tank set-up for Trimac

[cichlid_guy]

this is my tank set-up for my new trimac.
I want it to be the best for him, and want your opinons on the set-up.

Tank - 75 gallon (48x18x20)
Filter - AC 500 (not sure if second AC 500 would be good)
Heater - 1 250W ( i know a second would be good)
Substrate - 1"-2" small gravel
Aquascape - (see picture)

Water - Cycled,
PH - 7.6
Ammona - 0ppm
Nitrites - 0ppm
Temp - 80F
Hardness - ??? (natural)

Tankmates - Non at this time. (not sure on tank mates)

how dose this sound?

What would be a good food to feed him?

thanks
Scottie

 

[cichlid_guy]

close up

 

[cichlid_guy]

full shot

 

[rus]

your set up looks great. i do suggest adding another ac 500. as far as food i recomend raw shrimp, earthworms, krill, high quality pellet of choice and spiralina pellets.

 

[Harry Tolen]

For the short term, the tank you have set up would be great for a young trimac. In the long term, however, given the ultimate size that your Trimac will achieve (18" under the proper conditions), something larger will be necessary. For a fish by itself, perhaps a custom 120g (48" x 24" x 24") would be OK, but personally I'd give it a 180g (72" x 24" x 24"). The advantage of the larger size is that you might be able to get away with a school of silver dollars and a couple of synodontis decorus as dither/target fish, for a much more interesting tank.

 

[rus]

i agree fully harry. i get the feeling sometimes when i suggest that people house larger ca/sa cichlids in big tanks alone that it falls on deaf ears. or i get the "im not wasting a tank that size on one cichlid" reply.

 

[cichlid_guy]

18" ??? where do you get this from?
everything i have read says 12" - 14"
so a 18" wide tank would work.

If i had heard/read Trimac's get 18" i would have got a 120 gallon! As you can see in the pictures i have bought/built/set-up the 75 gallon already!

I will see what can be done later, maybe i can get another tank.

I do have a 300 gallon up and running but that tank is just about done. (filled with fish. Two Oscars, Texas, Black belt, Jack dempsey.)

I will do some more reading on my Trimac and if it dose get bigger then 12" -14" i will find away to upgrade.

Thank you for the advice.

scottie
Cichlid_guy

P.S. I'm not one of the people that put a 14" fish in a 55gal
I do beleive that the fish should have there room.

 

[Rare Cichlids]

I think 18" is quite exagerated. 12-14" is more correct. Don't worry about your tank size, it should be fine. And just to make sure I was thinking straight, I did a search, and came up with 12-14" on about 10 sites.

 

[rus]

harry could be talking total length which would be correct.

 

[Harry Tolen]

Sorry, I'm away from my library and thus can't give you the reference right now. All I can say is that it's on the second shelf down from the top, about two thirds of the way over to the right. I'll look it up when I get home, and post it here. The 18" size was indeed listed as the theoretical maximum, but I guess I'm just an optimist. However, a tank with an 18" x 48" footprint is still somewhat small for a fish that gets into the 12"-14" range (not including the tail). Quite aside from the ability to turn around, fish like to have room to cruise a "territory".

However, I was not trying to stress anyone out, and am sure that over time things will work out. The fish is not going to outgrow the 70 gallon anytime too soon, and by then either another tank or some reorganization with the 300g will almost certainly provide a good solution.