# My new 72g Bowfront Malawi tank



## shelbynjakesdad (Mar 13, 2013)

I first fell in love with Malawi cichlids when I set up a 55 gallon mbuna tank. Unfortunately, some major life changes occurred and I didn't keep the tank. You can see details of that tank here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=256702

I knew when I got rid of that tank that I'd be setting up another tank soon... so now the time has come! I have a 29 gallon reef tank (with a sump) and love that setup. For those reasons, I decided from the beginning I'd "borrow" some things I've learned from the marine side for this build. I found a great deal on a reef-ready 72 gallon bowfront with a 20g long sump. I have not owned a bowfront before and they have always intrigued me, so I picked it up. It was previously set up as saltwater, so it was perfect for what I wanted to do.

Here is a pic of the tank (and my goofy son who thinks he's part fish):









As I said, I wanted to use some marine "concepts" for this build, so I'm running pretty slow flow through the sump. I'm running a Hydor L40 return that probably flows about 350 gph at the head height I'm running. I have two Jebao wavemakers that came with the tank to provide flow to keep detritus from settling. These things do a fantastic job, no dead spots. I set up a "Herbie" drain and love it, completely silent.

In the sump I have two 2-inch thick poret foam sheets, first 10ppi, then 30ppi forming something that kind of resembles a matten filter. After that, the water flows through some "live" rock. I had some extra dry rock which is totally dead, but it is actual marine rock. I love it because it's so porous and will be great for nitrifying bacteria and harden the water a bit as well. To polish the water and add mechanical filtration, I put some poly-fil in one of the baffles. That's all I'm using as media. It works great and processes large doses of ammonia. Here's a pic of my sump (I have more rock in the center section now):









I saw this sitting in my garage and a light bulb went off in my head:








I'm going to try to build a algae scrubber!

I zip tied some nylon mesh to an extra pvc pipe:









Siliconed the pole socets to my sump, and inserted the mesh. Water flows across the mesh, which floats, and I added a clip on shop light above it. I'm pretty sure this will work great... but we will see. It was pretty much free, so no biggie if it doesn't.








Since this mesh lifts right out, it will be easy to clean once the algae starts growing!

Here's another shot of the sump. Like I said, I also added some more rock in the center section after I took this pic. I borrowed some poly-fil from a cycled FW tank that was full of **** to seed the tank, so that's why it looks so dingy already! 









Ok, that's all for now... Since it's fully cycled, I've actaully got some fish in there already, I'll post more in a bit...


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## shelbynjakesdad (Mar 13, 2013)

I went to the local landscape supply and found some nice black bassalt "mini boulders" for $0.10 per pound. I bought 270lbs and used about 225lbs of them to build my aquascape! For substrate, I finally found tan pool filter sand after going to 4 different pool/spa stores. I ended up using about 65-70 lbs to get a 1.5 - 2" sand bed. I'm very happy with the look I was able to achieve. It's very open, yet still lots of hiding places... Here is the full tank shot:


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

Good looking set up! That one rock though from the pic looks like it could fall over?


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## craigyboy (Jun 20, 2015)

Looking good. With the algae scrubber are you going to run a airstone under it. From what I have read you will get better results doing that. But looking great. What fish are in there and what are you hoping to stock in the future.


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## shelbynjakesdad (Mar 13, 2013)

For fish, I'm going a try something a little unconventional. Some people may tell me it might not work... but I'm giving it a shot. I'll monitor it closely and make adjustments if problems arise. I love mbuna groups for their activity and color, my 55 was really great. When I had that tank, I was given some "orphaned" hybrid peacocks (an OB and Dragon's Blood) from a friend who was tearing down his tank. I din't really know what to expect, but grew to love those fish. They fit right in with my somewhat aggressive mbuna (Hara and Msobo) and had amazing personality - I could pick them up by hand! For that reason, I knew I wanted a few Haps and/or Peacocks for this build...

Anyway, I was able to save my group of Labidichromis perlmutts from my 55 - so they are currently in there. I plan to remove a few extra males and get them down to 1M and 3-4F. My dominant male (about 2") isn't the most colorful fish, but possibly the best looking fish I've ever seen. You MUST see him in person to understand, but this pic is fairly decent:








(beleive it or not, that was shot with my iPhone!)

Here is another pic of him, with 2 females:








I love these fish, and they are very mild, low aggression, and stay pretty small. Some think they are a variant of the yellow lab, so that may explain things. Most agree that a few labs can be kept with Haps / Peacocks, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In addition, the first mbuna I ever wanted was Pseudotropheus saulosi. They are probably questionable compatibility wise, but I decided that I'd try. I've seen reports that they can work, so we will see. I plan to keep a small group 1M, 4F. Mine are very tiny right now, just about an inch long:









Rounding out my cichlid stock is a small male Placidichromis electra, "Deep Water Hap". He's just under 2" and doing great so far. He always looks good and is constantly chewing on sand - I love watching this guy. Here is a pic:









Finally, I have a group of 4 Synodontis lucipinnis:









I hope to add 2 or 3 male Peacocks or small Haps. If it doesn't work and the Haps / Peacocks appear stressed by the mbuna, then I'll change things up and either go all mbuna or Hap / Peacock... not sure yet.


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## shelbynjakesdad (Mar 13, 2013)

JimA said:


> Good looking set up! That one rock though from the pic looks like it could fall over?


The big one on the left does look unstable in the picture, but trust me, I've made sure they are solid... I'm not chancing a 30+ pound rock tumbling down. It leans back against the overflow, would take an earthquake to move it.


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## Ilikecichlids44 (May 22, 2015)

Beautiful!


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## Yates (Mar 18, 2015)

Here's my 20 gallon long sump for my 75 gallon drilled tank. Water is perfect and I have about 26 cichlids in tank. 
The first pic is when I just started. Second sump up and running for a couple months


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