African cichlids for a 35 gallon

[Sean_Buckley]

I'm making my own 35 gallon, and I plan on making it an African Cichlid aquarium.
What do you think I should have in it? I want to make it a biotope from one of the lakes, so if possible, I dont really want to mix the lakes. Suggestions?
Sean

 

[yhbae]

You will need to make your decision on whether you want Lake Tang or Lake Malawi species. If you are into active and colorful species, I suggest you go with mbuna tank. If you want less common but more interesting behaviors, Lake tang species would fit the bill.

For mbuna setup: (choose two from the list, each with 1male/3-4 females)
- Iodotropheus sprengeraes
- Labidochromis caeruleus
- Pseudotropheus Saulosi
- Pseudotropheus Acei

If you want to try out a Lake Tang setup, here are some possibilities.

Scenario 1:
- Pair or trio of one of the shell dwelling species (L Multies, L Oclelatus, L Brevis, L Similis).
- Pair of rock dwellers (J Ornatus, J Transcriptus, J Dickfeldi)
This setup would require having sand as substrates, and piles of rocks on one side only for Julidochromis species.

Scenario 2:
- Small group of N Brichardi (they will eventually take over the tank completely, so no tankmates in this sized tank)

If you like Peacocks(Aulonocara), you can try them as well, but females are not very attractive so you will not have much of a tank to show off. If this is your cup of cake, you could try male-only Peacocks as well.

Good luck!

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Thanks Yhbae,
I think I will go with the Mbuna setup. Are these very expensive?
Sean

 

[yhbae]

The best/easiest way to create mbuna setup is to purchase them at young, around 1 to 1.5 inches. Buy 7 or 8 of each species and watch them carefully until they become sexually mature (around 2 to 2.5 inches). Then you can remove all extra males, hopefully you will end up with the desirable M/F ratio.

Young mbuna are generally not expensive, probably around $5 each. If you can find a local breeder, that would be even better, as they tend to produce better quality fishes in general.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Man, 5 bucks each doesn't sound like a lot, but if youre buying 7 or 8 at a time, thats 35-40 dollars. A lot for a 13 year old like me! O well, I do get paid $5 an hour... I think I'll either do the Mbuna tank or a South American one. NO MORE COMMUNITIES!
Sean

 

[yhbae]

Try to find a local breeder - they might offer a better price as well, especially if you buy them in quantities...

Good luck!

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Heh! Wish me luck on that. I was talking to Doggfather over IM, and he said it generally costs more to build a smaller tank, so I might just build a bigger one, using some of the glass from my leaky 15 gallon, since the Mbunas appreciate a larger footprint anyhow!
Sean

 

[yhbae]

How are you going to build a larger tank out of leaky 15g tank?

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Well, just the silicone leaks, so, heres my plan.
Take the front and back out of the tank, as well as the bottom, in case one gets cracked or broken while building. These will be 24" by 12". Then, I'll get a sheet of 6'x4' plate glass (for cheap) get it cut in half, get two of these (front, back, and bottom). Then, I'll use the glass from the 15 gallon for the sides, which leaves me with a tank whose dimensions are 6' (long) x 2' (wide) x 1' (high). This is roughly 90 gallons. Voila! A 90 gallon tank using plate glass and a used 15 gallon! A Mbuna tank!
Sean

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Also, where could I get that egg crate to help distribute the weight of the rocks?
Sean

 

[yhbae]

Well, just the silicone leaks, so, heres my plan.
Take the front and back out of the tank, as well as the bottom, in case one gets cracked or broken while building. These will be 24" by 12". Then, I'll get a sheet of 6'x4' plate glass (for cheap) get it cut in half, get two of these (front, back, and bottom). Then, I'll use the glass from the 15 gallon for the sides, which leaves me with a tank whose dimensions are 6' (long) x 2' (wide) x 1' (high). This is roughly 90 gallons. Voila! A 90 gallon tank using plate glass and a used 15 gallon! A Mbuna tank!
Sean

Good luck with that! (really, I mean it... )

That will be a nice sized tank if you do pull it off...

 

[yhbae]

Also, where could I get that egg crate to help distribute the weight of the rocks?
Sean

Most large hardware stores sell them - go to the lighting section. Near here, I purchased it from Home Depot. (not sure if they exist in US)

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Actually, I'm Canadian as well. What do you think I should do for the tank? Use all new glass or what?
Sean

 

[modernhamlet]

Crazy idea, sean... but i don't see why it wouldn't work. The only issue I can imagine is that the glass for a 15g tank might not be as thick as the glass one would find in a 90g. But major props for the innovative idea. Hold on... I'll check on standard glass thickness on a 15 and 90g...

<edit> You're taking a risk. Seems that the standard thickness on a smaller tank (2'x1'x1' or so) is maybe 5 or 6 mm, while the thickness for a 90 is about twice that, at 10 or 12 mm. I don't know if a sheet of glass 5 mm thick could support that much wieght.

A (new) 75g tank where I live only ran me less than $100. A used 55 or 75g might be available around you for cheap if you look. Up to you whether it's worth the risk. The real cost is in a stand anyway... which isn't effected by how you get the tank.

Good luck, whatever you end up doing...

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Thanks Yhbae and Modernhamlet,
I think I will use all plate glass (like window glass). It's pretty thick (3 panes I think) and cheap if you buy it used. Would there be any problems with that? And since the sheets are 6'x4', I will get them to cut 2 of the sheets in half, and one of the halves into halves again. That will leave me with:
3 6'x2' sheets
2 3'x1' sheets
This will leave the aquarium bigger than my original thought, but hey, the bigger the better. With more room, you can put more Mbunas, therefore distributing the aggression over a larger number of fish, which would leave you with all around less-stressed fish. If this does work, the volume (in gallons) will be roughly 135 gallons. If there is anything, and I mean ANYTHING wrong with my reasoning, please come forward now, before I build it. I dont want to have a bunch of fish die because I was wrong in my reasoning.
Sean