verse Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Evan, do you happen to have any new pictures of your setup? I just currently stocked my 75G that I bought a few months ago. I'm still looking for a few more fish to throw in there. Right now I have some Labidochromis caeruleus, Ps. sp "Acei", Ps. estherae "Red Zebra", Ps. crabro, Nimbochromis venustus, and Melanochromis auratus. I'm also thinking of adding a few Ps. sp "Elongatus Chailosi" or Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba". I'll take some pictures and post them up when I get home. I've also started to frequent the cichlid-forums and I wish I went with sand as substrate first. I think in the next few months or so I'm going to switch out my gravel for sand. I'm running it with a Fluval 405 right now and I think I'm going to add a HOB soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 it still looks like the last pic, but the water is clear and i have 4-5 goldfish to keep the bio cycle going. i havent had the cash to go get the fish theres a local breeder who posts all over craigslist, cichlidsinohio.com or something. ive went to his house down by ricart megamall...hes got probably 75+ tanks in his basement breeding. thats the guy to talk to if you need some info. he usually has his cell # listed, and hes cool as fuck. definitely knows his shit too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbomark Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 I have a 75 gallon african tank... currently it only has two fish in it and I'm trying to get rid of the one so that I can start again from scratch with it. It's a 10 inch hornet tilapia... as if everyone hasnt already seen the free african child thread. It's still available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verse Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Here is my 75G Mixed Malawian Community. There are currently 11 cichlids and 1 Gold Nugget pleco. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/xihopeuchokex/75G_2.jpg http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/xihopeuchokex/Cichlid_2.jpg Couple Ps. estherae "Red Zebra", 1 Ps sp "Acei", 1 Ps. crabro, 1 Nimbochromis venustus, and 1 Melanochromis auratus. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/xihopeuchokex/Cichlid_3.jpg The larger Ps. crabro, 1 Lab. caeruleus, Ps estherae "Red Zebra", and 1 Nimbochromis venustus. I also have a 20G setup with 4 of my Comet goldfish in it(awaiting the 800G pond this spring). The comets are about 6" a piece(I know a little overstocked). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustlestiltskin Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 bump. I'm going the cichlid route this week after just having tropical fish all my life. I have a 55gal rectangle tank w/ white gravel. I'm going to put some natural looking gravel on top. then try to stack some limestone w/ caves and hopefully live plants throughout. I'm running a whisper 60 off that hangs off the back and i'm looking into getting a nice community group of cichlids. which ones do you guys prefer to mix. I'm wanting to go very colorful and vibrant. any ideas or thoughts would be helpful. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Main3s Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 ive got a shitload of limestone and im thinking about just springing for the CaribSea substrate and doing it right the first time i just need to find out which cichlids i can mix in a single tank. the guy at aquarium adventures said to keep africans together, but reading on the cichlid forum it seems that the ones from a certain lake need to be kept together You might want to be careful with what kind of rock you put in the tank. Some kind of rock can act like a buffer and lower your PH (I'm pretty sure limestone is one of them) Cichlids like a higher PH. Around 7.8-8.0 almost as high as saltwater. Live plants might not be a good idea either because cichlids are notorious for remolding the tank moving the gravel around and up rooting plants. That and despite being know for their aggression they actually like to eat plants. I would use sand as a substright so they can't move it all around. I used to be into fish tanks big time. I had a 375 Gal Saltwater tank a 90 Gallon cichlid and a 20 Gallon reef tank. If i can find pictures I'll post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro1647545510 Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 it still looks like the last pic, but the water is clear and i have 4-5 goldfish to keep the bio cycle going. i havent had the cash to go get the fish theres a local breeder who posts all over craigslist, cichlidsinohio.com or something. ive went to his house down by ricart megamall...hes got probably 75+ tanks in his basement breeding. thats the guy to talk to if you need some info. he usually has his cell # listed, and hes cool as fuck. definitely knows his shit too! Yeah, Nick is a cool guy. I went to his house last Monday and picked up eight fish. He has a lot of nice colors and rare fish for sell. The best part is they are all dirt cheap, 6 bucks a fish at most for the rare breeds. The only drawback is the fish are on the small side, about an 1 inch or 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verse Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 Some kind of rock can act like a buffer and lower your PH (I'm pretty sure limestone is one of them) Cichlids like a higher PH. Around 7.8-8.0 almost as high as saltwater. Actually limestone buffers your Ph to be higher so it is recommended for Africian cichlid tanks. Also, plates in a cichlid tank can work out fine, you just have to know what kind of plants that are good for the tank. Check out cichlid-forums.com If I were you I'd go with sand instead of gravel as your substrate. Cichlids really like sand as they like to play in it. It makes the tank look 100% IMO as well. I will be switching my substrate to PF sand once it get a little warmer outside. If you are interested, I'm looking to get rid of a few fish. Most of them are about 2.5-3 inches, and I've be very flexible on price. I have 3 Red Zebra's, 2 Bubblebee's (Ps. Crabro), 1 Ps. Acei, and 1 Melanochromis auratus I'd like to find homes for. This is a very good community so far, haven't had a problem or a death since I started the tank about 6 months ago(you really shouldn't mix different species of the same genus, but they have been getting along fine). I'd also recommend that you get a larger filter, be it a HOB or canister(I perfer) just b/c the amount of bioload that cichlids put out. I'm currently running a Fluval 405 and an AC110 on my 75G africian cichlid tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 i *may* take the fish from you. send me pics of what youre looking to get rid of and a price i STILL have been slacking. the tank is running with goldfish and my molly and pleco from my 30g, ive just been lazy getting fish that, and i got an email from nick about 3-4 weeks ago saying hes selling his fish to a wholesaler and wont be doing local sales any more...maybe ill contact him friday when i get paid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 and i suggest you get a cannister filter instead of a HOB. ive got cannister in my 55g, and a HOB in my 30g, and it seems the water goes down much quicker in my 30g, and i think it has a lot to do with the splashing of the water the HOB causes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro1647545510 Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 i *may* take the fish from you. send me pics of what youre looking to get rid of and a price i STILL have been slacking. the tank is running with goldfish and my molly and pleco from my 30g, ive just been lazy getting fish that, and i got an email from nick about 3-4 weeks ago saying hes selling his fish to a wholesaler and wont be doing local sales any more...maybe ill contact him friday when i get paid This is news to me. I was at his house last week. He did mention that he may start selling some of his fish to a local fish store but that was about it. I am going back either this weekend or next to pick up some more fish. I am going to try and fully stock my 125 Gallon tank and also start a growout tank in either my back up 55 Gallon or 10 gallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Main3s Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Actually limestone buffers your Ph to be higher so it is recommended for Africian cichlid tanks.... I stand corrected. I knew it was something like that. It's been a whil since I've had a tank, I forget a lot of the detailed stuff. You've got a nice looking tank too! how long has it been set up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustlestiltskin Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 Here's another question. when stacking rocks and what not to get the staggered effect, how high in the tank do you normally go. I started to stack my sandstone rocks tonite and I'm not sure how high to go. I got rocks stacked almost all the way to the top of my 55gal and all the way across LOL. anyways, please give me some info on the rock stacking and what not b/c right now, I got enough cave dwellings for a whole world of cichlids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verse Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 Here's another question. when stacking rocks and what not to get the staggered effect, how high in the tank do you normally go. I started to stack my sandstone rocks tonite and I'm not sure how high to go. I got rocks stacked almost all the way to the top of my 55gal and all the way across LOL. anyways, please give me some info on the rock stacking and what not b/c right now, I got enough cave dwellings for a whole world of cichlids! As high as you feel is still sturdy. Fish tanks are extremely strong and could be filled with rocks and still hold, so that shouldn't be your reason to not stack as high as you want. Really just make sure they are sturdy so they don't fall over and possibily damage the bottom of your tank. Some guys like to put egg cartons until their rock formations so they aren't scratching their tanks and it put an even amount of force on the glass. I've never really had a problem though. I stand corrected. I knew it was something like that. It's been a whil since I've had a tank, I forget a lot of the detailed stuff. You've got a nice looking tank too! how long has it been set up? It's been up for about 6 months. I'm going to complete take it apart and restock it once it gets warm out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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