how do i set up a african cichlid tank

Good queston! Have a read:

http://www.malawimayhem.com/articles_setup.shtml

The cichlids you want to keep appreciate hard, alkaline water. Do you know the pH, KH and GH of your tap water? Unless your water is quite soft, you probably can get away without doing much or any water modification. Using crushed coral or aragonite sand as a substrate will increase the carbonate hardness (KH) of the water, as well as pH, which the fish will appreciate.

Your fish also need lots of caves and rockwork in which to hide. In my Malawi tanks, I pretty much cover the floor of the tank with carefully stacked rock piles to allow lots of hiding holes. If you don't, your fish will fight more and they won't coexist as peacefully. (Cover the bottom of the tank with plexiglass or plastic 'eggcrate', then stack your rocks, then add the substrate. These fish will dig, and you don't want rock sitting on substrate, because it will be undermined when the fish dig.)

You don't need any air pumps or air stones. A single AC500 is probably sufficient. I prefer several smaller filters over a single big one to provide redundancy in case one goes south. A couple AC300s would do the trick. The 500 should be OK it that's all you can afford.

I keep my mbuna tanks at 78-80 degrees F, and I sometimes have a few fake plants. Most of my Malawi tanks are just substrate ane rockwork.

I feed New Life Spectrum cichlid food, Hikari Cichlid Excel and Hikari Algae Wafers to my mbuna. I avoid standard flakes and any food high in protein and/or fat, as they seem to cause bloat in mbuna. They also love natural veggies: zuchinni, lettuce, spinach.

For your setup, I'd consider ditching the pleco and getting some synodontis catfish (e.g., Syn. petricola or Syn. multipunctatus). The synos are good bottom feeders and are much less messy than plecos. Plecos are poop factories, and you have a fairly small tank for the cichlids you want to keep. Cichlids are messy too, so no point in having a pleco around to add to the bioload.

HTH,
Jim

When i first started i learned a lot by reading all the articles at www.cichlid-forum.com

My friend has built an interesting looking tank using sections of black PVC tubing. The fish love to hide in the tubes and generally stake claim to their own tube. When adding new fish though it is essential that you move everything around or else the new fish will get beat to death.

I don't believe a hunk of coral has enough surface area to sufficiently buffer the water. Surely your LFS would order you a bag if you asked... if not, time to shop for a new LFS or order online.

Jim