Hello! My father-in-law is giving us his 125 gallon tank tomorrow. I was hoping to keep the gravel wet to save the bacteria and not have to cycle for as long but he says the tank is all green and gross so I guess I'll spray everything off and start from scratch. I would like to have a Lake Malawi cichlid tank. I have 2 kids and would like a variety of colors. I've heard several opinions on cycling ranging from 1 week to 1 month. Does that stuff called "Stability" really speed up the process or should I wait a month? Also, not sure how many fish to use when starting up the tank. The pet store guy suggested 6-8 and then said I could add 3 or 4 a week. He also said I should overcrowd to reduce aggressiveness. I know I want the electric yellows and cobalt blue zebras and blue peacocks, any other suggestions? Should I throw in one of those Synodontis catfish? I was gonna buy a 40 lb. bag of aragonite to mix in with the gravel. These fish like places to hide, right? So I've heard driftwood messes with the pH, so what should I get for good hiding spots? I was not planning on keeping any real plants in there, just artificial. And they eat flake food and brine shrimp, right? I was planning on keeping the pH at 8, the temp at 78 and the dH around 12. Does that sound correct? How many males/females should I get or should I get all males? (I'm not interested in breeding, I'm too new to this) Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I don't know what the heck I'm doing but have gotten tons of books at the library and have been all over the internet to educate myself. Also - Should I buy the cichlids from the local fish guy or should I order online from liveaquaria? I just want to keep them alive and healthy!
Thanks in advance,
Erin
Good luck with the tank !
I would say to you as follows :
1. Don't rely on any product to speed up a cycle; the only one that seems to work much is biospira, and that's hit or miss.
2. Check out the species profiles on
www.cichlidforum.com, also the 'cookie cutter' stocking suggestions - feel free to get back on here then with your preferences and if anyone sees any issues we can try and clear them up for you.
3. Synodontis are great little catfish for a malawi tank - multipunctatus are my particular favourit and you could have a group of them in a 125 gallon.
4. For hiding spots think rocks, rocks and more rocks, stacked up and down the tank according to your particlular preference. Check out the photo forum and you'll see some really nice malawi set-ups.
5. Fake plants are pretty much your only option if you want plants - they'll wreck any thing else.
6. Ph is fine at 8. Technically 8.2 would be spot on but 8 is not going to cause any difficulties. Don't be tempted to try and use products to artifically mess with your Ph - stability is far more important for most fish.
7. In general you would stock 1 male with 3/4 females per species with some exceptions; demasoni are better with 1/2 males and 10/12 females. This cuts down on aggression.
8. Starting with 6/8 fish and adding 3 or 4 every couple of weeks is I think a good idea - lets you ensure everything is settling down nicely after additions. With malawis though I wouldn't be adding them until the tank is cycled - read up on fishless cycling. It may take some time (3/4 weeks) but its a
lot less stressful than trying to cycle with fish in the tank. And malawi are a) very sensititve to poor water and b) not cheap.
9. If you have a good shop locally, then support your local fish shop !
10. I like a plain blue or black background. Recently changed mine to black and like it a lot - really pops the fish out.
