# diy background?



## balachel (May 24, 2008)

i'm making a diy background for fun and don't know if i should put it in my tank or not ,] it will probably end up 3-4 inches thick in some places and i have a 55 gallon and the width is only 13 and 1/2 inches do you think it will take up too much space and should save it for a 75 gal sometime in the future hopefully or just put it in the tank i got now? i can't decide.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

How about a 120? Some have the same size back as a 55 and 75, but just come forward more into the room.


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

yeah i wish but i dont have that much money or i don't think my parents would let me get one they already don't like how much money i put in to my fish already and i just bought this 55 like 2 days ago


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

by the way how do i put pictures on here? i've never done this before


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

It does matter what kind of cichlid you plan to put in the tank. Any of the Julidochromis are more interested in surface, rather than open water. They will spend most of their time hanging upside down under ledges, sideways on the background wall as if it was the floor, pretty much in any gravity-defying position convenient. They spend very little time hanging in midwater, so a 55 would be all they would need to enjoy the background now. it would only take a pair, or half a dozen unsexed "Julie" fry to eventually fill up a 55 with their offspring which can coexist together in a super family.


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

this is what i got in it right now its probably a little overcrowded tho
4 Labidochromis caeruleus (yellow lab) 
3 Metriaclima lombardoi (kenyi) 
1 Melanochromis johannii 
1 Metriaclima greshakei (ice blue) 
1 Melanochromis auratus 
2 Pseudotropheus crabro (bumble bee) 
1 Nimbochromis venustus 
1 unknown (in picture) 
1 unknown 
1 pleco 
1 ob peacock 
1 Metriaclima greshakei albino (albino ice blue) 
1 Metriaclima callainos (coblat zebra)


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Yes a bit crowded, plus the auratus and the crabro tend to be more aggressive, so you risk ending up either with bodies, or with hybrid fry.


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

actually they aren't very aggressive at least not yet the crabro chase someone every once and a while but thats about it and the auratus just hangs by himself digging all day


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Congrats on the new 55, I know it may seem big compared to whatever you had before but that is quite a lot of fish for a 55! They must be juvies, I'd ditch the auratus, crabro and the venustus ASAP. 
As far as posting pics, this should help. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=21085
I use webshots as a host but there really are dozens of choices, photobucket seems to be very popular.


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

i had a 55 before but it was broken and didn't want to fix it so i went to aquarium adventures and there was a sale got the 55 for $60.50 woooo lol. was going to get a 75 but don't have enough money build a stand and a hood and buy more sand just wasn't very convenient at the time although i'm probably going to regret it. so back to the first question do you guys think their will be enough room in the tank for the background ?


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

this is what i got done so far


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

Looks good so far. Did you incoporate any recesses for your equipment like heater, filter intakes, UGJ pump, etc.? If you haven't planned a space for those, you should, otherwise the would take up even more space.

I have a 55 and I went through the same dilema. I decided that for the species that I am housing it is essential that I have lots of caves to avoid excess aggression, so I opted to use real rocks to create the caves rather than incoporate them into a BG. IMO 10"+/- of usable width is a bit small, but to be honest by using real rocks I have much less than 10" of "open water" for more than 1/2 of the tank.

I think it is a judgment call, there is no right or wrong, it is more of a personal preference. You should consider any other decoration or aquascaping materials that you plan to use in conjunction with the bg.

With the stock that you have, I would plan for lots of caves to allow for plenty of territory for your more aggressive species. I am guessing that most of your fish are about 2" or less and most of those species can grow to 6". Once they mature you will see the aggression increase and if you don't have enough places for the weaker fish to hide, they will be attacked, chased, bitten, run down, and eventually they will die. I don't know what your long term plans are so if you plan to grow them up and start trading them in to your LFS when they get aggressive, then it is not as much of a problem. Just something to keep in mind.


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

well thanks for your input its very helpful. i was going to keep the rocks i already have which would really minimize the space but would make for tons of hiding spaces they each have plenty of room for their own caves right now so that wouldn't be to much of an issue.i dont know what to do yet


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

heres a picture of it in two pieces now









and a spot for the heater the filter intake and return will go in the tank behind rocks if i do end up using this.


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

also going to start the concrete today.


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