malawi sand diver Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 G'day I'm new to this forum, but after attending the latest auctions and chatting to the guy in front of me he recommended this site. Glad he did - top site. I've just finished setting up my new tank. I upgraded from a 6 footer to a 10 footer. I'm still getting the lighting sorted out and finishing off some aquascaping, but here are some pics of the tank so far. The main residents are 6 large Buccochromis Rhoadesii. Regards, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krellious Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 holy hell. very nice indeed. and wow massive yellow you have there. have you ever been tempted to swim in that tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GundamCichlid Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Great set up Nice and healthy collection as well. Keep it posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Rob nice work in progress and you have an assistant Sweet looking Buccho's Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattrox Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Nice tank!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanke Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 hi i told u that this forum was good that was me u was talking to it was u and your son there and u was waitting for the call to pick up your new tank right and nice tank yanke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citypainter Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Awesome tank. Bigger is better I am not really into Africans but those Rhoadesii look great Did you do the background your self or is it a kit. Either way it looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloughlin2 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Looks the goods. Any breeding activity from the Rhoadesii yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 Gee, thanks guys. Yes Yankee, that was me and my boy at the auction. How did you go with the tanganyikans after I left and how are the guppies doing? The background is a universal rocks background made of a 6 foot mulga panel and another 4 foot panel called rock ledge or something. Also in there is what they call decorocks. I don't thik they make universal rocks in Aust any more as they moved to the US but Kellyville pets imports them now. The yellow was my first cichlid and I've had him for a couple of years and now he thinks he's a buccochromis sometimes My son is 6 and he knows all the cichlids by their scientific names, takes after his old man. He's also got a budding cichlid obsession. Regarding the buccos and their breeding, the male flares his fins and I have seen him on a coupl of occasions doing the dance, but not as much as I would have expected. I have removed any dominant fish to make him the dominant one in the tank, but no luck yet. I really want to breed these guys as there is not many around and we can't get them in the country any more due to the new laws. Most likely he will not be the dominant one when I move the new Spilos in there tonight, but maybe that will fire him up. I aim to stock it with large haps but not too many - focusing on the rhoadesii, spilos and maybe one day some lichnochromis acuticeps. I'll post some update pics as the tank progresses. Regards, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Beautifull fish and setup mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanke Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 hi i did good with the tangs and the guppies are doing good in with my apistogramma good luck with your tank looks good but i put tangs in that lol yanke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Cheers mate, and good luck with the tangs. Malawi predators for me all the way! The new guy in my tank is like a shark - the Champsochromis Spilorhyncus. He's the most dominant and agressive fish I've kept but its great to watch him strutting his stuff around the tank and it gets the other fish swimming around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firthy13 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 awesome looking tank. i want to do a similar thing as you and do a Malawi predator tank, with champs, and fossorochromis rostratus and buccos. can you put up some pics of your Champsochromis when you get a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Good choice IMO. Champs, Rostratus and Buccos work well together because they are all big enough to take care of themselves. I have found that having th 5 females and 1 male bucco is quite a good mix. The bucco male I have is the least agressive of the large hap males I have had, even though he is the biggest. The females were squabbling amoungst themselves a bit in my old 6 footer, but now in the 10 footer I have the boss champ, and they always keep an eye on him and his agression is dispersed amongst the school. Rostratus are also a good choice and are not agressive either. I have kept peacocks, victorians and mbuna before but have decided to go with the big haps . My ones still have a bit of growing to do, but the champ and bucco males will probably grow to over a foot long each over the next couple of years and then they are going to look really cool in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cory1 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Sensational tank,what filtration are you using...water looks crystal clear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share Posted October 22, 2010 G'day Cory I've got 6 kgs of Seachem Matrix in my sump. The sump is 6ftx 1ft x1ft. Running 3 pumps in the sump. I've found having a sump is much better than the cannisters I used to have to maintain. With the sump, I can just reach down and put new filter wool in every now and then. Regards, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cory1 Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Rob, any chance of a pic of the sump..and I agree with you about the maintenance side re sump/canister Cheers,Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antz Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 nice tank.. how big are the fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 G'day guys The Buccos are getting quite big - the male being about 3/4 foot long, but at the rate he's growing he'll be a foot long soon. I notice the male is starting to display to the females aswell. Might have to do with the low pressure system that came accross. My goal in fishkeeping is to get the buccos to breed. Barry, I'll try to get a shot of the sump tonight and post it. Basically I've just got 6kgs of matrix in 3 lots of 2kg bags on the bottom resting on a pipe, then some rough scourer type material and some filter wool on top. There's also a couple of rostratus fry growing in the sump Regards, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cory1 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Thanks Rob look forward to seeing the heart of this beast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I like your fish choice and the aquascaping leaving it open for their swimming room. I expect that was quite deliberate. Don't like the plastic plants though, but I'm a bit picky for such things. It's real or on deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I like your fish choice and the aquascaping leaving it open for their swimming room. I expect that was quite deliberate. Don't like the plastic plants though, but I'm a bit picky for such things. It's real or no deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 Yes, I agree about the plants. The tank is a work in progress. I think I will get some nice val, although in 2 minds as I'll have to research whether they will do well in the hard water conditions. Val would probably be the most authentic for a Malawi tank. I've left the tank open in the middle and now have fake rock ledges at each end. This maximises the length of swimming and I have designed the tank mainly for the large fast swimming haps haps such as the Buccochromis Rhoadesii. The substrate is coral sand, not too fine grained and not too coarse. Regarding the sump, its good that this subject was brought up as I need advice about it. I am new to sumps and this sump is a 6ftx1ftx1ft sump. There are 2 inflows to the sump at each end. At the moment, I have filled one section with 6 liters of Seachem Matrix in 2 bags. These bags are resting on some pipes. Above that, I have some of that course scourer type material. Above that, I have some filter wool. This section seems to be working well. But I have filled only one section so far and the main chamber has the pumps and some Texas Holey Rock. Interested to hear some advice about what I should put in the other sections. For the pumps, with the tank came 2x8500L an hour pond pumps and 3x3000L an hour pumps. I found the 8500L ones were a bit too strong, so I have currently set up the 2x3000L and hour pumps and will be adding another 3000l/hr pump on the weekend. Flow rate seems OK, I reckon adding the other 3000L/hr would do the job. I have a 500L/hr pump behind the rock background that circulates water from the back of the background to the front. The background is not siliconed in so I can get behind it and clean it. Here are some pictures of the way the sump is set up so far. I am still setting up the sump since the tank has only been running for a couple of weeks - its a work in progress. Regards, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Tank looks great, nice size too. Great selection of fish. Similar choice in fish to my 8x3. cant wait till my buccos get to the size of yours. Keep the pics coming champ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Yes, I agree about the plants. The tank is a work in progress. I think I will get some nice val, although in 2 minds as I'll have to research whether they will do well in the hard water conditions. Val would probably be the most authentic for a Malawi tank. I've left the tank open in the middle and now have fake rock ledges at each end. This maximises the length of swimming and I have designed the tank mainly for the large fast swimming haps haps such as the Buccochromis Rhoadesii. The substrate is coral sand, not too fine grained and not too coarse. Regarding the sump, its good that this subject was brought up as I need advice about it. I am new to sumps and this sump is a 6ftx1ftx1ft sump. There are 2 inflows to the sump at each end. At the moment, I have filled one section with 6 liters of Seachem Matrix in 2 bags. These bags are resting on some pipes. Above that, I have some of that course scourer type material. Above that, I have some filter wool. This section seems to be working well. But I have filled only one section so far and the main chamber has the pumps and some Texas Holey Rock. Interested to hear some advice about what I should put in the other sections. For the pumps, with the tank came 2x8500L an hour pond pumps and 3x3000L an hour pumps. I found the 8500L ones were a bit too strong, so I have currently set up the 2x3000L and hour pumps and will be adding another 3000l/hr pump on the weekend. Flow rate seems OK, I reckon adding the other 3000L/hr would do the job. I have a 500L/hr pump behind the rock background that circulates water from the back of the background to the front. The background is not siliconed in so I can get behind it and clean it. Here are some pictures of the way the sump is set up so far. I am still setting up the sump since the tank has only been running for a couple of weeks - its a work in progress. Regards, Rob To be honest, if it were my sump I would do some modifications to it to allow egg crate to be able to sit on ledges (instead of the pvc for example). Just quickly; I'd probably put the heater upright in the first entry chamber, attach glass strip ledges to the next chamber where the water flow is from bottom to top, add egg crate and put the mechanical media here (though water flow direction is an issue). You could possibly put coarse media in this chamber, and fine in the next (where the media currently is), then Matrix in this last water filled section. For me pumps in line and not immersed is a given. This last chamber could be a settlement area or grow out place. the tank has only been running for a couple of weeks Is it cycled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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