New To This Cool Forum

[dalong]

Hi all,
So happy to have found this site. Nice to be on the same wave length as others on the planet.
You guys rock!!
 
I am in the initial stages of cycling an approx100 gallon tank which I hope will make a home for  some Mbuna cichlids.
The nitrogen cycle is at the stage where ammonia is dropping consistently while nitrite and nitrate are increasing. No drop in nitrites yet but it has only been about a week since I started. Besides following all the helpful tips I found here and on various other sites I keep reminding myself that patience is still high on the list. No worries, I luv every minute.
 
The next step of course is going to be putting together a list of happy Mbunas. I have read and reread and more!!! Lots of possibilities out there re stocking and overstocking. I haven't yet decided on simply stocking or overstocking and not just for aggression etc but more for what makes a better realistic living system for the fish and also the observer. Your comments would be appreciated.
 
I have been using an excel log called "My Aquarium V4" that I found on this site by Clive1512. Great little program and lots of good work by Clive1512...thanks Clive. Perhaps I will be able to reciprocate with something as significant one day.
 
This will be my very first Cichlid tank so all the help and comments will be certainly appreciated.
Cheers

 

[Chad]

Welcome to the forum. It's nice to have you. 

 

[AmtotheBurr]

Welcome

 

[hudsona85]

Glad to have you!

 

[dalong]

Thanks for the welcome guys and girls!

 

[fluttermoth]

Welcome; I hope your going to show us some pics of your tank!

A 100 gallon mbuna tank is going to be something special! My mum used to keep mbuna, and they make for a very impressive set up

You definitely need to overstock mbuna. They are highly aggressive, and kept in smaller numbers, you'll just end up with one big dominant male who's killed everyone else (this is what happened when my mum decided not to continue with her community, and stopped replacing fish as they passed on from old age).

They also do actually live in 'overstocked' conditions in the wild. Lake Malawi, where they come, from is so huge it actually has tides! But most of it is very deep and cold, so there's pretty much no life there. All the life is concentrated in shallow 'reefs' of rock piles nearer the surface where plenty of algae grows (not all Malawis are algae eaters, of course! But that's the basis for the ecosystem).

As in the sea, the waste products from the large congregations of fish are diluted by huge amounts of clean water coming in from the less populated areas, so you need very good filtration and be prepared to do large water changes to keep the nitrate as low as possible in your tank.

Hard, alkaline water is a must. Whilst, to a certain extent, soft water fish can adapt to harder water, this is not so in the reverse case; hard water fish cannot adapt to softer. Luckily raising pH and hardness is a relatively simple matter, if your water is not suitable for them as it is. Buffering salts for Rift Valley cichlids are easily obtainable

 

[dalong]

Thanks fluttermoth for all the info etc.
I will post pics as soon as cycling is complete and the tenants moved in..lol.
 
BTW I am over filtering and also using Matrix and Stability and Prime while cycling and have noticed the following:
Ammonia dropping by about 2ppm in 24 hrs
Nitrite spiked to about 30ppm but dropped to 20ppm this morning.
Nitrate increased to about 40ppm but dropped to 20ppm this morning.
pH stable @ 8.3, KH 16dh and GH 16dh.
Initial dose of Stability 30ml after which I have added only 5ml every other day.
Temperature 80 deg F
I have been logging all the data and was pleasantly surprised to see that Nitrates were actually decreasing.
Does this suggest that there are anerobic bacs doing their thing in the Matrix media??? Perhaps too early to tell.
I have NOT done any WC yet...should I?
 
Any input re: stocking this tank would be appreciated...does not have to be completely non aggressive and certainly not ALL male.