Setting Up A 125 Gallon Malawi W/pics-going To 75 Usg Now

[kj23502]

Since both of my fish species (Pundamilia nyererei and cynotilapia afra) are carnivores, I think I'm going to treat them to a little bit of brine shrimp. i have given them some of the protein pellets also.(pictured earlier, i beleive, with the purple lid and yellow container)

 

[kj23502]

I'll post my tank in the tank section when I get it up to par....it's far from being done! I need to add more rock, going to change background, move filter intakes and spray bars...and waiting for fish to mature!!!! I'm also thinking about mixing in some more black sand and checking out some live plants.
I know the natural habitat doesn't really have a whole lot of plants where the certain fish hang out, but I really like plants and may try a couple. (Either attatched to rocks or potted of course...so they don't get dug up)

I'm thinking about going to the river and picking up some river boulders.....I'm guessing to boil them to make sure they're clean....anything else I should know...I don't want to pick up something that would kill my cute fishies!

 

[darrel69]

Oh right, maybe.... oh ive just thought, have you ruled out Labidochromis sp. "Hongi" ? They can look a little like C.Afra and have yellow/orange/red dorsal's..... just a thought.

Thanks....Wow! How am I supposed to figure it out w/all the choices? Athough I did post a topic with pics and video of the dude and dawn and ferris thought it's prob some kind of afra? But it really looks similar to the lab. sp. also.....holey cow....sigh

I know right ?? ... it can be really confusing sometimes lol. Especially if your dealing with more than one genus !! Im in a simular position with one of my mbuna and its fully grown !! ....

Ive tried to look for differences in Afra's and Hongi's and ive noticed Hongi's tend to have a little yellow/orange/red belly, and not only are their dorsal fins yellow/orange/red but their pelvic fins are too. I know he's only a juvie atm, but does your fish show any signs of colouring like that ?? Also, Hongi's grow to 6inch while Afra's grow 3/4inch but obviousley you'll have to wait to see that lol...

 

[kj23502]

Ive tried to look for differences in Afra's and Hongi's and ive noticed Hongi's tend to have a little yellow/orange/red belly, and not only are their dorsal fins yellow/orange/red but their pelvic fins are too. I know he's only a juvie atm, but does your fish show any signs of colouring like that ??

Actually it appears that his underneath fin(i'm guess that's pelvic lol) is showing tinge of orangey color. Not on the other one though. I guess time will help clarify. thanks

 

[darrel69]

No Probs

 

[kj23502]

He is ornery, quarelling often: "[Zeus to Ares:] 'To me you are the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympos. Forever quarrelling is dear to your heart." - Homer, Iliad 5.699

I shall name him ares!! But I do love him! And he doesn't do it all the time....

 

[kj23502]

My 125 tank is done with the cycle!!! YEAH!! Here's the pics.
The first one is ammonia.

This is nitrite. Yea...i know. It's a little low on liquid. At least I didn't break it until the 5 minutes were up!

Nitrate

And a video of feeding time. It's not extremely exciting, but people that haven't seen it before may find it interesting. It worked when I tried it, but let me know if it doesn't. Yes, I have a sponge filter in there. It's my emergency filter. Just incase I need another tank fast and pre-cycled for any reason!


Now that my tank is fully cycled I hope to get the rocks squared away and then add a couple more fish here and there....while monitoring water quality. My nitrifying bacteria will have to catch up to the bioload with any new fish I add. Anyone have an idea approximately how many couple inch fish I can add at a time and still be ok? I'd like to get some syno's, but I'm guessing it would be best to wait a little longer to establish the tank better for these???

 

[darrel69]

It looks cycled to me .... what happened to all the liquid for your Nitrites ?? is when you shake it, it leaks ?? because thats whats started happening to mine it gets everywere... i make sure the caps on fully tight, but it still manages to leak ... mind, i rarely need to test these days lol

No, your vid aint working for me

Id wait at least a week, preferably 2 weeks from when your ammonia and nitrite is 0 before adding any new fish.

Adding fish in groups is better usually for aggression issues, ive added 4 at once before and it didnt have much impact on my water quality. Mind, i dont feed as much when adding new fish... It wouldn't bother me to add 6 at once if they were juvies.

Also, i left you a msg in wslinky's thread about rocks, i dont know wether you seen it or not, just thought it might help...

 

[kj23502]

Yep, I read it about checking w/the wolf. I'll prob take pics tomorrow. I think I fixed the video!

About the nitrites....when I was preparing to take a pic I knocked the vial off the counter and it broke on the kitchen floor . There was just enough liquid left for a pic so I took it.

I'm going to have to see about getting more vials. Thats the 2nd one that I've broken. My API test kit only came w/4!!

 

[wslinky]

Looks good, congrats on the cycle finally finishing. As far as adding fish I have added 18 in under 2 weeks from when my tank finished cycling. I have had no problem with out the NH3 or NO2 going up at all, everytime I have tested they have both been 0. The only problems I have had is with the fish I stupidily broke down and bought at PetSmart, I am back to my opinion of never buying fish at any place but a Fish Store. I am not sure if Synos need any more of an established tank then the cichlids. I would think you should be able to add any fish you want at this time maybe no more then 6 Juvies at a time and have no problems.

I had 6 vials and 2 have since bit the dust, luckily I had 2 more then the standard test kit came with.

I replied to you in my thread as well.

 

[kj23502]

Looks good, congrats on the cycle finally finishing. As far as adding fish I have added 18 in under 2 weeks from when my tank finished cycling. I have had no problem with out the NH3 or NO2 going up at all, everytime I have tested they have both been 0.

Thanks for replying. The big difference, I think, is you did a fishless cycle so you have all the nitrifying bacteria you need to fully stock your tank without any problems. I did a fish in cycle so the bacteria will need to "catch up" with the bio load for anything I add. Major bummer.....but that's the way it is!

 

[wslinky]

Looks good, congrats on the cycle finally finishing. As far as adding fish I have added 18 in under 2 weeks from when my tank finished cycling. I have had no problem with out the NH3 or NO2 going up at all, everytime I have tested they have both been 0.

Thanks for replying. The big difference, I think, is you did a fishless cycle so you have all the nitrifying bacteria you need to fully stock your tank without any problems. I did a fish in cycle so the bacteria will need to "catch up" with the bio load for anything I add. Major bummer.....but that's the way it is!

I thought about that when I replied but couldn't remember it making that much of a difference. But now that I think about it the last tank I cycled was in 2002 and did a fish in cycle and I do remember that I could only add a few fish at a time after that. Thanks for setting me straight.

 

[kj23502]

I thought about that when I replied but couldn't remember it making that much of a difference. But now that I think about it the last tank I cycled was in 2002 and did a fish in cycle and I do remember that I could only add a few fish at a time after that. Thanks for setting me straight.

Yea...it can get kinda confusing. I'm thinking adding about 3-5 fish at a time might be all right. Depending on what they are and the size.

 

[kj23502]

WooHoo! I'm getting some algea growth. I'm going to look into getting a couple albino bristlenose plecos.

 

[kj23502]

I was considering a Aethiomastacembemus Ellipsifer-tanganyikan Spiny Eel. I went to the oddball page(since they were listed there) and asked about it. Here's the link. I did decide against it though. It would've been neat!