MFF

@AndrewM Thanks - unfortunately mine are the 2700 UVC versions, which don't have the primer. Maybe I can figure out some other way of (partially) pressurising the canister instead...

@AndrewM Pray tell! What is this trick that helps get the lid off the Nautilus 2700??? I had 3 of these, and after switching one of them to an FX4 I'm amazed at how much easier the maintenance is on the FX4.

Nice! That champsochromis will grow large. The OB compressiceps looks wrong to me - but I'm no expert either. Nose doesn't seem long enough. I did see an adult male of these a couple months back, and was a stunning fish. You're correct, the Hongis are mbuna, and I'm glad I've gotten rid of mine. With only 2 - depend on sex - you may end up with only 1, or they may just behave themselves. I can't see any colour on yours - I'm assuming they're small? If there are any females amongst them, even different species, you'll get very different behaviour than if it's all male. I'd like one of those tetrastigma though!! Haven't seen them for sale up here in QLD.

@Link2Hell Good to know! If I need to replace the current lids, I'll check this out. Looks like it should be much easier to cut also. I've sent you a pm on another matter.

@Slipshodman Sure, I'll attach two pictures, one with lights on, one with lights off. You can see how the large piece of perspex is warping - but fortunately it warps in a way that helps rather than hinders. Initially I used some of those sucker things the heaters use to stick on the glass to keep the lids up on the right and left hand sides. But as the warp developed, these suckers were no longer needed, the perspex sits nicely by itself. The narrow piece at the front doesn't warp, and it overlaps slightly on top of the back piece. So it doesn't bend down in to the water as long as the larger piece is stable. My missus is short, she can't see in the top of the tank!! Otherwise I'd have the same issue.

Whoops, pressed "submit" by mistake. Just adding the cost via the industrial supplier was about $125 for a large sheet that gave 4 complete sets of lids.

@AndrewM Good work! I got my perspex from an industrial supplier, also 3mm thick (about $125. They cut 2 pieces for each tank, 180 by 45 and 180 by 15 (approx). These rest on the cross braces with a slight overlap along the length. Without anything on top of the perspex (in my case) holding them down, I've found the larger pieces have warped over time. They also had 6mm thick, which would not warp so much. The smaller piece is at the front, which is easy to move for feeding and basic access. As you say, perspex is very light, so they are very easy to remove completely for full & free access to the tank for major maintenance. The lids do need cleaning, every month, as the algae builds up on the underside. But that's no different from glass. I have not found any issue with getting plants to grow - in my planted tank, I regularly chuck out a bucketful of trimmings. Good tip on the sandpaper! I neglected this and discovered the edges are very sharp... The small areas for inlet/outlet pipes and one or two other things I cut out myself. I used a jigsaw with a fine blade, as you suggest, but it was problematic. It would crack very easily, and also it would melt. There was one small semi-circle I cut out, and when the jigsaw got all the way around, the cut bit had melted and it was stuck back together again!! I might use a hacksaw by hand next time, and good pointers on adding additional tape along the cut lines, on top of the protective covering it comes with.

@AndrewM Hi Andrew - you've got the new version of the tank, with LED lights. Mine are over 2 years old, so they were still the old T5 lights. Talk about bad design on the lids!!! Each tank had 6 T5 bulbs, 18 in all across 3 tanks. I managed to break 4 lights just assembling the tank. The bulbs were just open, no protection at all from minor bumps, and what with moving light fixtures around a bit, it was so easy to bump the bulb on a cross brace. Fortunately all of this was before I put water in the tanks. Clearly I was going to end up with broken glass in the water, so I very quickly decided to remove the lids entirely. Now I have just standard 6-ft LED lights sitting above the tank, and a clear perspex lid on each one. Questions for you - how thick is your perspex? And did you cut it yourself? (rather than cut yourself with it, which I have found is extremely easy to do). If so - what method have you found works best for cutting it?

@AndrewM I feed all my tanks twice a day, in small amounts. I scatter food widely across the surface, not dropping it all in one spot for one greedy fatso to grab it all. Each tank gets a varied diet, a mix of spirulina flakes and a more high-protein pellet. Brands vary - there's quite a few good brands out there, just depends what I can get. The spirulina flakes I currently have from Ocean Nutrition, in the past I've had Sera brand ones also. Both fine The high protein stuff at present is NLS Spectrum and some Discus Krill food. Next will be a bag of Fish Keepers Choice AquaMunch - haven't tried that before, but it's popular up here in QLD. Each tank also gets frozen shrimp (Mysis or Brine) and something like black mosquito larvae, but not everyday. Probably twice a week.

Remember the Haps in particular get bigger than mbuna. Not only longer, but much heavier in the body. That is what really matters. I've got 24 haps, 5 peacocks and 25 electric yellows & some other things at the moment, in the middle of a switch to all-male haps. The haps I've got are (mostly) juvies, but they will grow. I'm still planning to add about 10-15 more haps and I'll be keeping the EYs. Probably end up with about 50 fish, just like my American tank. But it also comes down to the amount of maintenance you want to do. Your filtration will be adequate for 60 haps/peacocks. But heavy stocking will demand more water changes than light stocking. If you look at the tanks in shops and such, many are very heavily stocked compared to tanks at home - but they do frequent water changes. I monitor nitrate levels to ensure it doesn't get out of hand, while minimising water changes. It also comes down to how you want the tank to look. With the larger haps, and less aggro behaviour (compared to mbuna), I think 40 haps is a good number for this size tank, but that is my personal opinion. See how you go.

@MattG_Sydney Yup I like lots of fishies in the tank! The African tank has aragonite sand and a heap of Marco Rock, which is basically fossilised coral. All helps to keep pH and hardness up. I can see an argument for two filters as a failsafe - just like I have two heaters in each tank - but as a requirement because of the water flow, that argument never made much sense to me. The FX4 is certainly much easier to maintain than the Nautilus, I'll be changing the other two tanks over to FX4 when the time is right.

@MattG_Sydney In the African tank, there used to be about 80 mbuna, fully grown (i.e. around 10-12 cms depending on species). Included a group of Tropheus also. Plus a 4 clown loaches and half a dozen bristlenosed catfish, similar size. 90 fish in all. I'm in the process of switching to all-male Hap, so the numbers (and - temporarily - sizes) are lower now. In the American tank, there are 7 very large silver dollars, 5 severums at around 15 cms, most of the others are around 12 cms (e.g. blue acara and ellioti). Total of 50 fish in this one, but they're bigger, and will grow more (flagtail, leporinus and the severums are not fully grown yet either). In the planted tank, there are about 120 fish - 4 discus, 30 rainbows, 14 catfish, 14 miscellaneous and a bucket load of small tetras. Rainbows are mostly young still, around 5-6 cms. And you're correct, the substrate and other decorations in the tank can be a significant contributor to the filtration in a tank. All mine have a decent substrate plus rocks and in one case live plants. The planted tank typically has the best water parameters, with identical water change routines. Although the bioload is potentially different in each tank also, I do try to max out the fish in each, and the difference is very large between the planted and the other tanks, always has been, which I put down to the live plants.

Indeed Andrew, I think that's the key point. The "rule of thumb" of 4-6 times per hour already includes an allowance for the reduction in flow rates.

Interesting results. Consistent with my own beliefs on the flow rates of the Nautilus 2700 UVC I've run for 2 years, although I didn't get all technical and measure it. Thought about measuring, but never got around to it. Rather than follow some rule, I think about what the point of the filter is. That is, to remove the fish waste in the form of ammonia, and turn it into nitrite and (eventually) nitrate. And to keep the water looking clear. As long as these objectives are met, the filtration is adequate. I've got 3 6-ft tanks - exactly like yours - which have been up for 2 years now, initially running just the 2700 on each tank. One filter started leaking, so I replaced with an FX4. Fish populations are African cichlids in one, American cichlids in the other and planted tropical in the third - originally Discus and tetras, but now more rainbows and tetras. Water parameters on all tanks are ideal, i.e. zero for both ammonia and nitrite. Nitrates are in the 20-30 range for the two cichlid tanks, and 10-20 for the planted tank. So even though I agree the Nautilus 2700 does nowhere near 2700 liters per hour, in my view the filtration is adequate. What, specifically, would adding another filter accomplish, in terms of water parameters?

I used to have UV sterilizers built into the filters - Nautilus 2700 UVC. However, I wouldn't buy one otherwise. One filter has been replaced with FX4, and the UV light on a second has gone, I've not replaced it. It does depend on the fish you keep - I believe with marine tanks they are more important (although I've never kept marine myself). With the cichlids you're planning to keep, they are very hardy and I doubt the UV would be of much use. I've heard people with discus are more favourably inclined to UV also.

Nice 'scape. Shame the plants will get destroyed. I've got 3 of those same tanks, been up for over 2 years now. They have evolved over that time, let's say. While I'm really happy with how they look now, especially with the communities of fish I have in each, I do miss the pristine prettiness of the new setup.

Indeed, plenty of videos on YouTube showing them snacking on their tank mates!!

Lovely, that's what I thought. Hard to find YouTube videos of them in planted tanks though! I think I prefer the Red - although I saw a pair of Green yesterday, about 20cms, maybe a bit more, that were very nice. I'm tempted to try a pair of each, it's a 6ft tank, might work without any casualties. Wouldn't have any other fish, just those 4.

Love the look of these fish, and am thinking of making space in one of my tanks for some. Has anyone ever kept these in a planted tank? From research I've done on-line it is not at all clear. In the wild, they live around plants and they don't eat plants, but it's not clear what their behaviour is like in the aquarium. I currently keep Malawi haps in one tank (no plants) and severums, acara, silver dollars etc in another tank (no plants), but if these guys won't destroy plants, I'd prefer to put them in my third tank which is planted (used to house discus).