Since I am starting a new tank and always have enjoyed reading the "Journal" threads I figured I would start my own.

I got the tank on 2/4, spent the next two days cleaning the tank. Last night I finally added the sand, rocks and water. I am starting my fishless cycle, the way I have always done it with a product called Cycle so I added that. Now I am in the waiting game for the next few weeks to let things get going. I am researching canister filters to find one I like in my price range, I think I am going to shoot for at least 600gph which will give me 8x turnover.

Here is the info so far:

Tank
I found it on craigslist Monday for a really good price was advertised as an 80g AGA but with my calculations it is actually a 75g. Dimensions 48x18x20. The previous owner had used it for as FO SW tank.

Lighting
It came with a NO 48" light as well as 2 65w CF. At this point I am thinking I will only use the CF may change if I try to keep live plants.

Filter
It came with a Tetratec PF500, I set that up last night and it sounded like a Jet Plane in our living room, so currently I only have my Fluval 304 hooked up. I am going to be getting another canister filter to run with the Fluval. Currently I am running mostly polyfill in the fluval to eliminate the sand from the water column.

Water
My tap water is very hard and has a PH of 7.6, I will add some crushed coral to bring it up a little but I don't need to do much.

Misc Equipment
2x 200w VisiTherm Heaters (on Order)
Digital Thermometer


Current list of to be Inhabitants
Pseudotropheus Acei (Yellow Tail Acei)
Metriaclima greshakei (Ice Blue)
Cynotilapia Afra Cobue (Afra Edwatdi)
Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Lab)
Metriaclima Lombardoi (Kenyi)
Aulonocara Rubescens (Ruby Red Peacock)


I am not sure how many of each yet, I was thinking at least 5 of the Acei and 4-5 of the Labs. Will the Kenyi and the Acei be ok together? Also would the Peacocks be ok with the rest of the fish? I have kept and bread the Kenyis before and really liked them and wanted to keep them again.

I have pictures on my camera at home so I will try and post some tonight as well as any updates.

This post has been edited by wslinky: Mar 26 2008, 04:14 AM

Sounds good so far, personally I'd pass on the peacocks as they'd have a hard time with the mbuna aggression. If you are determined to go with the p.lombardoi, keep a close eye on them and be prepared to remove them if they harass their tank mates too much.

Thanks that is kinda what I figured for the Peacock, oh well!!! As far as the p.lombardoi I will make sure to watch them. I am thinking 1 male and 2 or 3 females for the p.Lombardoi is one of those options better then the other?

Here are the pictures of the tank currently, I think I am going to drain it again and do a 3d background. Since I am still deciding on filter I have some time.





I am still working on the rocks, I have to go get more, there placement in the pictures is where I placed them just to get them off the floor. The bigger rocks are Jing Jing, it is imported from China and where REALLY expensive.

Looking good. You definately need more rocks, also, make sure your rocks are sitting on the bottom glass rather than the surface of the sand as mbuna love to dig and will collapse your rocks if they can get under them.

As for the m.lombardoi, the more females the better, you may also have some problems with the male confusing the labs for rivals, so that's something to keep in mind.

Oh, and I don't know where my head was when I posted last, but I was going to tell you the p.lombardoi is actually metriaclima lombardoi, though they are often marketed under as pseudotropheus.

Keep up the good work!

Updated, I just used the Scientific Name from the Profile since it said either I picked the 1st one.



I have them sitting on the egg crate under the sand. In my last Mbuna tank I had all sorts of problems with the fish collapsing the rocks but they were small pieces of slate so I wasn't too worried, this time the rocks weigh way more so I will have to keep a watchful eye on this.

Thanks

This post has been edited by wslinky: Feb 8 2008, 02:32 PM

to quote the person who said peacocks dont fair well with mbuna aggression.
i have 2 ahli, and 2 peacocks toigether. with mbuna.
and aggression isnt an issue because i have one dominant fish and the rest follow. ive found as long as u get peacocks that arent coloured like
any of the mbuna your fine.

i have a german red and OB.

Got some more rock today, about 175lbs worth. It was called Three Rivers Flagstone, it was about $.30/lb, which was much better then the $3.70 for the other rock. Here are some pictures, don't think this is the final layout, the water is very cloudy from moving the sand around and the new rocks..

First a couple full tank shots






A close up of the original rock, which is Jing Jing



My wife thinks this one looks like an animals scull, hard to tell with the rocks on top of it and the angle of the pic.



Here are the new rocks






I did water test tonight here are the results

PH ~7.9
NO2 0
NO3 0
NH3 .25

Still waiting on the heaters to come in, should be here next week. I think I have finally decided on a XP3 filter to add to my 304 which will give me about 600 gph which is about 7.5x/hour.

It's really starting to come together nicely, good job.

loving the rockwork this tanks gonne be great!!!

I really wish you had hung a black background before setting it up. It would have pulled the whole thing together, now your eyes are drawn to the equipment and white wall...

Thanks wish I could find more of the Jing Jing for a bit cheaper, but I really like the different colors in the flagstone.



I was thinking about adding a diy custom 3d background, but now that i have the rock in and see how little room there is I will be adding a plane black back ground. It is going to be a lot harder to install now that I have water in the tank, luckily I have long arms and can reach most of the way across.

thanks for the feed back, I will update as soon as there are any changes.

I've been where you are right now, you should have seen me trying to adhere (sprayed backgrnd w/ windex) a background on a 110 by myself! ps, swiffer sticks work great! they have a flat foam like end that extends your reach.

I finally got the heaters tonight, as well as the GH KH test. I added the ammonia, and some baking soda and tested the water. I also rearranged the rocks (pictures tomorrow), I still need to add a background not sure what I am going to use yet.

Here are the results for my water test.

Tap Water
pH~7.4
NH3=0
GH=5
KH=9

Tank after Amonia and Baking Soda
pH ~ 8.3
NH3 ~ 6ppm
GH =5
KH >50 <--Does this makes sense? Does the baking soda make this go up as well as the pH? The test solution just seems to make the color a darker blue, doesn't seem to look like it will ever change.

I got some aquarium salt to add to bring up the GH but haven't yet maybe tomorrow. I have 2 pond pumps in there currently to get the flow rate up with those I am at about 900gph.

Anyways there is a small update will add more tomorrow when I test the water again and snap some pictures.

Baking soda will raise your KH as well as PH which is a good thing.

As for a background I use black posterboard on all of my tanks, here's a pic of my 75.

Is 50 too high? Is there a too high for KH? Or is it the Higher the better since it keeps the pH from swinging? Nevermind, I did some reading and see that it doesn't matter.




I am going to use something black, I just havened decided what, I am trying to decided between vinyl, tank backing stuff, or something else black. Then I have to figure out how I am going to attach it since the tank is full and beginning to cycle.

This post has been edited by wslinky: Feb 15 2008, 05:05 AM

Did another test and seems weird, will test again later to make sure these result are accurate since it doesn't seem right.

NH3~4 ppm
NO2=0
NO3~5 ppm
GH=23*
pH~8.3

The NO3 (nitrates) shouldn't be going up if the NO2 (nitrites) are still 0 right? I did test right after I added some dechlorinater and cycle could that be skewing my results?

My tank is still very cloudy, hopefully when I finally get the second filter that will be fixed.

Full Tank




Left Side


Right Side


A better shot of the 'Skull" rock, it is much easier to see with the new setup.


This post has been edited by wslinky: Feb 16 2008, 12:34 AM

I waited a few hours and retested and got the same results, actually I think the Nitrates have gone up, is how is this possible? Could it be that the cycle had enough bacteria to start the Nitrite bacteria and they are keeping up with the low quantity of NH3 bacteria?

that looks great!i think u need to throw in a few synos to ur stock.then ud be set