New Tank For Malawi Cichilds

[elisew]

I wouldn't go with the marine blue bulb. I think one where the white and blue are combined is the most you need. What color is the white bulb you got? It should say something like 10,000K.

I agree, the blue bulb won`t give you crisp, clear viewing and colour of the fish anywhere near as well as a white one (or 2) will give you
If you`re determined to go with the ocean rock, do keep an eye out that the fish don`t get stuck in the holes as they get bigger

A little tip......get yourself a thermometer for the inside of the tank and keep an eye that the water temp doesn`t go much above 24-25*C max for Malawis (22-23 is recommended I believe)

 

[cocomonkey24k]

The tubes are 9500k. I'll take the blue tube back and replace it with another White one. I'm excited for my cichild tank now

 

[cocomonkey24k]

Hopefully I will have my mico gravel on Thursday and my White bulb. This weekend is going to be very busy

I'm unsure about how to scape the tank. I don't know weather or not to have rocks across the back of the tank or have 2 piles one in each corner and leave the centre free of rocks

 

[elisew]

Scaping is completely down to personal preference so it`s no good for anyone to really tell you what`s best. A really good way of getting some ideas is to have a search on youtube for malawi tanks, you`ll get loads of results and you`ll see lots of different setups

 

[cocomonkey24k]

YouTube has some amazing tanks. I'm hoping mine will compete with some of those on the videos. WOW

 

[cocomonkey24k]

Finally my tank has fish in. I decided to paint the background and 2 ends black due to not being able to source black card big enough to cover the background.

I purchased yesterday my first cichlids which are really happy in there new home swimming in and out of the caves and round the lavarock and also hiding in the half plant pots.

I bought 15 to start off with:
7 yellow labs - 2 male 5 female
3 fairy cichlid - 1 male 2 female
3 Jacob - 1 male 2 female
2 johanni - 2 male Shop didn't have any females.

I'm looking for people opinions on what to add next I will also add photos tonight once the sun goes down and the reflections disappear.

Thanks again scott

 

[elisew]

So have you cycled the tank as it`s only 3 weeks since you thought abut setting it up?

IF you`re doing a 'fish in cycle' then please make sure you have a good test kit and test the water every day otherwise you`re likely to be posting back here asking why your fish are dying off.
Levels of ammonia and nitrites can kill your fish so you really need to keep an eye on it

 

[cocomonkey24k]

the tank is fully cycled. i added a full tray of bio balls from my other established setup to help with the cycle and the results show that its worked although my nitrate is sitting high at around 50ppm (nothing a water change wont sort out)
API test results
ammonia 0-ppm
nitrite 0-ppm
nitrate 50-ppm
PH 8.2
GH 13

heres a couple of photos of how the tank has came along from day 1.

sorry about the quality of the photos there from my Iphone i will upload more once i sort my camera out

ready to be cleaned.

cleaned and onto its stand

gravel in

layed out the ocean rock how i wanted it

washed and ready

ocean rock plan was a waste of time

ocean rock lavarock slate

lights on for the first time

before paint

after paint

some happy fish

thanks again everyone for all the help along the way.

 

[markandhisfish]

coming along nicely . altho personally im not a fan of ocean rock in fw setups , i think it gives a bit much af a marine appearance . gorgeous jacob , 1 of my fave aulonocara

juast a thought , did you place the rocks onto the sand , or did you use eggcrate , or place them on the bare glass and sand around them? i ask because those labs in particular will dig quite a lot and if you sit the rocks on top of the sand it can cause a collapse which could be dangerous to both the tank and the fish

 

[cocomonkey24k]

I never even gave it a thought about eggcrate. The rocks are sitting on top of around 3inches of black micro gravel. Where will i be able to buy eggcrate from. I'll rescape the tank while I'm on fitting the eggcrate.

 

[markandhisfish]

you can get it on ebay , or failing that you can do what i did and buy a few plastic gulley covers from b and q .

 

[cocomonkey24k]

Plastic gulley covers could be a better option and it means I can get them tomorrow. Thanks for the advice about the rocks mark. Probably saved my tank in the long run cheers

 

[markandhisfish]

no worries . if i remember rightly theyre only a couple of quid each . small price for peace of mind

 

[cocomonkey24k]

Yeah I got some today mate there going in tomorrow when I do my final rescape (hope it's my final scape) Im actually going to cover the whole bottom of the tank front to back side to side.

Like you say it's a small price for piece of mind

 

[Wigster]

Wow lots of ocean rock there How much did that set you back?!