Rift Valey set up

[nickmcmechan]

I'm getting a 240 or 300 l tank soon and have been looking at a Rift Valley setup.

Originally I was going for Discus, but upon reflection the only place I have for this size of tank is the hallway and the amount of traffic and vibration would worry them, I think.

I was alos looking at Angels, but I'm converting my 100l community to a 180l, so will probably put a couple of Angels in there.

Any thoughts or advice on going this way......?

[Featherfin]

Well, I personally would not put angels in a rift lake set up. I don't think they could hold their own. Also, I believe that need a softer pH than the rift valley lakes have. I'd choose between the two, and cater to whichever you decide on.

[nickmcmechan]

sorry, should have made clearer, the angels will be going nowhere near the rift valley set up, what i meant was that i considered using a 300l for an angel setup but have changed mind to just puting the angels in a 180 i might get....the 300 i might get would be used for rift valley, but not discus as originally planned

[Sploke]

I think a tank like that (roughly 75gal?) would be a great rift lake tank. There is enough room to do some serious aquascaping with holey rock, and build some nice structures Any idea which lake you're going to go with?

[nickmcmechan]

i'm really not sure at all...some fish with very strong colouration, this would be the first thing people see as they come in my house so i want the fish to be striking...i've never kept rift valley before

[jm1212]

make sure to have lots of rockwork. slate is easy to make caves from

[nickmcmechan]

i hear the rock is expensive, is that right, what sort of rock should be used?

[nickmcmechan]

being doing a bit more research, i think malawi

[Featherfin]

lace rock is a popular choice

[nickmcmechan]

is it calciferous enought to raise pH / alkalinity

[Coler]

Nick...great decision.

Check out the tanganyikans before you do malawi though...I would do a colony of tropheus in there as the 'centrepiece' shoal...then you have lots of options. With the tangs you get more variety imo, and the colours can be just as good in their own way. Very interesting fish too.

[nickmcmechan]

hi colder, thanks, what are the yellow and blue ones in the atachments in your sig, is one a yellow lab, whats the others?

[jm1212]

slate isnt that expensive. you can find it at pretty much every hardware store that has a garden section

[nickmcmechan]

any special guidlines on washing slate, just boil it?

if you use sand, how do you keep clean? (never used it,always did gravel)

[Coler]

hi colder, thanks, what are the yellow and blue ones in the atachments in your sig, is one a yellow lab, whats the others?

There's a pseudotropheus socolofi (light 'powder' blue), a pseudotropheus acei 'ngara' (white finned) (more of a black & purple), also a very young Cyrtocara moorii (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu7JQ85tGW0QAW19XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5Nm0wZ3N hBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA1BSMDA2Xzc1B GwDV1Mx/SIG=12673a9fd/EXP=1184711888/**http%3a//www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/c_moorii.php) (does fine, I'm a bit worried about him long term in that tank) in there.

Yellow one is indeed a labidochromis caeruleus. There is also a neolamprologus leilupi in there, not sure if its in the pics, also yellow, not as flashy at all as the labs.

Groups of labs look stunning with blue fish (demasoni or socolofi)...I also think groups of albino look good in that mix (socolofi come in albino, pseudotropheus macrothalamus does also). The lab/demasoni mix often makes me think of marine set-ups such are the colours.

Once you put the demasoni in you won't be adding anything else blue though - savage little buggers with similar colourations, and themselves.

If you can get tufa rock its a good option (that's what I used). The right substrate will buffer your water nicely unless its quite soft (I reccomend crushed coral for the natural look, but I also think the black sands (tahitan moon sand ??), with pale rock, black background looks stunning with e.g. labs/demasoni.

edit : due to my small tank, I went all male, which would mean keeping only one of each species generally.

mine you the leilupi has been laying eggs.

[nickmcmechan]

Hi Guys,

Here's what I love...went for Malawi....

Pseudotropheus domonsoni
Pseudotropheus saulosi
Pseudotropheus soclofi - powder blue
Metriaclima esherae - red zebra (although its not red....eh????.....)
Labidochromis caeruleus - yellow lab
lodotropheus sprengerae - rusty cichlid

i reckon 2 males and 6 females of each...8 of each....48 fish in a 240 or 300l...any thoughts

combination of rock and slate....need to form at least 2 x number of males = number of caves = minimum of 20 caves intentionally formed?

rock would be whiteish, holy and calciferous to bufer pH

thinking of sand...what is appropriate and how do you clean it...hear you cant use normal gravel vac?

would also have 6 synos in there too

filtration would be juwel internal, eheim external and rugf?

thoughts, thoughts, thoughts???

[Sploke]

I've never kept africans, so any advice I give is purely from reading others' experiences. P. demasoni, while small, is a very aggressive cichlid, and as far as I understand, should be kept in groups of no less than 12-15. Anything less and the dominant male will kill the rest off. The others, I don't know much about, but I know most of the mbuna go well together. The groups of 2m/6f are a good idea, but 48 cichlids and 6 syno cats seems like a lot of fish for a tank that size. I know a lot of people say its ok to overstock africans, but that just seems like way too much fish in there. Maybe pick 3 or 4 of the species and do groups, choosing groups with very different colors, so you get a lot of variation with less fish? I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in.

Sand works well, you can use aragonite sand, when you vacuum just suck up anything thats sitting on top rather than deep vacuuming. Although, if you use aragonite sand, you won't be able to use a RFUG. It will help to buffer the water more though.

[nickmcmechan]

Hi sploke, thanks.

it is a lot of fish for a tank that size, but my understanding is that these type of fish actually do better in a crowded tank, as long as you keep the water changes / nitrates under control...this isn't a problem for me as my routine is every other day just now

so, anyone chime in on this one?

also, leads to another questio....if i use crushed coral and rocks to buffer my pH then i can assume my pH will stabilise at around 8 or so in the tank. my tap water is 7.0 to 7.2, so....do i chemically alter the pH before addition when this tank is up and running???

i would not normally chemically buffer pH before addition, but i would worry that with a rigorous water change schedule and such a dramatic chnge in pH, would that then mean that i could shock the fish with such regular pH changes???

[Coler]

Hi Guys,

Here's what I love...went for Malawi....

Pseudotropheus domonsoni
Pseudotropheus saulosi
Pseudotropheus soclofi - powder blue
Metriaclima esherae - red zebra (although its not red....eh????.....)
Labidochromis caeruleus - yellow lab
lodotropheus sprengerae - rusty cichlid

i reckon 2 males and 6 females of each...8 of each....48 fish in a 240 or 300l...any thoughts

combination of rock and slate....need to form at least 2 x number of males = number of caves = minimum of 20 caves intentionally formed?

rock would be whiteish, holy and calciferous to bufer pH

thinking of sand...what is appropriate and how do you clean it...hear you cant use normal gravel vac?

would also have 6 synos in there too

filtration would be juwel internal, eheim external and rugf?

thoughts, thoughts, thoughts???

its a lot of fish. You need to factor in caves for females too; they need to escape the males and each other too.

The pseudotropheus demasoni would want to be in a group of say 2 males 10 females/1 male say 8-10 females would even be safer, and you don't want other blue coloured fish in there.

Maybe lose the socolofi (if you have to have the demasoni) and do them (demasoni) in the above ratio with one male and say 4/5 females of each of the others = 30 - 32 fish or so. Either that or lose the demasoni and do 1 male & 4/5 females of the others = 25/30 fish.

Not sure about 6 synos...depends on what they are...I would probably do a group of 3/4 synodnotis multipuncatus...this does make it not a malawi biotope btw lol

my advice btw is pretty academic nick - I've not stocked your size tank

sand - crushed coral is good; excellent buffer. Tahtitian moonsand/black sands look great with black background & pale rockwork (not so natural)

You can indeed just use a normal gravel vaccy thing.