# A Calamity of Errors Tank



## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Looking for some help/advice/etc, please!

I've had Cichlids (mostly African) for about 3 years now (and other fish for about 4), and in that time I swear I've had some of the weirdest/worst luck imaginable regarding tanks. There have been tank failures, breakages, etc.. which lead to more and more fish being grouped together for 'emergency' purposes.

The tank above is a 125G acrylic tank (60"Lx18"Wx24"H).

I have a Rena Filstar XP3 running + an inline AquaUltraviolet 15W UV Classic sterilizer + a Lifeguard Aquatics inline heater + in-tank 300W heater as backup + a circulation pump & some airstones.

Here's the current load:

1 Frontosa (9") - VERY shy
3 Kennyi (1 5" yellow, 2 3" blue) - Large yellow is aggressive
2 different Plecos (1 8", 1 6") - Poop MACHINES
1 'Chinese Algae Eater" (5") - Very nicely behaved and efficient
2 Giant Dannios (4") - Faster than $#!^
2 Scissortail Rasbora (3") - Tiny and somehow uneaten
5 Black Skirt Tetra (1.5"-2.5") - See above, a couple have gotten fat
2 Silver Dollars (4") - Getting bigger
4 Bala Sharks (3 6", 1 4") - GETTING BIGGER, so cool though
1 Dinosaur Bichir (5") - Awesome little guy, afraid of him when he gets big though
2 OD Peacock (1 4" gray, 1 4" yellow/gray) - Both are timid
2 Peacock Cichlids (1 6" Orange, 1 4.5" Brownish) - Orange is the tank boss, other is very shy
1 Boeseman's rainbowfish (4") - Mild mannered
1 Convict Cichlid (4") - FAT
3 Jack Dempsey (2 4" (One almost black, one spotted), 1 8" (spotted)) - Large is very shy, other two less so

...and a partridge in a pear tree!
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31 fish(!)

This came about due to aggressive tank mates/friends giving up fish/moving/etc, we ended up needing to re-home more and more fish into the main tank. They've managed to survive and even thrive (a couple of the African Cichlids are 2nd generation). The 'community' fish stay towards the top, and have thus far avoided getting eaten. This 'arrangement' has been going on for about 9 months.

Most recently (last weekend), my 55G tank started leaking, and I had to toss my 20~ Convict Cichlids (Between 1.5"-3.5") into this tank as well, or lose them.

So we're at about 50 fish in a 125G tank (sigh).

Everyone has gotten along so far, no fights or fatalities or wounded looking fish. I need to re-do the aquascaping to make more caves, etc. Need more rocks. I know the Bala sharks are going to keep growing and eventually outgrow the tank themselves, thankfully they're still manageable at this point. I NEED to re-home a majority of the Convicts, but not sure who will take them. Only Big Box LFS in this area for the most part. Any other suggestions on which to part with? The plecos make SO MUCH POOP, I'm thinking of getting rid of one or both. The other algae eater does good work by himself. Levels so far seem decent.

IN the meanwhile..

I have a spare Eheim 2073 Profession 3 canister filter. Should I set the tank up as a dual-filter? This tank has ports built into the back, which are in use by the XP3. I guess I could hang the other input/output over the top, but there isn't much room/openings.

I'm trying to guess on feedings, little bit at a time to make sure I don't overfeed.. but its hard to make sure 50(!) fish get the food they need.

I want another water circulator on the other end of the tank. I think the one I have now is a Marineland one. Suggestions?

We're (relatively) poor (for Aquarium owners), so I'm trying not to break the bank with upgrades. I managed to get the tank + stand + filter + UV + heater + rocks for $120 off Craigslist. Thankfully it all worked properly.

Thanks for reading and any help/suggestions!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Which is your favorite fish? I can't detect a pattern. Try to choose a continent, and then a body of water.

Yes to the additional filter, and see if it improves your circulation making another purchase unnecessary.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> Which is your favorite fish? I can't detect a pattern. Try to choose a continent, and then a body of water.
> 
> Yes to the additional filter, and see if it improves your circulation making another purchase unnecessary.


Thanks. I'll try and get that setup tonight and see if it helps with the circulation.

The tank started as a Malawi-only tank. Then we inherited the Frontosa & Dempseys from someone giving them up (had been coexisting together already).

The community fish got mixed in when we moved, and their tank did not get setup & cycled in time and we started to lose a few while waiting.

We had 3 Convicts which managed to multiply into 20 after a breeding session. Oof.


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## Burner460 (Jul 24, 2014)

Find an LFS where you can trade for some others (even store credit is good since you'll need more filtration, especially if you choose mbuna).


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Mbuna or haps and peacocks?


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## Samadhikash (Jun 16, 2015)

Sounds like a score on the setup, but I'm sure you won't be surprised to get another +1 on the focus idea.

I'd definitely add more filtration. I've got an FX3 and an HOB on a 55g. And it only has two fish in it right now, lol (waiting for the N. pulcher to spawn).

I'm all about being able to keep a budget while keeping fish. If we all broke the bank on our fish tanks there would be about five people left in the hobby. But for sure, without a plan (and a mental machete to stay the path) it's easy to turn the hobby into money pit.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Got the Eheim 2073 connected yesterday, added a decent bit of circulation as well. The hoses were not long enough to reach where I wanted the intank/output to be, but I suppose it'll do. The new tank/cabinet is about 8" taller than the previous setup.










I also went and got some new large rocks to add to the aquascaping. Spent hours placing rocks, deciding I didn't like it, replacing them, deciding the fish didn't like it, and so on and so forth. Finally got it setup in a way that looked nice and made the fish happy.

The big Frontosa likes caves, so I built a big one where he can go in from the front or the back. The Convicts like to stick to little caves and hiding places, so I made a lot of those as well.

The rest seem to be content being free swimmers.

I got rid of (rehomed, not murdered) the large pleco, so hopefully that cuts down a little on the bio load (and poop!).

So now I have Eheim connected (something like ~275/GPH) and a Filstar XP3 (~350/GPH). So we're talking somewhere in the range of 625/GPH.. that's only turning over the tank 5 times per hour. Is that enough? The setup does not lend itself to HOB additional filtration, so I'd need to upgrade one of the canisters to get more GPH.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It's enough if you don't mind vacuuming.


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## Burner460 (Jul 24, 2014)

great looking tank, but i would definitely add more filtration. i would keep the Eheim (theyre really good at bio filtration) and add a fluval FX6 if you can get one on sale. up in Canada they've been on sale at PetSmart since boxing week - not sure about California though. you can never have too much filtration IMO

Also, not sure this was mentioned before but 3 kenyi is just asking for trouble...


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> It's enough if you don't mind vacuuming.


**** it. Haha I hate vacuuming all the time!



Burner460 said:


> great looking tank, but i would definitely add more filtration. i would keep the Eheim (theyre really good at bio filtration) and add a fluval FX6 if you can get one on sale. up in Canada they've been on sale at PetSmart since boxing week - not sure about California though. you can never have too much filtration IMO
> 
> Also, not sure this was mentioned before but 3 kenyi is just asking for trouble...


Yeah, starting to think you're right. The FX6 is on sale for $300 USD at Amazon right now, but that is the cheapest I can find. Whats a 'good' price to be had? I see they discontinued the FX5 (replaced by FX6 I guess). That filter looks great though, but a little out of the budget at the moment I think. Got to keep my eyes peeled for a sale or discount somewhere..

Holy **** actually having semi-decent filtration is great. The tank is SUPER clear at the moment running the two filters. I'd always assumed the marketing "Good for UP TO 175 Gallons!" was being truthful and accurate.. so I have been under filtering my tanks.. since forever. I'm guessing this will make the fish much happier.

Regarding the Kenyi.. yeah. The big yellow one ( about 5.5 inches) is a bully. He sticks mostly to his area though, loves to dig up the gravel and generally be a pain. He was an "Generic African Cichlid" at the big box fish store. At some point he must have bred with the OB Peacock cichlid, as I ended up with two smaller, blue kenyi-looking cichlids and 1 OB Peacock cichlid offspring, but he's yellow and shaped like the Kenyi. None of them are even remotely aggressive though.

The Convicts look like some of them are starting to pair off.. ugh. Trying to catch them in the tank is really hard too. Hopefully with that many fish in there not many babies will survive? Kind of amazing seeing them stand up to fish 4x their size.


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## Burner460 (Jul 24, 2014)

If you don't want any babies, I would suggest getting a group of synodontis multipunctatus catfish. A group of 10 would be awesome in a tank that size.

Regarding the filter, what you want is a high gph rating, regardless of what the marketing on the box says. So yeah, $300 usd for an fx6 might be on the average side for that canister, I got mine for $339 Canadian, which would be cheaper than that with the exchange rate. Still, I'd say it's a very worthwhile investment. I have mine filtering a 75g tank, alongside a HOB rated for another 300gph...


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Burner460 said:


> If you don't want any babies, I would suggest getting a group of synodontis multipunctatus catfish. A group of 10 would be awesome in a tank that size.
> 
> Regarding the filter, what you want is a high gph rating, regardless of what the marketing on the box says. So yeah, $300 usd for an fx6 might be on the average side for that canister, I got mine for $339 Canadian, which would be cheaper than that with the exchange rate. Still, I'd say it's a very worthwhile investment. I have mine filtering a 75g tank, alongside a HOB rated for another 300gph...


Would the Synodontis be effective against Convicts? I read a little about the catfish and it seems they're designed to work with mouthbrooders and I believe the Convicts leave their eggs on the ground until they hatch? Those do look really cool though. I'll have to check and see if the LFS has any.

I do want the FX6.. it looks awesome. Just think its out of the budget at the moment. Would it be worthwhile to look for an older FX5? They seem pretty similar.

Thanks!


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## Burner460 (Jul 24, 2014)

Yup, FX5 is just as good, just not as energy efficient apparently. I know someone who has 2 of them filtering a 50 fullgrown-Malawi, 225g tank with zero issues.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Synodontis will eat fish eggs and fry. It's only spawning that they do with mouthbrooders.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Ah that makes sense.

Thank you for the info!


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Any idea where to find Synodontis Multipunctatus? My LFS said they don't have them and not sure if they will.

Can't find them anywhere online either. Are they seasonal?


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Here's a short video of the tank in action (OneDrive):

http://1drv.ms/1mgMCGI

Sheesh that's a lot of fish.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Not seasonal. I've seen them online today.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> Not seasonal. I've seen them online today.


Went to a different LFS and they're going to see about getting these in.

Well, two weeks later and no casualties! *knocks on wood*

I went and got a bunch more rocks (70lbs) and rescaped the tank for the most part. I'll try to get new pictures tonight, I keep forgetting.

I created a center 'tower' of rocks that ascends up almost to the waterline (maybe 3 inches below). THAT took a lot of work getting it stable. Found some nice large flat rocks to use thankfully. The fish seem to like it, as the different large fish have laid claim to different levels.

The large male Kennyi occupies the lowest part, along with an occasional plecostomus buddy.

The large make Peacock inhabits the top level.

The large Jack Dempsey tends to stick to the middle.

The community fish stick to the left side of the tank and/or the top 1/3rd of the tank.

The Convict Cichlids have taken over the lower right side of the tank and seem to be content with that. Haven't seen them bother anyone else yet.

The large Frontosa lives in a cave I made, right in the middle of the Convicts. They stay out of his cave and he seems to mostly ignore them. I'd say 6-7 of the Convicts are easily small enough to be swallowed (1-2 inches), but the Front seems to be content eating the sinking pellets instead.

The rest of the African's tend to intermingle with the community fish on the left side of the tank.

I added a 2nd circulation pump, and it got a pretty good current going. I am still on the lookout for a decent priced FX5 or FX6, but $300 USD is the cheapest I've found, and it's just not in the budget at the moment unfortunately. The additional filtration helped a lot, but I can tell it could still use more.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

Update time!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..

Lost a few fish here and there..

2 Scissortail Rasbora - Likely eaten, they were pretty small.
5 Black Skirt Tetra (1.5"-2.5") - Also likely eaten, just started disappearing. Never caught the assailant.
1 Dinosaur Bichir (5") - He would disappear for long stretches of time (months), then pop up again and act normal. Finally one day I spotted him and he wasn't moving  
1 'Chinese Algae Eater" (5") - Was fine one day, the next day kaput. Not sure what happened.

Otherwise things were going along swimmingly for months, until DISASTER STRUCK!

While doing a cleaning I had moved the filter output jets so I could clean behind them, but when I put them back in place they were not properly providing surface agitation. I also have two wave makers in the tank, but one had died and I was awaiting a replacement. The 2nd one was aimed at the surface and provided pretty good agitation on its own.. however at some point during the night the hinge gave out/slipped/something and so it was pointed down. I got up and fed the fish in the morning half asleep and didn't notice anything, went to work, and when I got home a bunch of the fish had expired  I couldn't figure it out for a minute then realized there was nothing putting oxygen in the water.. le sigh.

Lost:

3 Kennyi (1 5" yellow, 2 3" blue)
2 Giant Dannios (4")
1 Silver Dollars (4")
4 Bala Sharks (3 6", 1 4")
2 OD Peacock
1 Peacock Cichlids (1 6" Orange) 
1 Boeseman's rainbowfish (4")
2 Jack Dempsey (1 4" (One almost black), 1 8" (spotted))

So now I am left with the following fish:

1 Frontosa (8" long, pretty mellow)
1 Jack Dempsey (7" long, typically very dark, mellow as well)
1 Silver Dollar (4" long, active)
1 Peacock Cichlid (6" long, brownish, 2nd generation fish)
1 Upside down Catfish (6" long, unknown what type)
20-25 Convict Cichlids (2"-5" long.. so many of them)

Here's a more recent picture of the setup..










So it's turn mostly into a Central American tank, I guess. The Convicts breed like no other, though since I got the catfish there seems to be a LOT less fry that make it. The fish all get along decently, there is no fighting or chasing going on. Most of the fish avoid the top 1/3rd of the tank though. The Convicts just school together mostly. Occasionally they will pair off, but it hasn't happened too often lately.

I really want to give the Convicts to someone, there are just so many of them, and frankly they are not very interesting or social. The 2nd generation Peacock (offspring of two of our RIP fish) is so used to me he'll come right to the top to feed and doesn't move when I stick my hand in there to clean. Going to try and see if any of the local places will take some of the Convicts.

I did upgrade to the Fluval FX6 canister filter.. that thing is a beast. I love how its designed. I'm pairing it with the Rena Filstar XP3, though I feel like that filter is on the way out, as the flow has gone down significantly. I need to try and take it apart to see if I can figure out what is going on. I was thinking about replacing it with a FX4, which seems to be the FX6 little brother. Does anyone have any experience with these?


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

you will end up with billions of convicts and likely only convicts if you dont get rid of most of them. I have seen it happen A guy went from four in a 125 gallon to probably 400 in a short time. less than a year.


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## EnemyNSA (Jan 27, 2016)

RayMontana said:


> you will end up with billions of convicts and likely only convicts if you dont get rid of most of them. I have seen it happen A guy went from four in a 125 gallon to probably 400 in a short time. less than a year.


Yeah.. they breed like no other.

Since I got the catfish I have only seen 1, maybe 2, fry survive long enough to grow big enough to avoid the other predators. Most of the adult Convicts I have now was from when they were in their own tank.

That being said, I want to try and re-home them.. but would probably need to rehome ALL of them, as if I go back to a couple they'll probably just spawn more again.

On the other hand.. I feel somewhat responsible for them.. decisions decisions.


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