Starting A 75 Gal / 284 L. Suggestions Welcomed!

[Whitester]

Hello! I'm pretty excited. Wifey said I could get ANOTHER tank! I took advantage of her small lapse in judgement and had a new 75 gallon in the house 4 days later. Now she can't change her mind, it's sitting empty in the living room. hahaha

Have been wanting to start a cichlid tank. Now's my chance. So any help would be appreciated. I have read the pinned topic. Now looking for help with some fish. I know I want P. Demasoni. I would like all fish to be same size on the smaller scale. I don't want any monster fish in my tank. Thats all I know right now. It will have sand substrate. I have lots of rocks of all kinds. A landscape company is right downt the road. I can get anything, just about. My water straight out of the tap is 7.8 - 8.0 ph.
Would like a pleco or some synodontis catfish. Maybe a piece of dift wood too.
I will also have plenty of filter media from my other 3 tanks.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[minnnt]

Hello! I'm pretty excited. Wifey said I could get ANOTHER tank! I took advantage of her small lapse in judgement and had a new 75 gallon in the house 4 days later. Now she can't change her mind, it's sitting empty in the living room. hahaha

LOL!!!!

The ph is good mate!! Thats about all i can help you with. lol. In my African tank i have a pair of Kribs, a pair of Telmatochromis Burgeoni and a small group of 4 Fairy Cichlids (Neolamprologus Brichardi) There is also a Golden Sucking Loach in with them as he is quite aggressive and is getting the better of my Firemouths in my other tank. I have added 3 Ivory Apple Snails this evening and they really compliment the tank. I have also switched from course gravel to a sand substrate today and i have rearranged the tank and added some more rocks and hidey holes. Lights are off now so will see how things have settled in in the morning.

 

[elisew]

For a tank that size you could look at keeping some Mbuna, especially seeing as you like the demasoni. You can have Synodontis petricola with the Mbuna and also plecs (not common plecs though), just make sure any plecs you add are at least 3-4 inches in size as they need to be big enough to ward of any aggression that may occur.
You could have a google for some info and ideas on stocking elongatus Mpanga, ndumbi red tops, elongatus neon spots. There are quite a few of the Mbuna that work well together, sort out a list and ask about the compatibility on here as I`m sure someone will be able to help

Lots and lots of rockwork for Mbuna

 

[kiriyama]

For a plec, have a look at L137 Violet Red Bruno / Hypostomus Soniae, very nice, ok in hard water/high pH, and knows how to look after itself


http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=10256

Cheers, Sean

 

[Whitester]

Thanks for all the info! I really appreciate the help. I will post some pictures. Tank is up and running. No plants yet, but I think I have plenty of rocks and hiding spots. Having a hard time with the drift wood. It keeps floating on me. I now have it screwed to a rock. So hopefully it stays put now.

Right now I have 2 P. Demasoni, and 2 yellow labs. They are all about 1.5 - 1.75 inches / 30 - 40mm.

 

[minnnt]

Screwed to a rock?! LOL!! Thats the idea of driftwood mate. If you want it to sink you should have got bogwood or mopani. You could have held the wood down with rocks just being placed on top of it. Have you decided what you're stocking with yet?

Good luck!

 

[Whitester]

All is looking good. I took a few pics to share with everyone. Like always your input is greatly appreciated. Going to hold off on a plec for now. I'm going to let the tank mature for 8 months. I used man made "sand", can't remember the name. Some floated, very fine particles. Had to put a "sock" on the intake to prevent pump damage. Once I get it cleaner, I will fire up more filtration. I have 2 of everything pictured. Suggestions welcomed on stocking. Going to wait a few weeks before I add more. Need to see if I have a large enough bacteria colony to handle what I have now.

This is my fishing buddy, Ringo. He's "fish" related. He played in the mud today.

 

[Whitester]

Screwed to a rock?! LOL!! Thats the idea of driftwood mate. Good luck!

A hole was drilled thru the flat rock. Then a screw thru the rock and into the wood.
You can see the wood in the 3rd picture. It is sticking up out of the sand.

 

[elisew]

The sand looks nice....for now. You are going to get sooooo fed up with poo showing all the time so it might be a good idea to think about the possibility of changing it for a slightly darker colour?
Obviously it`s up to you, it`s just my personal thoughts but I don`t envy how many times you`ll need to clean and vac it to keep it clean

Do be careful that the screw doesn`t begin to rust because it will release toxins into the water that could kill your fish

 

[kiriyama]

Looking good, cheers for posting
Sand looking nice

I would like a similiar fishing buddy but I have to make do with 2 cats that don't want to leave the house

 

[minnnt]

Oh wow!!! That looks brilliant! Cracking rocks and scaping! Beautiful!

 

[Whitester]

Thanks!
I'm going to add more rock today. I will take some pics when I am finished. My brother says I shouldn't add any plants. I was going to try my hand as some small real plants. I have all fake plants in my other tanks. I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions on whether I should add plants or not, real or fake?

The sand color was not my first choice. The wifey wanted a very light color sand. I'm going to try this substrate for a while. I never thought about fish droppings being seen. How hard is it to switch to a darker sand? Do I take a percentage of water out first before scooping sand out? I'm not opposed to doing a full switch out of the substrate.

Thanks again!

 

[Whitester]

A few more pics. Water cloudy due to me adding rocks. I like it much better with more rocks. I had them laying around from a used tank I bought a few years back. Comments appreciated.

 

[Whitester]

All has been good in my beginner opinion. Just posting some pics for some suggestions. My tank is running good, no ammonia, fish are very active. Please take a look at my fish. I wish to add more of what I have. I realize the female to male ratio for most pictured. So I need help with what I should add next. I have 2 of each pictured. I have no idea what sex any of the fish are, yet. If someone could help me out on sexing, that would be great. I'm under the impression they are still too young for that. The yellow lab is the biggest at 1.75 inches(40-42mm), the rest are all about 1.5 inches (32 -35mm). No serious aggresion that I have witnessed. They do chase each other as well as protect certian areas. When I add the new fish, I plan on changing around some rocks, also I will be adding 4-6 new rocks. I read this will give the new fish a equal chance at caves and hiding spots. So all suggestions welcomed, good or bad. I want the tank as good as it can be. This is probably my last tank. I'm surprised the wifey let me have this one.

Edit: I forgot to mention... It doesn't bother me if I have to get rid of fish because of problems or the wrong sex. I will rehome when needed.

This one seems to be the most aggresive of all my fish. He chases everyone out of his area.
He moves the substrate around often. I have been trying to get a pic of it. He grabs a
big mouthful. I'm shocked at how much he grabs with each scoop.

This was labeled "Red Zebra". This is correct?

Like I said. Opinions please. Thanks!

 

[minnnt]

Can't help you with the fish mate as i don't have mbuna, but your tank is very good! Loving the mix of rocks, nice to have all sorts of different ones as oppose to just lots of one kind.



Keep up the good work mate.