done the first tests on that tank

PH - 8
NitrAte - 5
NitrIte - 0
Ammonia - 0.25 (i also tested my tap water which is 0)

was going to add fish tommorow but due to the ammonia im going to add just bactinetts tommorow and add extra bactinetts on sunday to help out.

on sunday i will be getting some yellow lab.

how many should i get? im thinkg 5 or 6?


chris

yep, ive got 6 in my 120gal, having 6 or so of them is alot funner,

i started with 2, and they sorta had their own lil caves, but now ive got 6 they all hang out in a group, they ocasionaly fight though because two of them are bigger then the otehrs by a little bit, but yeah its like they are their own little group within my group of fish

great fun =D i recomend it!!!

i got 6 Labidochromis caeruleus yesturday and took a few pictures for you lot to see

they seem really happy. i couldnt resist not feeding them last night and they all went for the pellets. only problem was they were abit to big for them to fit into there mouths so i went out and bought more today. they seemed to eat them pretty fast so i added a few cut up peas. they went mad for them


















and a quick picture of the tank


chris

I love how they're all under the middle rock, they look so lost in your tank. Don't worry though, it won't take long for them to settle in.

I've found that mbuna will relax enough to eat much quicker than other tropicals, even those that I've had shipped are ready for food within a couple of hours. Mbuna are very food oriented.

Good to see fish in there - they'll soon get used to their new home and won't stay in hiding for long.

glad to see u got the labs! i warn you though, mine have grown rapidly since i got them. one of them has grown nearly an inch already.

the way youve aquascaped that tank will be perfect for them, cant wait to see what else you put in there =P

thanks for the comments.

the ammonia went up a little (between 0 and 0.25) the fish seemed active and looked great. it has since dropped doen to 0 for the past few days. the other reading have remained the same so im happy.

my little 2 year old cousin came around while i was at work yesturday and since then they have been hiding as soon as anyone enters the room. after a few secs they see me and come out (they have worked out i feed them etc and see me as nice) but when my mum is with me the all stay hidden except a few who peep around the rocks.

i can see small hand prints so i imagine she has hit the tank and had here hands all over it therefore scaring them

but there eating well on peas and cichlid pellet.

chris

edit
im already planing a bigger tank around 110 uk gallon/130 us gallon tank
so i will not be getting the ecco. as when i buy the new tank (March time) i will need to get better filtration then aswell.

This post has been edited by chr15_8: Nov 8 2007, 07:07 PM

The tank looks really good, Chris. I will try my hand at Mbuna one day and it's nice to read somebody's journal from start to finish and get good ideas. Your photos are great, really clear.

thanks andy.

ive just been to wildwoods and bought a few more fish.
before i set off i tested me water everything seems to be perfect.

so as i said i went to wildwoods andwas surprised to hear they keep them in tap water. (when i got home it was at around 7.2) they also feed them bloodworms which i thought was a nono. they also feed them cichlids pellets/flakes.

the fish i got are cynotilapia afra 'white top'. i got 6.
they are a little bigger than my yellow lab. i have 2 which seem to be more coloured up than the females.

will post pictures when i take them and get them uploaded
chris

You can keep them in tap water as long as it has a decently high PH. Very few LFS will adjust the water params for individual tanks as they are generally run on a store wide filtration system. While mbuna can survive in a lower PH, they'll thrive in your tank.

And yes, blood worms are a major no-no with mbuna, though a lot of LFS don't know enough about the fish they keep to realize that.

Looking forward to pic of the c.afra's, they're great fish.

got some pics last night just need to upload them (theyt are really hard to capture!)

when you say about most lfs dont know enoguh about fish they keep i agree most dont however this lfs is in the top 3 lfs in England (think it came 1st or 2nd) according to pfk magazine.

will get pics up asap.

chris

my fave picture of these so far



chris

Great looking afra's!

Just been reading this and you've got lovely fish.

I don't know much about mbuna though, so what's wrong with bloodworm?

Most Mbuna are Herbivores and their digestive systems simply cannot process meaty protein. Feeding them the likes of bloodworm can cause a condition called "bloat", which often proves fatal.

Hi Chris,

Nice looking setup.. The Labidochromis look like good quality fish too, nice and colourful compaired too some of the pale ones I have seen available recently.

I'm also in Middlesex and keep Mbuna's, so if you fancy a chat send me a PM


All the best,

Lawrence

the tanks doing well at the moment

i didnt hoover the sand last week and it is full of rubbish. the ugj dont seem to work as well as i thought.
so tommorow im going to hoover the sand.
i have a fair amount of algea now so im going to give them a quick scrub aswell.

within the last few hours i have noticed a slightly bigger afra (i mean belly size) i think i have 4 females and 2 males (you probably know there this might be going) the afra which is slightly bigger i believe is a female. when i was watchng her she seems to be doing a fair bit of chasing to the yellow lab in particular and a few of the afra's. she also has got quite dark vertical lines which is leading me to believe she is pregnant. this is the first bit of aggrestion i have seen in this tank. all the stats are correct. (have been testing every other day)

when i clean the tank i will take photos of her and here gang aswell as the tank before and after.




hi lawrence.
where about are you from in middlesex?
what lfs do you use?

chris

edit
your tank look nice from the video aswell


This post has been edited by chr15_8: Nov 24 2007, 10:20 PM

Cheers, Sent you a PM so I don't take over your Journal with conversation

This post has been edited by BettaUK: Nov 24 2007, 10:43 PM