Hi there.
I have been on these forums for the last couple of days and firstly must say that the knowledge here is first class and everyone is very helpfull to new fish enthusiasts.
I have kept a 10gal tank for about 3 years, without too much tinkering, most of my fish have stayed healthy over that period with only 1 or 2 deaths. In this tank I have 4 x neons, 1 x flying fox, 1 albino cory, 1 x bristlenose and another tetra that I forget the name.
Finally moved into a place where i have enough room (and gf permission) for a 200l tank. After searching the forums, lfs, galleries, youtube etc. I am quite sure I want to go for a Malawi Cichlid Tank. Love the colours you can get. and with the right rocky setting for them, i think I can make a pretty good looking tank.
I have a bunch of questions though which i could probably find answers to by searching the forums, but thought I would just ask, start a thread, then i can use it as i progress with my tank to seek help.
• Firstly, while im still in the decision making/ shopping stage for my tank etc. if i take about half of the foam from my existing tank and replace it, could i use this foam as part of the external canister filter to speed up my fishless cycle? would this dramatically increase fishless cycle speed? (not that im in a hurry, just curious)
• As my understanding is that some mbuna cichlids can grow pretty large, and i will only have about a 200l tank, should i look at dwarf cichlids? do most of the cichlids that i have seen and like come as dwarf? how big will these dwarf grow?
• Also, as many others, i love the look of electric yellows (forget the scientific name) if i were to get 1m 2f of these, can people advise what stocking levels, and what other types would be suited to co-exist, given the size of my tank. (or if you have a electric yellows, what you currently stock)
• Also, setting up a nice looking rock setup for my fish to have nice hidey holes will be important to me. Could people please share some of their photos (or photos they have) of nice rock formations that I could possibly use as guidance.
• I saw a tank at my LFS that i like (wasn't much selection though) it was an Aqua-Nova NT-1000. The hood had its own filter system that was inbuilt. Are these any good? or would i run a normal canister filter (and maybe this aswel).
• Last one, this tank says its dimensions are 100cm x 42cm x 62cm (which by my calculation is 260l) but it says its only a 200l. What the?
I apologise for the essay, you will get used to it, i cant help but write ridiculously long posts.
Posting this both in the cichlids area and new to hobby section (so I can get advice from cichlid pros who wouldn’t go in the new to hobby section)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Any other tips or hardware/fish advice that anyone thinks i might need to know when getting started would also be great.
Cheers
I have been on these forums for the last couple of days and firstly must say that the knowledge here is first class and everyone is very helpfull to new fish enthusiasts.
I have kept a 10gal tank for about 3 years, without too much tinkering, most of my fish have stayed healthy over that period with only 1 or 2 deaths. In this tank I have 4 x neons, 1 x flying fox, 1 albino cory, 1 x bristlenose and another tetra that I forget the name.
Finally moved into a place where i have enough room (and gf permission) for a 200l tank. After searching the forums, lfs, galleries, youtube etc. I am quite sure I want to go for a Malawi Cichlid Tank. Love the colours you can get. and with the right rocky setting for them, i think I can make a pretty good looking tank.
I have a bunch of questions though which i could probably find answers to by searching the forums, but thought I would just ask, start a thread, then i can use it as i progress with my tank to seek help.
• Firstly, while im still in the decision making/ shopping stage for my tank etc. if i take about half of the foam from my existing tank and replace it, could i use this foam as part of the external canister filter to speed up my fishless cycle? would this dramatically increase fishless cycle speed? (not that im in a hurry, just curious)
• As my understanding is that some mbuna cichlids can grow pretty large, and i will only have about a 200l tank, should i look at dwarf cichlids? do most of the cichlids that i have seen and like come as dwarf? how big will these dwarf grow?
• Also, as many others, i love the look of electric yellows (forget the scientific name) if i were to get 1m 2f of these, can people advise what stocking levels, and what other types would be suited to co-exist, given the size of my tank. (or if you have a electric yellows, what you currently stock)
• Also, setting up a nice looking rock setup for my fish to have nice hidey holes will be important to me. Could people please share some of their photos (or photos they have) of nice rock formations that I could possibly use as guidance.
• I saw a tank at my LFS that i like (wasn't much selection though) it was an Aqua-Nova NT-1000. The hood had its own filter system that was inbuilt. Are these any good? or would i run a normal canister filter (and maybe this aswel).
• Last one, this tank says its dimensions are 100cm x 42cm x 62cm (which by my calculation is 260l) but it says its only a 200l. What the?
I apologise for the essay, you will get used to it, i cant help but write ridiculously long posts.
Posting this both in the cichlids area and new to hobby section (so I can get advice from cichlid pros who wouldn’t go in the new to hobby section)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Any other tips or hardware/fish advice that anyone thinks i might need to know when getting started would also be great.
Cheers
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