Priscacara Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 Hi guys, I've made a start in keeping SA cichlids with a pair of orange heads settling into a 3 foot tank. They will probablt be fine in there but its a small tank I know, which leads me into upgrading to do things properly. I was originally going for a standard 4 footer from lfs but have decided to go for a bit bigger tank. My thoughts are for a 4 x 2 x 2 tank costing around $600 (waiting on a price from my regular lfs), the filters and lighting will be canibalised from the 3 footer and upgraded at a later date. I have since thought of what the shop I was at refered to as a "standard" 5 footer, its definately not as wide as 2 foot but I dont know the actual dimensions. Their price didnt include cover glass or foam underlay, well it did but you needed a magnifier to read it at the bottom, so the price will be around $650. The 4x2x2 would be better for the location and have good room for the fish to swim around but not sure if the 5 would be better for them with more length and less width. Fish I was thinking of are the 2 orange heads, 7 red phantom tetra, 3 bristlenose (all of which I already have in the 3), new fish I was thinking a pair of horseface, some lemon tetra. Any other suggestions welcome, I dont want to overcrowd the tank like I usully end up doing. Any opinions on the tanks and fish appreciated, I dont plan on breeding anything its a display tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishtraderlau Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 Hi there, Your 4x2x2 should be great for them and besides, it is a fantastic size should you later change your mind on fish/setup. One thing to note though, if you do consider breeding at a later stage, a 6x2x2 can accomodate a few breeding americans (for example in a prior set up- breeding salvini and breeding parrot cichlids). No need for the 5ft tank- 4x2x2 big and ideal for you by the sounds of it. Nice fish that will look great too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priscacara Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 Tx for the quick reply, I think the 4 will be more manageable for me but always after the best for my fish so appreciate the advice. It will be a few weeks till I place the order for it but should look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanke Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 hi well u know they do make a 5x2x2 also but the bigger the better so go for the 6x2x2 yanke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priscacara Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 Tx for the reply Yanke. I have a 6x2x2 frontosa/blue dolphing tank and much as I love it , its also the 1 tank causing me problems due to the size. I cant reach the back of the tank at all while cleaning unless I stand on a chair and I rent this place so will be a major problem whenever I have to move on. The 5 footer would be manageable at standard size but I'd have the same problems with the 5x2x2, mind you I havent checked variabilty of stand heights yet. Cost wise the 6 is out of my reach, even the 4 is going to have to wait about 4 to 6 weeks :-( . I'll just go back to dreaming about a room full of 6 footers :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanke Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 hi well u can go 4x18x20 and get a lower stand like the 1 i have it only 22inch high or 610cm and thats for a 6x18 but i have 3 2x18x18 on it yanke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priscacara Posted April 7, 2010 Author Share Posted April 7, 2010 Never thought of having a couple of smaller tanks on 1 longer stand, tx for the idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryparty Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 i have 5 x geo araguaia, inc 2 pairs breeding. atm in a 4ft and 2 x 2ft breeders, 6ft coming out of storage. where in vic are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priscacara Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share Posted April 8, 2010 Hi Fry, I'm at Lara. Got back into fish almost 2 years back and with the help of 1 of the experts in my area at Belmont along with the people on these forums I'm enjoying the hobby again. How do you like your SA's? From what I've seen the colors are great and not a boisterous fish (not too shy I hope), will be my first foray into Americans since I kept discus and angels about 15 years back. I've swapped out tanks, bought new ones all the usual things :-). My 6 footer houses frontosa, blue dolphin, lemon cichlids, a lower level species I cant remember the name of atm (will come to me at some strange moment I know) and 14 various catfish. 4 footer currently holds 9 juvenile duboisi and about 20 plus juvenile P. saulosi which will be moving on once bigger. It used to house a mix of cichlids but with 3 colonies breeding along with the males for display it got out of hand fast. Now I no longer want to breed any fish at all , if any of them do breed well and good but I dont want to go back to an overcrowded tank. My 3 footer held a pair of lionheads that were so prolific I just couldnt keep up and all of them were moved on that were able to be and replaced with the 2 orange heads last Saturday. The first spawn of lionheads was 80 plus with most surviving just to give you an idea of what my 3 footer was like. I sold about 35 of them in a halfmoon aquaone about 6 weeks ago. My last tank is a 2 foot eheim setup with cherry shrimp and 3 featherfin bristlenose. The costs of running and maintenance are about all I can handle so extra tanks arent really an option for now so I figured I would upgrade to the 4x2x2 replacing the 3 footer and change the type of fish to SA. The fish for the new 4 when I get it will be the 2 orangeheads, 2 horseface, 2 severums (maybe, will have to research them a bit), a pleco, 7 red phantom tetra, small school of lemon tetra although might need something a bit more vibrant, possibly a couple of corys to round it off. The tank setup will be 2mm golden colored gravel, some nice chunks of wood, 2 x sponge filters from the 3 footer (sponges are about 14cm across), 300w heater. Toying with the idea of an air curtain or something similar for extra surface movement for oxygen. Lighting will initially be the twin tube aquaone from the 3 footer and later a 4 footer to replace it. Not sure on tube type for these fish, no plants so can maybe vary it from the norm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 Go the 4x2x2 good size footprint if you wanted to save a few $$ then look at only 18" high and 2' wide to use 10 mm base and only need 6mm sides the old 3'tank will be good for quarantine, hospital or fry tank remember its VCS auction weekend down there Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanke Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 hi with your 4x2x2 get it with a sump it will be much cleaner for u yanke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryparty Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 definitely do your research into "orange heads" / red horse face... generally people who know nothing call their less favourable geos "red horse face" i run no lights at all on my geo tanks, they will be more active as they hide in high light. use playground washed sand and bicarb soda to keep your ph level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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