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New tank advice


pride

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Hi All,

Ive been given the go ahead from the marital minister for war and finances for our small apartment for another tank. After keeping Central Americans over the years I think I’m ready to try my hand at an African display type setup.

Tank will be a 4ft, 280L tank and filtered by 2 x cannisters. Unsure which way to go with species. I have kept a tank of saulosi about 15 years ago which I enjoyed. I,m thinking either mbuna, Malawi peacocks or maybe lake Victoria type. Want to see some bright colours and breeding isn’t a priority although if the tank can have male and female ratios without too much aggression that would be great.

Anyone able to offer some suggestions with numbers that can be comfortably be housed long term?
 

Do all African species prefer a tank scaped with rock piles?
 

thanks

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Hey @pride

Glad the finance minister was nice to you 🤑

As for fish, I am a lake Tanganyika guy ..  However if you are going for colours lake Victoria would be a good idea. Why don't you pay a visit to Andrew @ Labyrinth Aquarium ? They are very close to you and you can see all types of fish he has in stock. Last time I checked, he had the following Victorians...

Astatotilapia latifasciata 
Enterochromis paropius 
Haplochromis thereuterion (Black Katana)

 

Depending on how brave you are, you can have some Tropheus.. they are nasty little things but worth it if you are up for a challenge.. 

Edited by MattG_Sydney
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Thanks Matt,

I like any excuse to go visit Labyrinth. Funny as I only ever browse half the shop and skip the bays of African tanks to the right.

I never gave any thought about Tropheus...got some reading to do

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Lol.. I am the same .. 

Have a look at the Tropheus Red variety. (Moliro/Moorii).. As a matter of fact I received 10 Moorii Chipimbi today from Andrew..

Edited by MattG_Sydney
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Am I getting the mix and numbers wrong if I was to go either:

cobalt blues 3M and 6F

yellow labs with similar number or less

or maybe elongatus mphanga instead of cobalt blues?
 

not sure I’m ready to jump in to tropheus...

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Hi @pride

best move is to do some searching and see what you like but ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I'm guessing you still have a soft spot for Malawi Mbuna by your mix list

maybe consider Acei Msuli Point  powder blue with yellow fins male and female

or look at finding species that are hard to find like Hajomaylandi

look at groups of 10 fry / juveniles and let them grow into the tank

if you get adult excess males with the ratio you mention shouldn't be a problem

but each fish can be different in their outlook to the companions they are with

Maingano tend to go well with electric yellows and will give a contrast in colour and pattern

 

keep us updated with the journey

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Ended up changing plans and moved my nics into my 90g tank which was setup as a mixed tank and moved on some of the tanks inhabitants to free up the existing 75g for the mbuna. Keeps the wife happy with just the two tanks

I dumped a 10kg bag of coral sand in with the pool filter stuff and removed the wood.     Water from the tap here seems quite alkaline and ph in the tank 7.8.

Picked up from Andrew at Labyrinth some young trio’s of Labidochromis caeruleus, Cynotilapia Afra cobue and some Iodotropheus sprengerae.

Here are some pics, hard to get some clear shots with a phone cam as they dont stop moving unlike americans.One of the cobue already starting to colour up as a male.

 

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Hey @pride

Thanks for that .. I live near Kellyville so will keep an eye out for them.  They look good and I like the look .. I am in the process of decorating my CADE display tank so worth having a look these rocks. Thanks again..

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thanks brucem, so far so good. Really enjoying this tank.

Im slowing introducing buffer amd salts to bring up the ph and hardness as the crushed coral substrate seem to be having not much influence in this. Kh was low when checked correctly from the tank and tap so will condition water in a drum for water changes.

I also added more rock so will take some

more pics soon and post.

 

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On 8/21/2020 at 4:52 PM, pride said:

icked up from Andrew at Labyrinth some young trio’s of Labidochromis caeruleus, Cynotilapia Afra cobue and some Iodotropheus sprengerae.

Nice choice.  Andrew's rusties are great quality, they will colour up nicely as they grow.  

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Just added a trio of Labidochromis joanjohnsonae which brings the total number of mbuna in the tank to 12. 

Would you think I’m maxed out or still room for possibly more of the current 4 species? 

Tank seems empty now and nitrate barely makes a nudge on the scale as they are quite small but understand their aggression can ramp up as they mature..

what are your thoughts?

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Top work! Very exciting.. remember they get bigger so don't fill the tank ☺️..

I assume you check ammonia and nitrite levels as well ? Keep an eye out for that..

All the best ! 

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Hi Matt, 

Yep water is all good. It was an established tank already as I ended up giving a 3rd tank a miss and rehoming some other tropicals which was a shame as you always want more but had to keep the wife happy. 
 

cheers

 

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Should I be concerned with the white on the upper lip of this male cobue? He has been pretty boisterous with some others in the tank so hoping just from some lip wrestling. Hoping not columnaris?

Tank water setup tested now shows:

ph 8.2

Ammonia 0.25ppm

nitrite 0.00

nitrate 5ppm (barely)

kh & gh 200ppm

funnily checked the tap and showed a reading of 0.50ppm for ammonia?

Any thoughts?

 

Edited by pride
Vid not working
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I can't see the video but I would guess the white upper lip is more likely from lip locking than columnaris.

If you tank is fully cycled I wouldn't expect to see any ammonia but some test kits do give false readings especially when it is next to zero.

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15 hours ago, pride said:

Not sure why the vid doesnt show. Works when i click on it but could be as its on my device. 

When I click the link I get the message "This attachment is not available. It may have been removed or the person who shared it may not have permission to share it to this location."

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