Mbuna Mayhem!

[Stampos]

Welcome to the build thread for my 110 gallon (US) Mbuna tank.

I decided to go back to Mbuna as I regretted closing my old 55 gallon tank down, and New World cichlids sadly didn't capture my attention as much as the feisty rock dwellers did! As such I wanted a similar tank to what I had previously, but on a larger scale.

The tank is a 60x18x24 Seashell Elite tank, with a 30 gallon sump built into the cabinet. I am using an Ocean Runner 3500 return pump which gives a turnover of around 5-7 times per hour (est.)

I love the look of marine tanks, and having a bright blue weir decided to paint the rear of the tank to blend it in.

I also fitted a Hagen 2x54w T5 light system with 18000k bulbs to give a bright marine look.

I knew I wanted a lot of rockwork in this tank, so looked into sourcing eggcrate from somewhere, my LFS wanted £20 per sheet! No way was I paying that! So, I settled on using "koi filter grid" which is a much more reasonable £4.80 for a 16x27 sheet and is a lot more substantial:

 

[Stampos]

After fitting the grid, I started to put my substrate in.

After using playsand and becoming annoyed with how much I found in my canister filters, I decided to use a coarser grade this time around, and so decided on crushed coral sand (it helps that it looks great too!)

I began by filling the gaps of the grid so I could put my decor on top:

Then added the rest of the sand:

I then began to fill the tank, and the wood began to float. So I decided to scrap that idea and go out to get more rock.

 

[Stampos]

After all that I moved on to the sump and the layout. Using the left over grid I made some dividers to keep the media in place. For filtration I will be using a 100 micron filter sock, poly wool in the bubble trap, pot scrubbers and various bio media (Fluval and Eheim) in the centre section:

I also made a pre-filter I will be trialling by cutting some grid to fit the entrance to the weir, it will hold some polyfilter:

 

[Stampos]

With the home stretch in sight I fitted all the equipment into the sump (2x200w heaters and the return pump), finished filling the tank and adjusted the aquascaping to give as many caves and areas of interest as possible and added some coral gravelto give a more natural look.

After switching on and checking everything was working as it should, I took some pics:

 

[Stampos]

So, that's as far as I am today and I am happy with how it all looks.

I know that I need to add more height to the rocks, so will focus on that for the time being.

In terms of stocking I am sorely tempted to go for a yellow lab/p.demasoni mix, that would look quite good I think.

If I could find some nice Afra Cobue in the UK I'd include them, I've also seen some P.Acei "Ngara" white tails that I really like too.

Thanks for taking the time to read the thread, any comments/criticism welcomed.

Simon

 

[Loops]

This is looking great!

I love journals

Look forward to seeing the progression

 

[jbeechey]

Great looking tank. Looking forward to updates!

 

[kiriyama]

Nice spacious tank, watching this thread with interest

 

[c-dub]

Looks fantastic, great nicK! Can't wait to see some action in there!

 

[Evobe]

Looks great ! are you gonna put any plants in there ? or is there no such thing as an indestructible plant?