asked hoping to get a more definite answer) Not complaining or anything, you guys are great, but for some reason that's the one questions I could never get a straight answer to, in essence, does it matter to the fish? I came to the conclusion that it was like Algae, aesthetic, and in some situations harmful, but usually does not affect the fish (which is why I went with a smooth/small gravel- to stay out of that 'sometimes harmful' bracket). The only straight answer I had to go buy was the LFS owner, owner of a Cichlid-only store who had several show tanks at home who said he, personally, saw no real advantage to sand other than aesthetics, he did say it was more natural, but he thought that it wasn't worth it (hard to clean, eats up impellers when it gets kicked up, etc.)

I really appreciate you clearing that up for me, but just to clarify, am I going to be doing anything _harmful_ to the fish by keeping gravel in there? It's all cheap but it seems like a waste since it's already setup, and I am kind of attached to the look of that particular rock. Additionally I'm still not quite sold on the sand, yes I know 'how' to clean it, I've seen the video and read the articles, but I still think I will prefer gravel.

Thanks!

John


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## sevmeera (Aug 8, 2009)

The only thing that would harm the fish is if the gravel were rough, in that case the fish would try to perform its sand eating and the rough substrate may irritate its gills, as they often pass sand through their gills when foraging. The gravel definitely won't physically harm the fish, but it may affect their spawning behaviors ( if you are planning on breeding ), and might affect their "eating" rituals. Mine will eat all of the food that they can see, then spend an hour or so "chuffing" ( my word for the behavior) the sand looking for bits that have been missed. I had the exact same gravel as you in my first cichlid tank, before I realized I had to upgrade the size of the tank, I had bought a peacock cichlid on a whim and had placed him in a 25 gallon, which I then was told was waaay too small of a tank. Anyways, the peacock would take single pebbles in his mouth and move them around in an effort to forage, it was kinda pathetic to watch in hindsight.
Another reason to like sand is that the fish poop and leftover food cannot sink into it, and it stays on the surface, so in my opinion, even though it is easier to suck up sand in the siphon, you end up having to move less decor as you can fan around to get the poop where you can suck it up, without having to move all the heavy rocks around. Again, just my opinion, it's not going to make or break anything.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

Okay so I took your suggestions, added rock and moved it towards the back, I also tried to make it look less stacked but I'm not very creative, so here it is for now, until I change it again haha.










(By the way there is a good amount of swimming room in front of the rocks, but in the pics it doesn't look that way, who knows. But now the tank is filled and no filtration until tomorrow so if I took a top down pic all you would see is surface scum!)

-John


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## hessels92 (Mar 15, 2010)

just a tip the fishes might want some water


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## Cherryd69 (Jul 5, 2010)

hessels92 said:


> just a tip the fishes might want some water


 :lol:

:fish: "wheres my water?"

Anyway, back to the OP. I have to agree with pp, get rid of the pots, failing that get some tank safe silicone and cover them with gravel? this way it blends in more.
They stand out, far too much of an eyesore.

As others have also said, it dosnt look very natural... very sharp edged and the gravel looks huge.

but i suppose its what ever floats your boat, time was that i used to like very bright colour tanks (omg how i did change!)
If you got your rock from a D.I.Y store, why didnt you buy the more rounded stuff instead? was it a personal preferance or was it a cost thing? (sorry just asking.)


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

The rock was a "what was available in a small town with nothing else for an hour" preference, and the edges are much smoother than the pictures give them credit for, blocky and jagged yes but nothing is sharp.

I may still get rid of the pots, I dunno I liked them, though I never liked the bright color pink and purple tanks haha!

And the tank IS filled in the newest pic!

Also quick update, I was going to order an eheim 2217 but I decided instead on just going with an Aquaclear 110, I was going to get an AC70 possibly as well, but Petsmart had the Rena 55 filters being cleared out for 13 bucks! (250gph), I have their 30G version on one of my other tanks and it's been a champ, so I decided to go with it to supplement the AC110, it's much louder than the AC110 but it's doing its job.

Also, as far as the rocks, I COULD get holey rock or otherwise from some of the fish stores in St.Louis, but for the price of one piece I have the entire rockscape in here, as well as about 5 extra rocks.


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