75 gal Lake Malawi Mbuna Tank, Need Some Advice on My Setup

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revlemmon

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May 29, 2008
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I'm in the planning stage for the tank and would like some advice on my setup so far.

1 Rena XP4 will be the main filter, Is one enough I should I have more filters?

1 Hydor ETH In Line Heater 300 watt. Trying to keep as much equipment out of sight.

About 100lbs. of Tahitian Moon sand.

Various Cichlid Stones

Where is a good place to get Texas Holey Rock and Slate pieces?

Should I add some power heads for more water movement or is the filter enough?

Thanks for you help.
 

stormywendyann

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Apr 21, 2012
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Wendy Lubianetsky
I am not an expert by any means on GPH, but the general rule of thumb is to try to move 10X Your volume. So for a 75 gallon tank, you should be moving a volume of 750 gph and the Rena 4 only moves 450 gph. I personally think you should at sum point try to add some additional filtration to your tank. I have 10 tanks upto 100 gallons and I move 10 x my volume + or - 10% in all of them. You can make up for the lack of water movement with a powerhead, but I personally do not use them (whether that is good or bad I do not know) and I have never had any problems. But, I am religious about pyfoning substrate and water changes of 50% twice a week.

You will have to find someone else who knows where to find that rock... I buy everything at my LFSs.
 

Wyomingite

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Oct 16, 2008
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Ivan
I have an Emperor 280 and an Emperor 400 on my 75 gallon mbuna tank, or just a bit over 9 times the volume of the tank in gph. IMO, it's a necessity with mbuna tanks to have higher than normal filtration rates. That's it, no power heads, and I have no problems whatsoever.

I couldn't tell ya how many pounds of sand are in my tank. I started with approximately 1 1/2" on the bottom. As for rocks, I just have a variety of river rocks. However, the foundation of the rockwork is clay pots, notched and then siliconed for stability. I like this 'cuz it increases the number of nooks and crannies for the fish to hide in without adding significantly to the weight. The pots also take up less volume than rock does. After I put the pots in place starting along the back, out to just shy of the middle of the tank, I used the rock to cover the pots to create an aquascape.

Don't know 'bout the texas holey rock, but I just get slate from one of the local landscaping companies. I know Lowe's has it as well, but the landscaper was cheaper. It was priced by the ton. Don't remember how many pounds I got, or what the slate itself cost, 'cuz I picked up a fair amount of other rock as well, but the whole bunch was 750 pounds for $35. Maybe a quarter or a little less of that was slate.

As for the heater, well my fishroom is heated independently of the rest of the house, so I don't use heaters and have no experience with that brand. A good general rule of thumb is 5 watts per gallon, though. A 300 watt heater may be a little smaller than recommended, but should be adequate as a minimum for a 75 gallon tank. The temperature in your home actually contributes quite a bit to heater efficiency. If ya like it cool, ya may end up adding a 2nd heater in order to maintain the tank at the temp you want.

Cheers,

WYite
 

toddnbecka

AC Members
Dec 17, 2004
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Cumberland, MD 21502
I'd go with 2 aquaclear 110's for a heavily stocked 75. Simply put 2 sponges in each and rinse them out when you do partial water changes, much quicker/easier than a canister filter.
Pick up a good titanium heater and hide it behind a piece of slate.
Black Diamond blasting grit is only around $8/50 lb bag, much cheaper than moon sand and looks just as good.
Check e-bay for holey rock, it's usually cheaper there than anywhere else I've seen it f/s. Regular limestone is much cheaper and will buffer the water just as well...
 
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