# Newbie just signed up...



## Farside (Mar 14, 2009)

Hi my is Danny, I have just bought and set up my first cichlid aquarium, I bought a Juwel 125 RIO complete set up, I also bought a pump and a couple of airstones, Plus loads of lava rock, sand and a few robust plants.

The fish i have in the set up are:

6 x Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Lab), 
12 x Pseudotropheus Demasoni, 
1 x Synodontis Petricola.

I know this is a lot for a 125 litre, But i was told that control crowding will help with the aggression, Which it did, A lot. I also do a water change every 3 - 4 days.

Here's my set up so far, The slate tunnel is out of place haha, I bought it on ebay as i needed a flat rock/surface to try get the fish to court and breed.








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I have a few questions for you proffesionals haha...

1) Will the Synodontis Petricola eat the same food i feed to my cichlids?

I feed them the following:

A: JBL GRANA CICHLID, 
B: JBL NOVO GRANOVERT MINI, 
C: JBL NOVO GRANOCOLOR MINI.

If not then what is the best food to feed it?

2) I had a problem in my small aquarium that i set up for fry (if i ever get chance to actually get my fish to bloody have any haha), 1 of the female demasoni i bought was holding, I didn't manage to save all of them, I only saved 1 fry (pic below) as it was the only one i saw hiding under a rock in my main aquarium, The others must have been eaten by the other adult fish. Anyway back to the prob:








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I had 1 baby demasoni in the small fry aquarium for about 1 week, He was eating very well, And seemed happy to have a full set up all to himself. Then all of a sudden he dissapeared, One morning i was putting fry food (liquid food drops) into the aquarium and i was wondering where the **** he was as he usually hurrys out of his hiding place as soon as i open the lid, He was well trained in the art of eating you see lol. Then i noticed small bits of grey mould on the slate, plants and surrounding things in the tank, Then after closer inspection i found the baby dead, I was proper gutted. Does anyone know what caused this grey mould? It wasn't there the night before, Then it just appeared in the morning and my poor fish was dead.

I have emptied nearly all the water out of the tank and cleaned the rocks then filled up the aquarium with fresh water (i left a bit of water in the tank so i didn't have to cycle it again) and added the de-chlorinator etc etc.

Does anyone know what the cause was of this grey mould? Was it from the dead fish? Or do you think it was what caused the fish to die? It suddenly appeared over night from nowhere.

What chemical treatment can i put in the aquarium to prevent this from happening again?


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

the cats will eat watever they can get their mouths around...and as for what killed ure fry idk and im sorry for your loss


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## edouthirt (Jan 22, 2008)

Welcome to the forum!!

hmmm grey mold? no clue... Was the tank properly cycled? any significant temp fluctuations at all? sorry for your loss...

also, you can take the slate tunnel out. if proper water parameters are maintained, and the fish stay healthy and happy... they will breed regardless. My mbuna breed like rabbits, however I never remove fry or holding females, so not many fry survive, but a few have. I have no interest in breeding for profit, however I strive to maintain suitable conditions for spawning because I feel that it is the best indicator that fish are thriving. :thumb:

Where did you get your fish? Do you plan on selling fry?


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## Tcarswell (Mar 18, 2009)

Welcome. This place seems pretty dead. You got like 90 views and two replies. My noob thread got one negative reply about my setup and no welcomes in like 30 views.


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## edouthirt (Jan 22, 2008)

> This place seems pretty dead. You got like 90 views and two replies. My noob thread got one negative reply about my setup and no welcomes in like 30 views.


It can be hit or miss, but I believe in time that you will see this site as one of the most valuable sources for information on this hobby. There are many very experienced and helpful members on this site. The moderators in particular are fantastic.

Keep in mind that a lot of people may be roaming around the site and not feel comfortable replying to a topic because perhaps they really don't know enough about it. That will give you 90 views and 2 replies.

Trust me... you probably don't want all 90 people replying... you will walk away more confused then when you first showed up!! :thumb:


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## howajj (Apr 8, 2009)

welcome farside. this is by far the best site for cichlid owners. whatever your question you will find answers. many different answers usually but pick the majority usually and things work out great. again welcome! :thumb:


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## Tcarswell (Mar 18, 2009)

edouthirt said:


> > This place seems pretty dead. You got like 90 views and two replies. My noob thread got one negative reply about my setup and no welcomes in like 30 views.
> 
> 
> It can be hit or miss, but I believe in time that you will see this site as one of the most valuable sources for information on this hobby. There are many very experienced and helpful members on this site. The moderators in particular are fantastic.
> ...


I have learned this is very true. Thanks bro .


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## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

General does not seem to be the busiest area of this forum.... if it were me, I would ask your question in the area that best fits the questions that you have.... like in this case, I would probably have posted this either in the 'African Cichlids' area, or better yet, just in the 'Lake Malawi' area...

It takes a little while to learn where you will get the best response but you get it eventually!!

Also, I read alot but since I am still fairly new to cichlids, I don't always feel qualified enough to answer when I know that there are alot more experienced people out there....


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

This was originally posted in March and updated in May. I'm not sure why we are replying now, but hopefully Farside got some other replies before this, LOL!


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## Farside (Mar 14, 2009)

Well it's been a fun 2 years...

I started with a Juwel Rio 125 (Malawi Mbuna grow out tank), 
Then bought 2 fry tanks (For my fry), 
Then bought a 4ft tank (For a oscar grow out, Then it turned into a community tank),
Then bought a 5ft rena aqualife (Malawi Mbuna, Hap and Peacock).

So i had 5 tanks in my tiny house LOL!! :lol:

Then sold them all off, Had a break and now i have:

6.6ft Rena Aqualife (Tropheus)

Juwel Vision 180 (Small Mbuna)

1 fry tank

1 grow out tank

I went through malawi's, Oscars (Briefly), General community (More briefly), Back to malawis, Now 2 years later i am with Malawis and Tanganyika's (Tropheus). Tropheus are in a 6.6ft Renna Aqualife and small Mbuna are in a juwel vision 180.

Ha ha.

*The Rio 125 mbuna grow out tank in the end:*


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*The 4ft:*



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Sorry no pics of the lovely tiger oscars i had 

*The 5ft in different in set ups:*

1st was not a good one as it was my first attempt, Tank was too big for the amount of rock i had, But i got better later on haha:



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2nd attempt looked bloody aweful but for my mbuna it was spot on, Nothing could have been better, Bit of a pain stripping the tank down to catch holding females though!! 


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3rd attempt much better:



*Some of the Mbuna, Peacocks and lake vic fish from the 5ft:*

*Demasoni:*



*Crabro:*



*Afra Hara:*



*Red rubin:*



*Flavus:*



*Afra jalo reef:*



*Red orchid:*



I even had lake vic fish in here too haha:

*SP44:*



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Finally i now have sold off almost all my fish and tanks:

Now i have:

*Juwel Rio 180 vision for my dwarf Mbuna:*


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*My pride and joy, My Rena 6.6ft beast for Tropheus:*


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Some great pictures and fish, thanks for sharing and welcome back to the forum.


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