New Cichlid Tank... need help to do this right

[Misskiwi67]

Hello,

My mother has 4-5 assorted african cichlids, and my dad has decided to get her a full setup tank for christmas. Between my dad and I, we're trying to get her everything to make a beautiful setup for her fish. We have the tank picked out, but I don't know what sort of filtration etc. to get.

Tank: 42 Hex by Oceanic

The plan: Coral type substrate and coral reef decorations.

The Question: What filtration do you recommend, and is there anything else I need?

[JSchmidt]

Hexagon shaped tanks aren't the best for african cichlids.... they don't really have sufficient footprint, but if you've already got it picked out...

I'd go with a medium sized canister filter, something along the lines of an Eheim 2026, prefiltered with FilterMaxIII sponge.

Jim

[Misskiwi67]

What about a fluval 304? This is the filter the petstore recommended.

And yes, I know the tank is probably not the best, but its a step up, and will fit in what little space we have left between the people and the birds. The next step up in size had a better footprint, but it would barely fit (gotta be able to clean the tank too :D) And then, for the same brand and color wood the price almost doubled!! Gotta love company's that know their product is the best, and love them even more when they're right and you pay the extra $$.

[DarthV]

I'd go with an eheim classic 2213 or 2215 for that tank... the 2213 can be found at www.bigalsonline.com for $64.99US... which probably right around the price of the fluval (or maybe cheaper!) and it's much better built canister.