Thinking of upgrading my tank

[AaronD]

Hi all

I recently had a couple of fish die of colum.. disease. Ive been thinking about getting cichlids for a while and i think nows my chance.

I have a juwel tank 30 gallon. Specs:

> Pink 30watt lighting
> Standard juwel filter
> Standard juwel heater

At the moment it looks kind of standard'ish and i wanted to make it look a little more exotic for my future cichlids. A kind of marine look. Ive been thinking of:

> getting a 2nd buld (30 watt marineglo for the blue marine look )
> eheim 2213+ filter (crystal clear water)
> rena 200w heater (might aswell upgrade heater aswell)
> coral gravel

+ lots of cichlids & rocks

what do you all think? will it look a lot better with this equipment or will it be a waste of money? is there any problems with have a 2nd bulb?

 

[yvez9]

unless you plant your tank, which is not a good idea with cichlids, you'll just be growing more algea. on rocks and glass... of course the fish will look better, but you have to see through the glass to notice it...

if you get coral gravel, I'm assuming you'll be keeping african cichlids?

 

[freddyk]

Well, Judging by the coral, rocks, and number of fish you want to keep I imagine you're thinking about mbuna. Great fish, just make sure you know all about them and don't impulse shop - plan the tank. A 30 gallons goes from a nice size community to an entry size mbuna tank; precautions need to be taken.

For equiment, the extra filter will help a lot, lighting is personal preference, and a backup heater doesn't hurt.

 

[AaronD]

yvez9 - yep africans.


freddyk - definately not rushing this time i just want it to look simple and quite extotic. I dont really know too much about cichlids but i learn quickly and also my brother keeps cichlids

i was thinking of the 2nd bulb purely because i thought the pink and blue would bring out the colours more. didnt really consider the extra algae growth

i will definately be buying the eheim 2213+ though, ive heard some really good feedback and would be good to have the extra space...

can i not really have any live plants with cichlids then? i do like a slightly planted aquarium

 

[freddyk]

Mbuna suit what you're looking for and there's a detailed article in the Africans section that provides a good intro to them. Then make a thread about what fish will work with what plants

 

[AaronD]

Mbuna suit what you're looking for and there's a detailed article in the Africans section that provides a good intro to them. Then make a thread about what fish will work with what plants

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ok thanks for you help!