New Mbuna Tank

[mbuna_man]

I recently set this tank up. about 3 days ago. no i dont have fish in it yet. not for another two to three weeks. so heres the set up...

The tank is a 46 gallon bowfront i bought at petsmart. it is 37" long and 20" tall. (not sure about the width)
I bought about 50 pounds of black gravel at Petsmart and i got about 130 pounds of golden desert granite at my local landscaping supplier.
Im using a Penguin 350 on tank filter, a Top Fin heater that i probably wont use because the water buffers around 80-81F with out it so eh.
Im using Wardley water conditioner with the 7.5 PH buffer, and ProQuatics bacteria supplement and just a touch of conditioning salt. I havent tested it yet because im still letting it settle down so ill have it tested in about a week. Anywho I hope to put a small variety of African Cichlids that are availible at any petsmart. Not sure what yet.

I hope to get a powerhead sometime in the near future and also another Penguin 350 for better filtration.

Any advice or comments would be great. or just if im doing anything wrong.

 

[denis coghlan]

The tank looks great and I really like the granite pile. In terms of fish I would go for maybe two of the larger species of mbuna and then maybe a species of Cyno afra to add a little character.

 

[mbuna_man]

ok what are some of those species in common terms because i dont think petsmart has technical names. i for sure want a couple or three ice blues and perhaps a bumble couple or trio. im still in my thought process so ill see what happens.

 

[dthoffsett]

Ice blue are most likely metriaclima greshaki, make sure you only get one male if you get these. Males are have a blue body with an orange dorsal fin, females are tan/brown.

Bumblebees are probably pseudotropheus crabro and will get too large for your tank.

Before you buy any, go to the lfs and write down the ones you like and research them. Your tank is lovely, but it is a little on the smaller side and you'll need to be careful about what you add to avoid aggression problems.

 

[mbuna_man]

ok i will do. ill just look at them and jot em down as im working. i work at out local petsmart, and that is my only fish outlet persay. so ill do that and get back to you on that.

 

[Ferris]

I would expect your "Ice blues" are more likely to be Metriaclima Callainos as they are more often referred to in this manner than Greshakei.

 

[dthoffsett]

I would expect your "Ice blues" are more likely to be Metriaclima Callainos as they are more often referred to in this manner than Greshakei.

Could be, around here Petsmart labels m.callainos as cobalt zebras and m.greshaki as ice blue, I'm sure that varies from store to store though.