View Full Version : Tired of saltwater tank issues so I'm thinking about switching...
Red algae and green algae blooms, sump tanks issues, protein skimmers not working properly, $30 fish and $50 coral dying, etc. I think I'm switching to something less expensive but still rewarding. So now that I have that off my chest I'll give you the scoop on my current equipment and see what needs to change to go to a cichlid tank.
My equipment is as follow:
75g Tank
Penguin 350B Penguin Bio-Wheel Filter (330gph)
10 gal. sump tank w/protein skimmer
Current Orbit 4/96w Compact lighting w/2-03 Actinic and 2 Dual daylight (10K and 6700K)
250 watt heater
2 Maxijet 900 powerheads
110 gpd 5 stage RO-DI system
Now, if you lovely people can assist me, what needs to go and what needs to be added?
Red algae and green algae blooms, sump tanks issues, protein skimmers not working properly, $30 fish and $50 coral dying, etc. I think I'm switching to something less expensive but still rewarding. So now that I have that off my chest I'll give you the scoop on my current equipment and see what needs to change to go to a cichlid tank.
My equipment is as follow:
75g Tank
Penguin 350B Penguin Bio-Wheel Filter (330gph)
10 gal. sump tank w/protein skimmer
Current Orbit 4/96w Compact lighting w/2-03 Actinic and 2 Dual daylight (10K and 6700K)
250 watt heater
2 Maxijet 900 powerheads
110 gpd 5 stage RO-DI system
Now, if you lovely people can assist me, what needs to go and what needs to be added?
OK, my opinion would be:
Your filtration needs to be around 4-6 times your tank volume, the usual is to set up 2 filters for this, seems you have a sump you maybe able to utilise this for bio/mech filtration
Ditch the skimmer, you wont need it on a FW tank
I think your lighting would be to bright and cause major algae problems, to bright will wash out the colours of the cichlids, standard t'8s at around 2 watts per gallon would suffice, you could mix an actinic with a daylight as lot of people do but I prefer 2 x 10000k white T8's
Heater will be fine
You wont need powerheads in the tank as there isn't as much current in rift lakes as there is in the sea
Star_Rider
12-20-2007, 1:57 PM
depends on the cichlids you may want to try.
you have 10 g sump what is the flow of the return pump?
you can use the powerheads as you may have dead spots in the tank..the power heads will remove those(use prefilter)
this tank would make a good angel/discus tank
Forgot to mention the RO unit, if you use RO you will definately have to use a cichlid buffer according to what species your looking at getting
Star_Rider
12-20-2007, 2:15 PM
it really depend.
if you run straight ro /di then yes. you would have to add buffers
but if you decide sa cichlids (depending on your current kH/gH) you may only need to mix ro with tap to have a good water.
depends on the cichlids you may want to try.
you have 10 g sump what is the flow of the return pump?
you can use the powerheads as you may have dead spots in the tank..the power heads will remove those(use prefilter)
this tank would make a good angel/discus tank
I have a 10 gal. sump with a return pump pushing 300gph.
OK, my opinion would be:
Your filtration needs to be around 4-6 times your tank volume, the usual is to set up 2 filters for this, seems you have a sump you maybe able to utilise this for bio/mech filtration
Ditch the skimmer, you wont need it on a FW tank
I think your lighting would be to bright and cause major algae problems, to bright will wash out the colours of the cichlids, standard t'8s at around 2 watts per gallon would suffice, you could mix an actinic with a daylight as lot of people do but I prefer 2 x 10000k white T8's
Heater will be fine
You wont need powerheads in the tank as there isn't as much current in rift lakes as there is in the sea
On my light, i can run as many bulbs as I need (from 1 to 4). I'm more concerned about the K that's needed. I can run one @ 96w to 4 @ 384w if need be. I talked to my RO salesman and he said to just take off the DI filter and you should be good to go with freshwater. Any thoughts on that? Also, I can add another Penguin 350 with no problem if that will help with the filtration.
Star_Rider
12-20-2007, 3:33 PM
your 10k 6700 bulbs should be fine for planted tank
if you shoot for two you can see how that works.
your ro will still remove most of the impurities in the water so you would still need to add buffers.
test you kH/gH and see what the source water is.
most of the time ro/di are used in marine tanks to have a clean source so you can control the minerals/salts and keep the phosphates away.
have you decided which cihclids to keep?
you wil prob need to bump the turn over as you normally shoot for 10X so the sump(300) with 2 350's should be good.
keep the powerheads ready if you find deadspots in the tank tho.
your 10k 6700 bulbs should be fine for planted tank
if you shoot for two you can see how that works.
your ro will still remove most of the impurities in the water so you would still need to add buffers.
test you kH/gH and see what the source water is.
most of the time ro/di are used in marine tanks to have a clean source so you can control the minerals/salts and keep the phosphates away.
have you decided which cihclids to keep?
you wil prob need to bump the turn over as you normally shoot for 10X so the sump(300) with 2 350's should be good.
keep the powerheads ready if you find deadspots in the tank tho.
Yeah, I can definitely have two 350s running on the back with no problem. My KH/GH if I remember is in the 9-12 range. I will probably go for the smaller species So. African cichlid tank (Chipokae, Lemon, Lombardoi). I want some color considering what I use to have. Using Buffering agents will not be a problem either. My LFS has a huge selection of Cichlids with the support to maintain them.
Star_Rider
12-21-2007, 10:12 AM
you may not need to use RO.
you may not need to use RO.
Well, that will save me some money and time. But what about all the other #*&$ that's in my city water (chloramines, phosphates, etc.)?
Sploke
12-21-2007, 10:23 AM
Chloramines can be removed with a good dechlorinator like Prime. Many people use dechlorinated city water for fishtanks with success.
Chloramines can be removed with a good dechlorinator like Prime. Many people use dechlorinated city water for fishtanks with success.
But wouldn't phosphates add to the ever struggle with algae?
Sploke
12-21-2007, 10:46 AM
Do you have especially high phospate levels?
Do you have especially high phospate levels?
Don't really know, but my LFS said our county changed the chemicals in our water and they've seen a nice jump in phosphates to the point where they had to change the way they had to maintain their tanks. But I know for SW you practically need 99% pure water for a reef system, so you really can't determine the level from them.
Brian Bivens
12-21-2007, 1:29 PM
Just use your tap water, treat it with prime, and tone down your lighting... If you don't over-light and over stock your tank, you should be fine. The thing is, you can't really keep an algae free tank if you want cichlids, because the hardness of the water aides to the algae growth, and on top of that, cichlids are graze off of the algae in the tank...
My father in law (breeder of africans) has 10-20 tanks up and running all the time, and his big thing is, if you want to keep cichlids, then you can't be too worried about algae. If you want a sparkling clean tank, keep a school of discus.
Just use your tap water, treat it with prime, and tone down your lighting... If you don't over-light and over stock your tank, you should be fine. The thing is, you can't really keep an algae free tank if you want cichlids, because the hardness of the water aides to the algae growth, and on top of that, cichlids are graze off of the algae in the tank...
My father in law (breeder of africans) has 10-20 tanks up and running all the time, and his big thing is, if you want to keep cichlids, then you can't be too worried about algae. If you want a sparkling clean tank, keep a school of discus.
Oh so true!!! If you want to keep your phosphates down just do the same as you do with s/w and add some rowa or other phosphate remover to your filter, it wont get as low as when you use ro but it will help
I know there are ways to keep algae down, and I really don't mind algae if it helps, but I was just wondering if I really need to use RO for Cichlids. I know they don't want you using DI but if using RO water is better than tap, then I'll use it. Does the phosphate remover filters really help?