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Members African Cichlid Tanks

This thread will hopefully grow into a useful and important photographic database for existing and new members who are interested in the husbandry of African Cichlids. It will provide valuable information regarding all aspects of the hobby; stocking, compatibility, filtration etc…

In order for this database to be accurate and a useful quick referencing tool. It is important that people fully read and understand this first post before submitting their tanks to this thread.

Do not post any replies regarding questions or feedback in this thread, as the post will be deleted by a moderator. If you do have a question or a particular comment about an individuals tank please use the PM function provided. The majority of members on this forum will be very happy to field any questions or comments.


If you wish to submit your African Cichlid Tank then please follow these guidelines.

1. Please do not contribute your tank unless the majority ”if not all the fish” are African cichlids. For example: (Please do not contribute a tropical community tank with angles, barbs and a single yellow lab). PM me if you are unsure.

2. Please ensure to follow the below template for listing your tank specifications. It may be a good idea to cut and paste this into your post. If everyone follows the exact same format then the thread will look very well presented and easier to reference. If you are contributing your tank and are unsure of what your tank specification is for a particular topic please fill in the field with n/a.

Type of setup ? mbuna, shelldweller, peacock

<<<<<<<<<<<<<Insert Picture URL here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tank ? Volume (US Gallons, Litres), Dimensions (L x H x W - Inches, cm)

Filtration ? Type, media used, combined GPH/LPH from pumps (tank turn over per hour)

Lighting ? Type (T8, T5, PC etc.) and quantity (amount of tubes, Watts).

Substrate? Type, depth in inches/cm,

Decor? rock types i.e. weight (kgs/lbs) and place of purchase, Plants ? list of species, if any. (full scientific/Latin names)

Water chemistry ? pH, KH, GH, temp

Maintenance ? Water change schedule, filter cleaning, substrate cleaning etc.

Feeding? Type, feeding regime

Fish ? list of fish (full scientific/Latin names, common name, species type and origin)
Eg. Lamprologus similes, multifasciatus big eye, shelldweller, Lake Tanganyika

Additional comments ?

Brief history of the tank ?

Discuss any problems you have had with the tank/occupants and how you dealt with it? Try to keep it brief yet informative.

3. Please keep the photographs to a bare minimum. Only one tank shot is required, if you feel more photographs are necessary please make your own thread in the African section and provide a link at the bottom of your post. There is no need for close up pictures of individual fish or behaviours as there is a wealth of profile information available on the Internet. If the size of the contribution gets out of hand then I will ask for your post to be edited. This may sound obvious but please crop the images to fit within a standard size desktop screen. I ask that all pictures posted be roughly 800 x 600 pixels in size, this will provide uniformity and make for a better looking thread.

As a member of this forum you have agreed not to post any copyrighted material unless you or this bulletin board own the copyright. Please do not post photographs of someone else's work - This also includes posting pictures/photographs taken from other websites. If you do post work that does not belong to you, your post will be promptly deleted and you are likely to be warned or banned by the moderators depending on the circumstances.

EDIT BY FERRIS: Can you also disable your sig when posting....Thanks.

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This post has been edited by Ferris: Feb 13 2007, 03:37 PM

Type of setup: Mbuna (+ a couple of Tangs)


Tank: 65 Gallon - Juwel Rio 240

Filtration: Juwel Internal with 1500 pump, 2 x Fluval 305 external

Lighting: 2 x T8 40W, 1 x Marine white, 1 x Actinic Blue

Substrate: Marine Sand - depth 1 - 1 1/2"

Decor: Ocean rock, 1 airstone

Water chemistry: Ph - 8.2 Temp - 78F

Maintenance: Water changes - 30% once a week, clean out 1 filter completely every 4-6 months

Feeding: A mixture of Hikari Cichlid Excel, Ocean Nutrition Vegi formula, Spirulina enriched frozen brine shrimp - once a day

Fish:
1 Pseudotropheus Zebra (OB)
1 Melanochromis Cyaneorhabdos
1 Pseudotropheus Crabro
1 Pseudotropheus Kingsizei
1 Labidochromis sp. Hongi
1 Pseudotropheus Elongatus Mpanga
1 Pseudotropheus Acei Ngara
1 Metriaclima Estherae
1 Cynotilapia Afra Cobue
1 Labeotropheus Fuelleborni Mbenji
1 Tropheus Duboisi (Karilani)
2 Cyaneorhabdos/Socolofi hybrids
1 Aulonocara Jacobfreibergi "Eureka"
2 Synodontis Eupterus
1 Common Plec

Additional comments: All Mbuna are male except for the Crabro, which was supposed to be male but it's difficult to be certain when buying them as babies.

Brief history of the tank: Current tank has been running for a little over 4 years

Type of setup: Mbuna



Tank: Juwel Rio 180, 180 liters/ 48 US Gallon, 101 x 41 x 50cm

Filtration: TetraTec EX 700, Juwel internal filter, Standard media for both with a combined LPH of 1300 or 7.2 TTPH

Lighting: Two 30w T8's. One Arcadia white marine tube (front) and One Arcadia daylight plus (back)

Substrate: Crushed coral, 5cm average depth

Decor: Devonian "old red sandstone" 70-80kgs, collected from a river

Water chemistry: pH 8.0 - 8.2, temp 29c, Gh and Kh: n/a

Feeding: Once a day with Tetra Pro Veg and Tropical Spirulina granuals. Regularly feed shelled peas, frozen mysis shrimp and frozen African cichlid mix.

Maintenance: Weekly 25-30% water change includes substrate cleaning. TetraTec filter is cleaned once a month and the Juwel internal is every two weeks.

Fish: 4 * Labidochromis caeruleus, labs, electric yellow, 1m 3f, mbuna, lake Malawi Link
3 * Cynotilapia afra (cobue), 1M 2F, mbuna, lake Malawi
2 * Pseudotropheus sp "mpanga" 2m, mbuna, lake Malawi Link
3 * Pseudotropheus "Acei", yellow tailed acei, 1m 2f, mbuna, Lake Malawi
3 * Metriaclima sp. "Aurora Yellow" , 1m 2f, mbuna lake Malawi
3 * Aulonocara hansbaenschi, mf? , Peacock, Lake Malawi


Comments: Tank has been running for roughly 10 months. Only major problem has been with blue green algae when the tank was initially set-up. This problem was resolved by introducing a 2-hour lights off siesta period during the middle of the day to interrupt the growth cycle of the algae.

This post has been edited by Ferris: Feb 13 2007, 03:36 PM

Type of setup: Mbuna



Tank: 75 US gallons

Filtration: Aqua Clear 70 (300gph), Fluval 404 (350gph), I use sponges, ceramic rings, and crushed coral for media.

Lighting: Standard flourescent that came with the tank.

Substrate: 30 pounds of aragonite sand.

Decor: Landscaping rocks from the local hardware store,,fake plants, black posterboard background.

Water chemistry: PH 8.2, KH 10, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5

Maintenance: I change 40% of the water every week. I vacuum the gravel around once a month and spray out between the rocks. Filters are cleaned every 3 months or so.

Feeding: They are feed 2 times per day, I rotate, NLS, Hikari Cichlid gold, and a Super Veggie pellet every feeding. Occasionally they get frozen daphnia, or brine shrimp (the labs love the shrimp), or frozen/fresh veggies.

Fish: 6 Metriaclima callainos
6 Labidochromis Caeruleus
4 Pseudotropheus Acei
1 female Pseudotropheus Crabro
All fish are from Lake Malawi


Comments: Because I'll be moving sometime later this year (2008), I sold my tanks in May. Watch this space for a new tank once I've settled in my new home.

This post has been edited by dthoffsett: Jul 4 2008, 09:01 AM

Type of setup: Mbuna


Tank: Juwel Vision, 260 liters/ 68 US Gallon, 121 x 46 X 73cm

Filtration: 2 x Fluval 404 External Filters , Standard media for both with actual tested 950 LPH

Lighting: Two 42w. One 'Daylight' White tube (front) One Aqua-Glo (rear), Reflector on rear only

Substrate: Kiln Dried Sand 5cm depth

Decor: Mixed River Cobbles Large 75-90kgs

Water chemistry: pH 7.8 - 8.0, temp 24C,

Feeding: Once a day Spirulina Flakes or Pellets. Additional Daphina, Mysis and Cucumber on occasion

Maintenance: Weekly 25-30% bi-water change includes substrate cleaning. Main filters cleaned 3 months staggered

Fish:
Malawi:
Cyrtocara Moorii 2 TB
Labeotropheus Trewavasae 3 TB Trio
Labeotropheus Fuelleborni (OB) 1 TB
Labidochromis Caeruleus 4 TB
Labidochromis "Hongi" (SRT) 3 TB
Metriaclima Estharae 1 TB
Metriaclima Callainos (Pearl) 1 TB
Pseudotropheus "Acei" (Ngara) 3 TB
Pseudotropheus Demasoni 2 TB
Pseudotropheus "Elongatus" (Mpanga) 2 2 WC Males
Pseudotropheus Greshaki 1 TB
Cynotilapia Pulpican "Likoma" 3 F2
Pseudotropheus Saulosi 2 WC Pair
Pseudotropheus Saulosi 5 TB
Pseudotropheus sp. "zebra long pelvic"3 WC Trio
(Galireya Reef)
Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek" 3 WC Females
(Chizumulu Islands)
Cynotilapia sp. "Mbamba" 2 WC Males
(Mpanga)

Tangs:
Altolamprologus Calvus Black 1 TB
Tropheus Duboisi Maswa 1 TB

Catfish:
Synodontis Petricola 10 F1

Others:
Ancistrus Bristlenoses 2 Breeding pair

Comments: Tank has been running for 18 months, recently changed from Ocean Rock to River Cobbles, more to come in time.

Updated 16/05/2007 to reflect changes

This post has been edited by Druchii: May 16 2007, 02:10 PM

Mbuna Tank

Tank - 93 US Gallons/363 litres . 150cm x 38cm x 60cm

Filtration- Eheim 2217 Clasic External( 1000 l/h) sponges and Ceramic rings
Rena XP3 External (1350 l/h) sponges,coral sand and crushed tufa rock.

Lighting - 1 T8 42inch Arcadia tropical bulb and 1 T8 42inch Arcadia Marine Blue Actinic( Moonlight )

Substrate - roughly 4-5cm of Playsand

Decor - 120kg of River Cobbles

Water chemistry - PH is 8.Temp is 78-79

Maintenance - 20-30% water change weekly. Clean filters when outflow slows

Feeding - Twice daily. Serra Flora Flakes,Spirulina Flakes,Algea Wafers.
Frozen Krill,Brine Shrimp and Cyclops a couple of times a week.

Fish -

4 Pseudotropheus Acei. Ngara White Tail. 1M/3F
2 Metriaclima Estherae. Minos Reef. 1 M/1F
5 Cynotilapia Mbamba. 2M/3F
5 Metriaclima Zebra Mpanga. 2M/3F
2 WC Cynotilapia Afra Edwardi M/2F w/c
2 Labidochromis Caerleus 1M/1F
2 Labeotropheus Fuelleborni. Katale. M/F
2 Pseudotropheus Elongatus Usisya. 1M/2F w/c
3 Metriaclima Aurora. 1M/2F w/c
3 Melanochromis Johannii. 1M/2F w/c
3 Pseudotropheus Elongatus Chewere. 1M/2F w/c
6 Synodontis Petricola.



Brief history of the tank - Running for about 6 months.

This post has been edited by spikeyboy: Feb 19 2007, 07:37 PM

Type of setup. Mbuna + victorian



Tank. Hagen 1200 deep 200L

Filtration. fluval +4 internal, rena xp3 external

Lighting. 1 marine blue, led night lights

Substrate. crushed coral 1-2" deep

Decor. about 70kg of limestone

Water chemistry. ph 8.2, 78f

Maintenance. about 25% every week or so

Feeding. African aquatic mixed flake 2 times a day and brine shrimp once a week

Fish.

mbuna
5 cynotilapia afra "chewere" common name red top afra 1m-4f wild caught
4 labidochromis caeruleus
4 metriaclima estherae, common name red zebra
5 metriaclima sp "membe deep" f1 only 1"
3 pseudotropheus sp "elongatus mbenji blue"
4 pseudotropheus sp "zebra long pelvic" chesese, wild caught

lake victoria

4 Astatotilapia Brownae

catfish

4 synodontis njassae, wild caught malawi
3 bristle nose


Additional comments.

Still waiting to see if the Astatotilapia Brownae will work with mbuna so far there more than holding up. Still planning on the 200 gallon mbuna tank next

Brief history of the tank.

Tanks been running about 1 year now and its been a steep learning curve with none of the first fish still in the tank i had the worst mix you could imagine.

Well the Astatotilapia Brownae did not work out they ended up being way to aggresive even though they lost the fights they just would not quit picking on my elongatus, just goes to show 6 months with no problems then overnight it changes.

This post has been edited by adambrum: Apr 10 2007, 06:51 PM

Type of setup: Mbuna



Tank: All Glass Aquariums 90 US gallons (72"x13"x21")

Filtration: Rena Xp3 and Rena Xp2 canister filters

Lighting: 3x 18" Hagen Power-Glo

Substrate: Large grain sand (2 inches in depth)

Decor: Lava Rock and fake plants

Water chemistry: pH 8.3-8.5 , temp 82F

Feeding: Ocean Nutrition (Formulas one and two), Hikari Algae Waffers and fresh roughage (twice a day)

Maintenance: Weekly 25% water change (including substrate vacuuming), canister filters cleaned every 2 months

Fish:
Malawi mbuna:
4x Metriaclima estherae (Red Zebra)
3x Labidochromis caeruleus
3x Labeotropheus trewavasae "Zimbawe"
2x Melanochromis Johanni
1x Maylandia greshakei
1x Psuedotropheus sp. Acei
1x Pseudotropheus socolofi
1x Melanochromis chipokae
1x Pseudotropheus lombardoi

Malawi Haplochromines:
1x Nimbochromis Polystigma

Catfish:
5x Synodontis nigrita
1x common pleco

Comments: Current tank has been running only a week. Fish were swapped out of my 55 gallon. The 55 gallon was running about 6 months. Make sure to research your the fish you want a lot before mixing.

Tank: Juwel Rio 380L 48x21x24

Filtration: juwel jumbo inernal1200 and BioPur Expert1200 external

Lighting: 1 Arcadia Ice white(front) 1 Reef 50/50(Back) with reflector. Lights on 10-12 hours a day.

Substrate: Large grain sand (2cm depth)

Decor: Large smooth rocks different shades
Water chemistry: PH 8.0-8.3

Feeding: 6 days a week spirulina flake and cichlid sticks, once week cucumber, once a week brine shrimp

Maintenance: weekly 30% water change, clean filter wool bi weekly, one one week and the other the next. vacume sand once a week.

Fish:
Malawi mbuna:
7x Psudeotrpheus "sp"Kingsizei 2m/5f
3x Metriaclima estherae red 2m/3f
9x Labidochromis caeruleus 3m/6f
5x Metriaclima Callainos 2m/3f WC
2x Maylandia greshakei 1m/1f
6x Psuedotropheus sp. Acei sex as yet unknown
2x Pseudotropheus socolofi albino 1m/1f
2x Pseudotropheus lombardoi 1m/1f
1x Pseudotropheus Elongatus "Ornatus" 1m

Malawi Haplochromines:
1 x Fryeri 1m
3 x C.Moorii 3m

Catfish:
1x common pleco
1x Gibby pleco
1x Chocolate pleco

Comments: Current tank has been running 5months. half of the fish stock were swapped out of my 55 gallon. The 55 gallon was running 1 year 2 months.

This post has been edited by clareuk: Mar 12 2007, 09:30 AM

Type of setup ?
mbuna



Tank ?
Volume 90 Gallons or 340 Litres, Dimensions 36"x24"x24" or 92X61x61cm

Filtration ?
Eheim 2128 thermo and Eheim 2028 with a combined 554/2100GPH/LPH. (tank turn over about 6 times per hour)

Lighting ?
Single tube, not sure which type and moonlighting.

Substrate?
Crushed Coral about 1-2 inches deep.

Decor?
50kg of Ocean Rock

Water chemistry ?
pH 8.0, temp 78f

Maintenance ?
10% Water change Weekly with substrate cleaning at the same time. Filter floss replaced every month.

Feeding?
Once a day with OSI Spirulina Flake, Nutrafin Spirulina Cichlid Sticks, Tetra Min Flake or some brine shrimp as a treat.

Fish ?
Pseudotropheus Saulosi - Currently 2 Males and 4 Females and about 20 fry. hopefully most of these will be females.

Additional comments ?
Will hopefully have about 4 - 6 Synodontis Petricola soon.

Brief history of the tank ?
Tank has been running since the end of September 2006 and has had no problems apart from a bit of brown algae from time to time.
I have also been trying to get more females for the boys to play with but this is proving very difficult as I can only find juveniles and they are very difficult to sex.

This post has been edited by AshBreed: Feb 13 2007, 05:47 PM

Type of setup: Tanganykia rubble zone




Tank: 39 gallon 40x12x15"

Filtration: Two small internals

Lighting: 30w household flourescent tube

Substrate: Silver sand

Decor: Slate, pebbles, snail shells and a few pieces of Vallis

Water chemistry: pH 8.2 KH and GH hard as liquid granite (London tapwater)

Maintenance: 30% water change once a week

Feeding: Fed a mixture of vegetable and colour flake 4 times a week, frozen marine mix twice a week and live daphnia or glass worm once a week

Fish: 4 Lamprologus meleagris (1m 3f), shelldwellers; 4 Cyprichromis leptosoma; 1 Eretmodus cyanosticus, goby Cichlid.

Tank: Effect Line 325, 325 liters/ 85 US Gallon, 130 x 50 x 50cm

Filtration: TetraTec EX 1200(1200lph), Fluval 305 (1000lph), Vecton UV2

Lighting: Two 40w T8's. Both Standard Tropical Arcadia bulbs, Mainly just the front light on to create shadow at the back.

Substrate: Aquarium sand (medium grain)

Decor: B & Q River Cobbles , Anubias and Giant Vallis

Water chemistry: pH 8.2 - 8.3, temp 26c, Gh 16 and Kh 18 (Both Buffered with Bi-carb and Epsom)

Feeding: Once a day with Tetra Pro Veg, NLS Cichlid, Spirulina, Frozen Malawi Mix and Brineshrimp Occasionally

Maintenance: Weekly 25-30% water change includes substrate cleaning.

Fish:
3 x (1M 2F) Cynotilapia sp. "Mbamba" (Nkhata Bay) (WC)
3 x (1M 2F) Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Chailosi" (WC)
3 x (1M 2F) Metriaclima estherae (Minos Reef) F1 Juvenile
3 x (2M 1F) Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos F1
3 x (?M ?F) Metriaclima sp. "Zebra Chilumba" (Luwino Reef) F1 Juveniles
3 x (?M ?F) Pseudotropheus polit F1 Juveniles
3 x (1M 2F) Labidochromis caeruleus (Lion's Cove II) F1 Juveniles
2 x (1M 1F) Pseudotropheus saulosi (WC)
1 x (1M) Labidochromis sp. "Hongi"
7 x Synodontis Petricola

Comments: The previous tank was running for 7 months , everything was moved to this tank very recently. The best thing I ever did was adding the Tetratec Filter it`s helped no end with water movement / filtration.

Tank - 185 Litres (41 UK Gallons, 49 US Gallons) - 122cm x 38cm x 40cm

Filtration - 1 x Fluval 305 External and 1 x Fluval 4+ Internal

Lighting - 1x Power-Glo T8 - 10 hours a day

Substrate - Silver Sand (3" Deep). Small patches of pea gravel scattered over sand

Decor - Medium to Large Scottish Pebals and Rocks purchased from local garden centre

Water Chemistry - 25 Degrees celsius

Maintanece - Weekly 30% Water Change. Internal filter clean every 2 weeks. External filter clean every 4 weeks. Sand shifted every water change. Rocks cleaned twice yearly.

Feeding - Mixture of Malawi Flake twice weekly, Mixture of Sprinula flake twice weekly, Vegetable Diet frozen food once weekly, Tropical Mixture (bloodworm, shrimp etc.) once weekly. One day with no food. Also includes nightly feeds of food tablets, algae wafers, freeze-dried river shrimp, bloodworm, brineshrimp and krill.

moderator note: feeding bloodworms to Malawi Cichlids is not recomended due to problems with digesting crude proteins which may cause bloat.

Fish - Roughly 16 Malawi's (sorry, no ID's on them), 6-7 Juviniles and 1 L001/L022 Plec

Tank History - Roughly 7 months old

Mbuna



Tank: 55 Gallon All Glass Aquarium

Flitration: Cascade 1000 Cannister

Lighting: Full Spectrum Tube made by All Glass Aquarium

Substrate: Gravel 3inch Depth

Decor: Driftwood (Variety), Lava Rocks, Fake PLants, Ceramic Log

Water Chemistry: PH 7.3, Temp 80f

Feeding: 3 Times Daily, Variety of Flakes, Frozen Brine Shrimp, Sinking Pellets, Algae Wafers, Cooked Shrimp, Crayfish

Mainetenance: Weekly water change 30%, Substrate Vac'd, Fliter maintenanced monthly

Fish: MALAWI - Peacock, Red Zebra, Albino Zebra, Electric Yellow, Spotted Zebra, Bumblebee, Male and Female Kenyi,
Livingstoni, 2 unknown
S. AMERICAN - Green Terror, Jewel
Figure 8 Puffer
Common Pleco
Synodontis Cat

Comments: This is our first tank. Its been running for 2 months in the 55 gallon. We originally started with a 29 gallon and then realized we needed a larger tank. We know we are breaking a cardinal rule by having mixed fish, but our tank is very peaceful, surprisingly enough. We currently in the process of updating this tank to a more natural environment. We will put pics up as soon as we are done.

MOD EDIT: Mixing African and NW cichlids is not recommended and will almost certainly not work when the fish become adults. Water and dietary requirements are also completely different. Not for the beginner.

This post has been edited by Ferris: Mar 14 2007, 09:41 AM