My New Tank

[charliebrax921]

I picked up a used tank a couple weeks ago and it came with:
30Gal Tank, Multicolor gravel, 2 Aqua Clear 300 Filters, a heater and a few other decorations.

I set up the tank, treated the water, and let the cycling begin.

[charliebrax921]

I decided to change out the substrate, after researching and asking questions (on these forums!) I decided to change to sand.
I
also put in Boiled Rocks, and changed out the heater to a Marina 100W.
(The one that came with it I have no idea how many watts or even what
brand it is).



I
also decided to change the dual Aqua Clear 300 filters and changed them
to an Aqueon Quietflow 55/75. So far I am happy with the setup, but as
you can see from the one picture the rear right of the tank looks
awfully barren.

I am wanting to do African Cichlids, what do you guys think?

[Deleted]

looks good. what kind of cichlids are you thinking?

[guppyguy]

It is set up right for cichlids. Just stick to the smaller species for that size tank. But looks great.

[fin]

have many kinds of cichlids at a fraction of the store cost.40 tanks on the go. when your ready let me know."fin" your cichlid guy.

[charliebrax921]

Neptunestank : I am still researching which species I would like to go with, I would like to have a little variety but I need to know which ones will get along with each other better.

Guppyguy : Thanks, do you think the tank will need anything else - Chichlid specific?

[guppyguy]

I think you have what you need. Just make sure your tank is fully cycled before you put any fish in there. If anyone else puts in there input on it there welcome to. And you will have no problem getting cichlids. Many members on here have fish for sale.

[charliebrax921]

Fin : Great thanks, we will be in touch for sure.

Guppyguy : Thanks for the support :-)

[guppyguy]

Not a problem I wish you well in your new tank venture.

[thornroun]

Try some africans mineral salt cause tap water doesnt have the required minerals for africans. Tank looks good. Get an all male cichlids at the same size so they will be growing up together so there wont be any issues. If u want to breed, do species. U will love fin's set up and cichlids. Welcome btw

[lesfromlakeshore]

Tank looks awesome.

[Andre]

the only comments i would add to your tank is this...
with all the rocks make sure they are firmly laid out on the bottom of the tank, with sand as your substrate many cichlids will turn into a fleet of sand movers and with that you could have rocks collapsing (has happened to me)
With the rocks, lay them out so you have a lot of caverns and tunnels.. with cichlids they like to claim areas as their territory and with those caverns and tunnels will help.
If you want a good pleco, try getting a "clown Pleco" they stay small and are great cleaners.
if you go with cichlids make sure you have aquarium salt, that will keep your cichlids healthy.

[charliebrax921]

Just an update:

Did my first water test yesterday, everything is looking good so far, PH was a little low (for African Cichlids) I picked up a water additive "Proper PH Water Conditioner" Its supposed to adjust the PH to 8.2 and then act as a buffer to maintain the water at 8.2.
See Link Here

I am also using Aquarium Salt (link) with the set up of this aquarium - is this the same as what your talking about thornroun or is there something else that is more Cichlid Specific?

agirard2003 : I placed most of the rocks (the bottom ones) before adding the sand, I am hoping this would help with the shifting. I do have some tunnels and hiding spaces however I would like to have some more. I would like to get some of those hollow rocks with the hiding spaces in them but I haven't seen them locally yet.

thornroun : you mentioned getting all male at the same time, would this be any issue to introduce females at a later time? And how detrimental would it be to add fish over time as opposed to stocking the tank with all the fish at once. I have read to introduce 2-3 at a time so that its not too hard on the tank its self (filtration, biological makeup etc). But I have also read to introduce all your fish at the same time so there is less aggression. I have also read that when there is aggression and territories established that you can move around the tank decor so that boundaries need to be remade by the fish. When introducing new fish, couldn't I just rearrange the tank to ease aggression, or would that cause too much stress?

Sorry for all the questions. And thanks again for the compliments and your knowledge :-D

[thornroun]

Whatever u have read is correct, with females in the tank there will be chaos, if u want to breed, do it in a separate tank there for its much less stress for the females, no fights among the males and no chance of hybrid. With salt, I recommend specific salt for cichlids. Api carry them too.