New 75 Gallon Mbuna tank

O

ozgood

AC Members
Jul 11, 2007
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Northern Virginia
Hey All. I've gotten a good bit of help thus far setting up my first big tank. I'm planning on a Mbuna Cichlid tank.

My equipment thus far is as follows:
75 Gallon tank
Eheim 2215 Classic
Coralife single CF 130w light fixture
2 x 250w Visi-therm stealth heaters.
80# of Eco-Complete African Cichlid substrate.

I went out and aquired a great deal of rocks for $20. I have enough rock for about 4 tanks of this size. I tested all of the rock with both the #1 bottle of Nitrate Master Test kid and Vinegar. No bubbling or anything. I set some rocks in a bucket and didn't seem to affect the water chemistry. Anyhow, I've put some rock in the tank and wanted to get some opinions. What I've done is put down a bed of 1" styrafoam in the bottom of the tank. Rock sits on that. Once I glue them together and such, I'll put the substrate down with the rocks on the styrafoam.

I have a two of the sections closed in the back to make sort of a cave. They aren't totally closed but mostly. A 1" fish could get through but not a 2" or larger. The other two "bridges" I intend to leave open. I hope to put a few large fake/real plants to fill in some of the open area in the top.

What do you think of the setup thus far?

IMG_0956-1.JPG IMG_0959-1.JPG IMG_0957-1.JPG
 
good start !

If I was you I wouldn't glue them together. It will be a pain when you take them out to clean around/under, and limit your re-decoration options. One common task with mbuna is redesigning decor to shake up the territories a bit.

I would also stack higher on each side - this encourages them up to the upper levels of the water columns - and have more caves/gaps between rocks generally.

Keep us posted - its going to look fantastic !
 
Looks good so far, and what Coler said, it's a good idea to mix things up every now and then.........:)
 
good start agreed, maybe add more rock? i have 25kg of ocean rock in my 30g!
alot more is needed than most people think.
also keep us updated. if you want some "professional help" ask coler he is great at the tank arrangements, he helped me alot with myn.
 
I think that I need some more rock as well. I'll be adding some more tonight. Since this is my first time adding rockto a tank like this, I'm a bit nervous about it falling over. If the rish really are from the Rift Valley in Africa then they are probably used to a rock slide or two. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope to have water in the tank this weekend. This is the third full week with an empty 75 gallon tank in my basement.
 
check out this thread for a giggle http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115068&highlight=rock+video

Of course, the fact of the smaller surface area of the glass is very relevant...but tanks are stronger than you might think, and your layer of styrofoam is a good idea.

Basically, you want to make sure everything is piled very securely and would resist a bit of a push, and bed the rocks right down in the substrate (i.e. no space between the rocks and the styrofoam) as mbuna will remove sand from around the sides, so you don't want that to cause a collapse.

Good luck on getting it up and running this weekend !
 
rocks

If I were you I would put egg crate[the stuff put under florescent lighting fixtures] just in case you drop a rock in the tank. This will keep it from breaking the glass in the bottom of the tank. I use it in all my tanks and it has saved disaster several times, well worth the money and time it takes to install it.
 
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