I need to make up my mind....lots of Q's

[skeletonhand]

Now I've decided to have an African Cichlid tank. I found a 75 gallon that I think will work perfect. I can't remember the exact dimensions, but I would venture to say 48x18x20 (roughly). My first question is will this tank work for Malawian cichlids?

Second question is about substrate. Crushed coral, moonrock, sand, eco-complete, others? The darker the better.

Here's the my water specs
pH (in pH units) 7.59
Total Alkalinity (CaCO3) 144 ppm
Total Hardness (CaCO3) (10 grains per gallon) 160 ppm
Total Dissolved Solids 2 64 ppm
Calcium 47.1 ppm
Chloride 14 ppm
Iron <0.05 ppm
Manganese 1.05 ppb
Sodium 23.9 ppm
Sulfate 39 ppm

It would be nice to raise my pH closer to 8.0. Will limestone or a substrate raise the pH higher than it already is?

Last question pertains to stocking. My wife really loves the Electric Yellow Cichlid (Labidochromis caeruleus), so this will be in there for sure. What other fish are compatible with these guys? How many should I get?

Filtration. I know it's best to overfilter, but for now, mainly to help cycle my tank. I'm going to use my old top fin 60 H.O.B. I plan on adding another H.O.B or a canister as the fish population grows.

Well I think that should give me a good start as far a Q's go. I'm sure I'll have more

 

[liv2padl]

in my opinion, a TopFin 60 is not enough filter for a 75 gallon tank and you'll be better off getting a new filter which is up to the task. i'm partial to Aquaclear .. the 110 is sufficient for a lightly stocked 75 gallon tank.

 

[FreakIndeed]

Just an idea, but you could get a good size canister filter now. You can put your current filter media in one of the trays to keep that bacteria. Then you could put crushed coral in another one of the trays. That way you could go with whatever substrate you would like in the tank instead of being limited to types that buffer PH.

 

[skeletonhand]

What if I was to run the 60 and the 110 or maybe an eheim classic canister? I'm not to concerned about the filtration right now because I know it need upgrading. I like the idea of putting the crushed coral in the canister!

Thanx

 

[skeletonhand]

Since the tank is in the basement I'm going to add LOTS of rocks for caves. I plan on stair stepping them up. Maybe keep the front 1/3rd just substrate than step up the back 2/3rd with rocks (slate or some easily stackable rock).

 

[DeRo316]

Sure the tank will work fine. Ive had luck running a canister and hob. I use a filstar xp3 and an aquaclear 40. I have crushed coral in one of my filter stages, its real easy in a canister and there is more room for media than a hob. The reason for more filtration is that some people like to overstock african cichlid tanks to spread the aggression, doesnt look bad either.

If you want the substrate dark there is black sand, its kind of pricey but you can mix it in. I have my 29 done with black sand, it looks great. Africans like to dig in the substrate so sand and crushed coral seem to work best. The slate should work fine and you can also add some texas holly rock which will raise your ph as well, and is easy to stack and looks great.

The yellow lab you like works with most africans, its one of the less aggressive mbuna. I have one and he's great. My idea about your stock list would be to find fish you like and post your want list, people will let you know of their experiences.

 

[skeletonhand]

Gonna downgrade to a 50

I found a 50 with a stand that fits in my budget better than the 75. So looks like I'm going to be getting that. I would still like to have a canister filter in addition to the HOB. The black sand and the Texas limestone would look excellent with the fish. 60 lbs of sand do the trick?

Here is my fishy list thusfar:

Yellow lab

Peacock Cichlid, Orange Blossom
(Aulonocara nyassae var.)

Demasoni Cichlid
(Pseudotropheus demasoni)

Fuelleborni Cichlid, Orange Blossom
(Labeotropheus fuelleborni)

Kenyi Cichlid
(Pseudotropheus lombardoi)

Albino Peacock Cichlid
(Aulonocara sp.)

Or what's available at the LFS.

I'm open to suggestions as well. I like the overstocking idea to keep aggression down. What is a safe overstock level for a 50 with a HOB and a small canister?

Thanks for the info DeRo

 

[DeRo316]

60 lbs of sand will give you a nice deep sand bed. You could go with less if you want. Should look great, I remember seeing a pic of a similar setup.

For a 50 I would say around 15 would be close to the limit.

I would skip the Kenyi, some can be super aggressive.

 

[fishlips]

Forget the budget, get the 75g or you'll only regret it later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trust me-us!

I have a ph of 7.6 and always messed with it when I had africans. Then I stopped messing around and the fish never knew the difference. I used crushed coral and granite for stone. Worked perfectly. The fish kept on breeding.

Buy the 75g tank and make your own stand even if its cyninder block. Sooner than later your going to want more fish or get into different fish and that 50g is going to come back and haunt you.

Can you buy used in your area. Save big!

 

[Yoemen]

yeah I have a 55 which I love, but wish I had gotten the 75. It is a little more expensive, but you would be surprised how much of a difference that extra depth in back can make when aquascaping your tank.