Need some guidence please

[MaddEnemy]

Hello,

First my name, "MaddEnemy" is about John Madden Football and not Mothers against Drunk Driving Enemy. Yes, I have had people not respond to my questions in other forums until the found out later what my name was about.

First I have not done any fresh water fish in years. I am 31 and the last time I had fish was around 13 and had a 10 gal aquarium so figure I know ZERO about doing this now.

I am going to get 125 Gal glass aquariums.

I have not decided what type of fish I will be getting but leaning hard towards African Cichlids or Cichlids in general.

Unless the majority of you have a better idea I am going to use Eheim 2128 Pro 2 Thermo Canister Filter. I understand this has a heater as well so will I not need another heater in the tank?

The basics, "hood and 2 lights will be used". What kind of light tubes or bulbs should I use?

I am thinking of the Bleached White "coral/rock" any thoughts on a good ground here? I want a black or dark blue background.

I will be using Tap water except I have a $3,000 Culigan water filter that all my water is purified before coming in the house, is this ok? Very Soft water.

Now I am lost on what else I will need besides decorations and fish.

What else will I need for this tank? From major to minor things, I would like to go into a shop and walk out knowing I got everything. If you have brand names, model #'s anything would help. My budget is middle to upper quality for example the Eheim 2128 Pro 2 Thermo Canister Filter I will be getting.

Also can I have the tank setup and filtering for aabout 2 weeks before I deside what fish I want?

 

[tstenback]

First off

I would highly recommend reading this first. Also there is a forum alittle further down the list that deals specifically with cichlids, although many here keep both types as well.
That filter is fine and looks like a beauty.(may have to get one of those myself)
The bulb types will depend on if you are planting or not? If planting them bulbs in the 5000 - 6500K range will be best. If no plants then get bulbs that make your tank look best..daylight bulbs would probably do.
For the tank you will need rocks to create caves with for the fish but others here have more experience in the cichlid area and will be able to better answer those questions for you.

good luck

 

[daisycat]

A stupid thing I forgot when we set up our new tank was a thermometer to keep track of water temp (never trust the heater thermostat!). I had to run out to LFS as it closed to grab one!

 

[K-Holed]

African rift lake ciclids are great fish. They are really colourful and great to keep if you have a big enough tank (which you do) They need lots of places in which to hide and make teritories, I find that tufa rock is good for this. Not only is it soft and light and east to make a backdrop in the tank from, it also raises the hardness and ph of your water which is esential for these fish. In a sense they are like marine fish with out the salt ... kind of lol. The substrate can be composed of coral sand or coral chips or a combination of both, I prefer sand but that's just me. The other unusual thing about this type of set up is that due to theor teritorial nature high stocking levels are recomended to even out this agression.