Nick Sw
Fishaholic
Hi I`m completely new to Tropical Fish and this is my 1st attempt at a Tank of any sort, I found this forum by chance and I`m glad I did, I`ve found it a brilliant source of information and advice it must be one the most friendly forums around.
I`ve decided on a Mbuna Cichlid Tank mainly because the of the Tanks and Fish that always caught my eye seemed to be this type especially the setups on the forums here sort of provided the inspiration to at least try and do something the same. Also Tanks a Lot and Brewyn wouldn`t let me do anything else ! (I`ve got to thank those 2 for helping me get this far, thanks guys)
Tank - Aqualantis / Evasion 120XL
Volume: 264 litres / 70 Gallons
Width/ Length: 120 cm - Depth : 40 cm - Height: 50 cm
Heaters - 2 x Aquaone 200W
Filter - External Fluval 305 (1000lph) (Will Probably need more filtration eventually)
Lighting - 2 x 30W Daylight (would like to change one if anyone has a suggestion)
Rocks - B & Q River Cobbles (Identified as metamorphic rocks by Bobf)
Substrate - Will be Playsand I think.
The rockwork seemed to be the hardest part so far , finding them, getting hold of a pan big enough to boil them in and finding a way of stacking them up safely (it looks easier than it is), they were Pressure washed then boiled for around 20mins (not microwaved for 2mins as someone suggested to me!)
Egg Crate was used to try and spread the weight of the rocks.
Picture of Rocks Boiling Tea Towel was to protect the pan from scratches.
Couple of Pictures of the Rockwork so Far. I`ve tried to make a few caves and room round the back and sides for escape routes/swimming space. There are more rocks to come not sure I dare go much higher on this side.
Picture of the Tank in the Room (sort of taken over at the moment I`ve got rocks everwhere).
********Update 24/05/06********
Ok I`ve done a bit more aquascaping, I`m fairly happy with it (at the moment) only one rock resting partly on the back and I think I`ve provided lots of hiding places and areas to swim in including round the back of all the rocks.
I`ve bought / cleaned / boiled ! these pebbles to place in and around the larger rocks as suggested.
These are the comparisons with Playsand from Argos (left) and the darker B & Q (Right) I didn`t really like the darker B & Q sand I thought the lighter and finer Argos sand would look better.
This Picture shows the sand after just been washed once.
And after about 10 more washes the water runs a lot clearer.
********Update 24/05/06********
Ok I had a problem with the floor in my living room being uneven, I should of checked with a straight edge but the uneveness didn`t show until the weight of the water was in the tank making the cabinet bow, I took everthing out apart from about an inch of water and the sand, I slipped some 3mm thick strips of wood under the middle 2 rows of feet to make the floor even then put everything back again it was a pain but I think had to be done.
This afternoon I filled the tank with water and turned the filter and heaters on , the filter (Fulval 305) sounds quiet and seems to work really well despite bad press on the forums here, I set the temp on the Heaters to 30 C 86 F apparentely a higher temp (upper 80`s) can help the beneficial bacteria grow/increase quicker.
Next I added the ammonia (From Homabase= 9.5% ammonia) I tried to work out (roughly) how many ml of ammonia to add, I need to add about 5 parts per million of ammonia -
My tank is 264 Litres - I took this as about 250 litres of water so I have 250,000 ml of water, divide this by a million which makes 0.25ml times it by Five as I need 5ppm that makes it 1ml of Ammonia to add but as my Ammonia is only 9.5% strength I multiplied my 1ml by 10 (rounded up) to equal 10ml ish of Ammonia to be added ! Well that was my theory anyway it may be totally wrong !
My faith in my Maths/Formula wasn`t that great so I added 2ml at first then another 2ml and so on until I got roughly about 5ppm by adding 8.5ml of Ammonia, maybe this was because I had a lot less water than I stated in the Formula do to the rocks/substrate ?
I`m picking up some Gravel from a mature Tank to place in the filter hopefully tomorrow but I`ve also added API Stress Zyme to kick start the Cycling.
This is how the Tank is looking at the moment (The dots are air bubbles on the glass)
I know theres not a lot yet but I`ll try and keep up to date and please let me know your honest opinions as it developes
I`ve decided on a Mbuna Cichlid Tank mainly because the of the Tanks and Fish that always caught my eye seemed to be this type especially the setups on the forums here sort of provided the inspiration to at least try and do something the same. Also Tanks a Lot and Brewyn wouldn`t let me do anything else ! (I`ve got to thank those 2 for helping me get this far, thanks guys)
Tank - Aqualantis / Evasion 120XL
Volume: 264 litres / 70 Gallons
Width/ Length: 120 cm - Depth : 40 cm - Height: 50 cm
Heaters - 2 x Aquaone 200W
Filter - External Fluval 305 (1000lph) (Will Probably need more filtration eventually)
Lighting - 2 x 30W Daylight (would like to change one if anyone has a suggestion)
Rocks - B & Q River Cobbles (Identified as metamorphic rocks by Bobf)
Substrate - Will be Playsand I think.
The rockwork seemed to be the hardest part so far , finding them, getting hold of a pan big enough to boil them in and finding a way of stacking them up safely (it looks easier than it is), they were Pressure washed then boiled for around 20mins (not microwaved for 2mins as someone suggested to me!)
Egg Crate was used to try and spread the weight of the rocks.
Picture of Rocks Boiling Tea Towel was to protect the pan from scratches.
Couple of Pictures of the Rockwork so Far. I`ve tried to make a few caves and room round the back and sides for escape routes/swimming space. There are more rocks to come not sure I dare go much higher on this side.
Picture of the Tank in the Room (sort of taken over at the moment I`ve got rocks everwhere).
********Update 24/05/06********
Ok I`ve done a bit more aquascaping, I`m fairly happy with it (at the moment) only one rock resting partly on the back and I think I`ve provided lots of hiding places and areas to swim in including round the back of all the rocks.
I`ve bought / cleaned / boiled ! these pebbles to place in and around the larger rocks as suggested.
These are the comparisons with Playsand from Argos (left) and the darker B & Q (Right) I didn`t really like the darker B & Q sand I thought the lighter and finer Argos sand would look better.
This Picture shows the sand after just been washed once.
And after about 10 more washes the water runs a lot clearer.
********Update 24/05/06********
Ok I had a problem with the floor in my living room being uneven, I should of checked with a straight edge but the uneveness didn`t show until the weight of the water was in the tank making the cabinet bow, I took everthing out apart from about an inch of water and the sand, I slipped some 3mm thick strips of wood under the middle 2 rows of feet to make the floor even then put everything back again it was a pain but I think had to be done.
This afternoon I filled the tank with water and turned the filter and heaters on , the filter (Fulval 305) sounds quiet and seems to work really well despite bad press on the forums here, I set the temp on the Heaters to 30 C 86 F apparentely a higher temp (upper 80`s) can help the beneficial bacteria grow/increase quicker.
Next I added the ammonia (From Homabase= 9.5% ammonia) I tried to work out (roughly) how many ml of ammonia to add, I need to add about 5 parts per million of ammonia -
My tank is 264 Litres - I took this as about 250 litres of water so I have 250,000 ml of water, divide this by a million which makes 0.25ml times it by Five as I need 5ppm that makes it 1ml of Ammonia to add but as my Ammonia is only 9.5% strength I multiplied my 1ml by 10 (rounded up) to equal 10ml ish of Ammonia to be added ! Well that was my theory anyway it may be totally wrong !
My faith in my Maths/Formula wasn`t that great so I added 2ml at first then another 2ml and so on until I got roughly about 5ppm by adding 8.5ml of Ammonia, maybe this was because I had a lot less water than I stated in the Formula do to the rocks/substrate ?
I`m picking up some Gravel from a mature Tank to place in the filter hopefully tomorrow but I`ve also added API Stress Zyme to kick start the Cycling.
This is how the Tank is looking at the moment (The dots are air bubbles on the glass)
I know theres not a lot yet but I`ll try and keep up to date and please let me know your honest opinions as it developes
It gives me the urge to start a new one!!!!! 
Put a smile on my face on this most wet and horrible of days.
