SirPsycho Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Hi all, I joined up to this forum recently and have been having a bit of a read around. I couldnt work out how it work at first (alot of stuff seemed to be missing) but I worked out that I have to get my registeration verified eventually. Ive been on Malawi Mayhem asking a few questions, but I find it a bit annoying as its based in the US so no-one is online when I am and their recommend retailers arent much use to me. Anyways, theres been a few hurdles but I basically jumped straight into the deep end and have spent the last month or so sourcing all the bits and pieces, building a custom cement background, setting things up, cycling the tank and Im no pretty much just doing a bit more research so i can make my final fish choice. Ive got the following: 1200x600x600mm tank Pine stand and hood (stained it myself...took frikin ages!) AquaPro 2600Lph canister filter 400w titanium bar heater 3 tube fluro light (got it off a mate, dont know the specs) Heres some pics of how things are now: Some lava rock with java fern: Cement cave hiding my water outlet (you can just see the outlet in the bottom right, the dark corner bit): Theres another outlet at the top to skim the surface water, but you cant really see it in the pics. Both outlets are shielded with some plastic gutter guard to keep fish away. The sand I used is a couple 20kg bags of play sand from Bunning thats been washed many times. I bought the lava rock from an aquarium shop and will probably get a bit more. (I originally had a bit of driftwood in the corner but even after weeks of leeching it keep making the tank yellow and dropped the pH too much. Where Im up to now: Basically im still cycling the tank, its been going a week now. Ive used Seachem Prime when I first filled it and have been adding Stability for the last 5 days to kick things off. Water tests currently show: Ammonia = 0ppm Nitrites = 0.5ppm pH = 8.0 The nitrites were at 0.25ppm yesterday, ive since added the plants and one of the lava rocks and removed the driftwood. Im not too sure how theye gone up but somehow they have so the tank will keep cycling until i work out whats going on. Im going to go with some African cichlids from Lake Malawi, most likely some Yellow Labs and some Cobalt Blue Zebras to start things off. (Feel free to share suggestions!!) Please let me know what you think and if youve got any tips on the nitrites please let me know! Cheers, Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colfish Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 hi Ed, welcome to ACE the nitrite is a natual progression of the cycle, it will gradually decrease with an increase in nitrates. no fish in the tank untill the nitrites have gone. i'd thought the wood might've helped keep the ph to a more suitable level for malawi's. keep a watch on it, it's a wonder the cement b'ground has'nt sent the ph into orbit. just be aware that the higher the ph, the more toxic any abnormal tank readings become. [a cupfull of carbon in the filter will help reduce the tanin] washing 40kg of sand! you're a legend mate, that's 1 job i despise. could be a bit to deep for 8sq ft, just watch for pockets of black sand, could cause trouble. as for fish, whatever floats ya boat, most of the usual suspects will be fine for a while, till you get more experience. look after the water and the fish will look after themselves. you wont be alone on this site, plenty of ppl to offer advice. just remember to keep it simple and have fun, cheers; Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirPsycho Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Yeah the timber dropped the pH down to about 7.6 over a few days, but as the water was turning yellow I figured the leeching wasnt finished and the acidity would only get worse. I removed it and added a couple cups of carbon to my filter, water was clear again in about 4hrs. Cement was cured and soaked constantly for a week or so with daily water changes. pH never got above 8.4, but of course that might be due to the frequent water changes. Half the reason Im in no hurry to put fish in my tank is due to the cement but the water has been cycling for a week now and the pH hasnt been above 8.0 so it seems faily stable. Im also hoping the carbon might remove any random un-detectable nasties in the water too. 40kg of sand was a big job indeed. Dont think Id rush into it again any time soon! I dont think its too much sand though, a good 5kg probably disappeared with the washing and theres only about 7cm of sand in the tank. I was actaully thinking about adding a little more so i could build up some piles around the place but I think ill do that with lava rock now instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirPsycho Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 PS. You think the sand was hard.....try building up layers and layers of cement in a confined space for days on end. I ended up using 27kg of cement! ....then had to carry the tank with the background stuck in place upstairs with a couple mates....now THAT was a bad idea!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colfish Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 ....then had to carry the tank with the background stuck in place upstairs with a couple mates....now THAT was a bad idea!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hi Ed, Don't have any suggestions, but that tank looks fantastic. Wish I was that good at Aqua scaping. Cheers Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirPsycho Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Thanks for the kind words I think it all comes down to a bit of trial and error. Im no expert! I originally started with a bit of a pic and just the idea that i wanted to hide the pipework. Ended up changing things completely after i found the driftwood was still leeching. Im glad ive done things how they are now and ill use the driftwood in an american cichlid with more plants one day. My water is ready to roll and ive started stocking my tank now, theres a thread on it here: http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=42496 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogie Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 40kg of sand was a big job indeed. Dont think Id rush into it again any time soon! I dont think its too much sand though, a good 5kg probably disappeared with the washing and theres only about 7cm of sand in the tank. I was actaully thinking about adding a little more so i could build up some piles around the place but I think ill do that with lava rock now instead. some advice if your planning on putting more sand so you can pile it... you will put the sand in and have it nice and piled just the way you like it... then you go to sleep and wake up the next morning and your fish have re-arranged it just the way they like it! you can go and re-arrange it again, but trust me...the fish always win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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