Help Me Decide What To Do With My 180 Litre Tank

[mossonthemoon]

Hello! (I think) I'm new here, though I was on a fish forum years ago and it could have been this one. I have been keeping fish for around ten years, so I'm not new to it, but I wouldn't consider myself advanced, either. I had a nice community tank that changed now and then over the time, but did well for the most part. It was planted but not heavily. I have never done any of the special plant things like CO2, specialist lighting, etc. Through no fault of our own, I need to start my tank over. I'm actually very upset by it and don't want to talk about the circumstances so please don't ask!

Anyway, I am starting over soon and wanted some help about what to do this time. I'm not against having a similar set-up, but since I can start over for the first time since I got fish, I thought it would be worth considering a change. I've always been into the idea of having a Malawi tank. Is 180 l sufficient for a good one? I should mention it is a Juwel Rio 180. I've also considered just having a much more heavily planted tank and stocking on that basis, but then I have no idea which fish I would put in it. I am not against the idea of having only a couple species and welcome suggestions like that as well. I get too hung up on planning (I know it is good to plan but I do go too far), so would love some suggestions. Maybe there will be something I would never have thought of. Thanks in advance!

I just thought of one more question. I have always had a gravel substrate, and planting has been a bit annoying to say the least. Would I be happier with sand? I don't know much about how it is to keep a sand tank, so any tips on that would be great too.

 

[Naringlo]

Hello, nice tank. I'm pretty sure the Juwel Rio's have good lighting for plants.

I had a malawi tank once, they are great colourful fish to keep and watch. They have great character and personality. They dig up your plants unless you attach them to something though. And making a rock formation with a piece of bog wood in there makes it look nice. Egg crate is good to put the rocks on so you don't crack the tank. The Cichlids love to dig so the egg crate can save a lot of hassle e.g. cichlid digging under rock and knocking them all down and it distributes the weight of the rocks I believe.

Otherwise, 2 Rams, a big shoal and some corys are quite good in my opinion. And some suitable additions. Sand is good there. Actually sand seems good for everything. With that stock, planted would look nice as always.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to our forum Mossonthemoon.
You can have a very nice Malawi tank in a 180 litre tank. Just fill it up with nice stacks of rocks to simulate the Malawi environment and to give your fish lots of hiding places. I do not have my own African tank but they require even harder water than my livebearers enjoy. These days salts are sold to bring a tank into the Malawi range in terms of dissolved minerals and pH. I think I would start by using one of those products to set the water parameters right. Since you have no mature tank to draw from, you will be doing a fishless cycle to prepare the tank to receive fish. There is a link in my signature area to a thread that lays out how to do a fishless cycle.

 

[mossonthemoon]

Oh thanks! It is great to read that it would be a decent tank for a Malawi set up. I have a nearly four year old boy and I have the feeling he would really enjoy watching a group of colourful cichlids. That's a good tip about egg crates too. I had wondered about placing so many rocks on the bottom. I have used rocks before, but not as many as I tend to see in Malawi tanks. Are there special egg crates for tanks, that won't leach dye into the water?

I think I have only see massive Malawi set-ups, which is what led me to think I might not have the right tank for it. If I do go for that, I would like to attempt to make it fairly genuine and will need to do some reading on it. I did a fishless cycle with my first tank. I went overboard and waited so long that the fish shop was grinning at me when I told them how long I had waited to buy fish. I don't think they were used to someone having that much patience. Thank you for the link though because it was a long time ago and it will be reassuring to have a reference.

I think a pair of rams with a couple others will definitely be my other option. I have always wanted rams but my previous set-up wouldn't allow for it (because of the other residents). Thank you! I'm going to look into how many/what type of cichlids I can put in just in case that is what I do.

 

[mossonthemoon]

Oh, I feel silly. By egg crate did you mean something like this? I was picturing the kind you get from Tesco.

 

[Naringlo]

Haha, that was my exact thought when someone said that to me.

I can't see the picture in the link too well so here is this: http/westwardplasticsonline.co.uk/image/cache/data/Egg%20Crate%2001-500x500.jpg

And if you look for egg crates, they tend to be from aquarium sellers and suppliers so they should be safe but I personally would give it a quick rinse.

This is my old malawi set up.

Plants did get dug up but I've already told you about that.

 

[coldcazzie]

Yes a 180l is a nice size for a malawi setup the Rio 180s are good tanks.

Understand about the disaster and having to start over too. I had one of those last year and they can be really tough.

 

[Spurry]

Hi a juwel rio 180 would be a little small for a Malawi tank
Unless you go for the smaller ones like saulosi's I have them
In my 180

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

A 180l would be far better for a Tanganyikan setup than Malawi, 240l tanks are generally considered a better minimum size for Malawi, as the fish tend to be bigger (~15cm as adults... there are exceptions but not that many compared to Tanganyika) and they need to be overstocked will extra filtration.

 

[Spurry]

Yes Tanganyika there a good few that stick around 4"

 

[mossonthemoon]

Oh, thanks! I will look into the Tanganyika fish. I have read the name before, but have never looked into what they were.

That egg crate makes FAR more sense!