New Guy Saying Hi

[KhaosInc]

Well, I've decieded to get back in to fish again. For some reason (age, and tank neglect most likley) over the last 6 months my Clown knife, and 2 giant gouramis died as well as a grumpy old pleco. The knife was just shy of 3' (pushing to big to turn around in the tank) and the gouramis were about 2', Pleco was also about that size as well. Leaving me with a 10" black shark, and an albino Pleco that has had a weird hump for about 10 years and a colony of guppies that Im not entirely sure where they came from, All sitting in a somewhat neglected 300 gallon tank in my living room.

So I think its time to start that African cichlid tank I've always dreamed of. I've done a total teardown and cleaning of the tank, pulled out the UG filters, bought a couple new canister filters, and another heater, and even finally got some new light bulbs.

Im slowly raising the PH in the tank to give the shark and Pleco some time to adjust (added some crushed coral, and some interesting shaped coral rocks I've had for years sitting in a bucket, and am being given a few convicts this weekend. I'll be adding more caves, Crevices and other misc. decorations, as I dig through the boxes in the garage..

At the hight of my addiction I had 10 tanks set up, and bred everything from neons to discus. Now its just this one, hopefully I can manage the addiction better this time.. LOL

Heres a pic of the tank from happier times.

 

[cheesy feet]

Wow that was one nice big tank .Shame about the fish Cons are new worlds.Wouldn't there be a lot of scuffles with africans?

 

[MEePStER]

yeah, new worlds and Africans wont get along.

 

[KhaosInc]

yeah, new worlds and Africans wont get along.

I guess I will be rethinking that, I was always under the impression that they were just grumpy enough to pull it with africans, and would be a cheap way to make sure I had everything balanced before throwing a hundred dollars at fish.

Time to stop trusting (my admittedly rusty) brain, and actually open a couple books I guess. and keep reading here. Alot of very knowledgeable people here and obviously, I've never had an african tank.

 

[fishlover900]

i love the fish in your pic!!!

 

[cheesy feet]

yeh nice giant gouramis

 

[Matty P]

That is a big tank! lol nice giant gouramis

 

[MEePStER]

i would go with a SA theme tank (SA being south American) i have seen some nice tanks, they are not as colourful as African cichlids but most of them get bigger and probably not as expensive. i love severums and earth eaters like jurapari.

 

[KhaosInc]

i would go with a SA theme tank (SA being south American) i have seen some nice tanks, they are not as colourful as African cichlids but most of them get bigger and probably not as expensive. i love severums and earth eaters like jurapari.

I've always wanted to play with Africans, I love the color and the personality but never really had a tank devoted to them. My other desire was to take advantage of the large tank to have LOTS of fish rather than 4-5 big ones.

My current intention, which is still subject to change as I keep reading, is to get about 100 pounds more coral rock this weekend (the tank currently has a small pile in about a third of it now.. more to help get PH up than actually decoration yet) then get 10 (or so) young Africans and pretty much let them have at the tank and create a community as they grow in to it. I work pretty long hours 6 days a week, and want to create something nicer to look at without high maintence. My last fish that I had for about 10 years were huge, and the problem I was having with them was I was simply bored of the tank. I am hoping to create something this time that won't be as dull 10 years from now.

My LFS has a tank which they just call 'Misc African ciclids',and they are fairly cheap, though cost isn't one of my bigger concerns. My intention was to simply find 10 or so that my GF and I like, and give them their own private lake.

Ok, done being verbostic.

 

[robfish003]

I would kill for that tank lol............good luck with your new venture.


Rob.............