Jodannar Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Hi all, I have been casually reading this forum for years, but only recently (re)-became a member. Recently I have finally been allowed by the better half to purchase a decent sized tank for the house. I am in the process of setting up the tank and beginning the aquascaping. The tank is 4 x 2 x 2 and will run 2 x Ehim Ecco 300 pro canisters as filtration. My goal is to set up a lake Malawi tank. At the moment I am torn between going pure Mbuna and / or stocking some Peacocks as well. Due to the size of the tank, stocking levels mixing the 2 might be an issue. Suggestions for species and their availability in Canberra? ? Currently i am attempting to source egg crate to begin building of my rockscape, but everywhere that I can find is closed on weekends in Canberra (another lost week). Tank wont be cycled for a few weeks probably as I only have a tiny tank i could use to jumpstart the cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priscacara Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Not sure on availability up your way but I'd probably go for a mix, depends as well if you want anything to breed as you dont want hybrids. I have a similar size tank with SA fish at the moment but it would look awesome with good rockwork and stocked with maybe a majority of a single species such as electric yellows. Could also look good with the yellows and some zebras and/or peacocks for color differences. I had a mix in a 200L tank with no problems so yours will cause few problems imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I agree and reckon the combination of electric yellows, red zebras and one other black/blue mbuna such as pseudotropeus Kingsizeii or Pseudotropeus Demasoni would look great. Or you could just do yellows with a species like Melanochromis Interruptus, since the females are orange and the males are black and blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 I agree and reckon the combination of electric yellows, red zebras and one other black/blue mbuna such as pseudotropeus Kingsizeii or Pseudotropeus Demasoni would look great. Or you could just do yellows with a species like Melanochromis Interruptus, since the females are orange and the males are black and blue. Wouldnt the demasoni be a little to active for the red zebras? Would need a fair bunch of them to spread the aggression wouldnt I? its been a long time since I kept Malawi / Tang Cichlids. Did discus and Severum and Rainbows for a long time and only now getting back into the Rift lakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Demasoni are aggressive fish, but the ones I have kept have tended to be most agressive towards themselves and other darker coloured mbuna rather than the yellows and red zebras. I'd say the red zebras and yellows would be OK, but conspecific agression would be the issue. Adding lots of rockwork would cut the risk of this. The other blue/black coloured mbuna also get aggressive once they reach a certain size. They're like little bulldogs. With that size tank, you could add 10 yellows, 10 red zebras and some darker ones for contrast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 Got a bit of rock work in the tank at the moment. Didn't go as high as I would like, its just a double layer in the corners. Lots of crevices/hiding /line of sight breaks though. Yellow's stocking in Canberra at the moment is a little lacklustre. Theres tonnes around, but they are quite striped. Definitely will have some in the tank though. 4-5 species that cant interbreed would be the goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Yeah I reckon yellows are cool. Although common, people not familiar with cichlids always like them when they see your tank. They have some interesting behaviour to watch too. Its worth looking around a bit for good quality ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirecichlid Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Mate pm rosco as he is in act and between him and Laurie have some very nice fish Trent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I might be able to answer some of your questions Currently i am attempting to source egg crate to begin building of my rockscape, but everywhere that I can find is closed on weekends in Canberra (another lost week). Tank wont be cycled for a few weeks probably as I only have a tiny tank i could use to jump start the cycle. ACT plastics is the go but it may not solve your problem if they are closed. I have a few bits and pieces around you have have once I make sure I have enough for my new sumps. I have a display 4x2x2 that will end up containing my excess males\spare males for my colonies once I get all my tanks up and running. I plan to have yellows, red empress, litho's, my new peacock Aulonocara stuartgranti "Galileya Reef", benga's maybe some tangs as well like cylindricus and lelelupi. All my rifties are kept in similar water conditions. 4-5 species that cant interbreed would be the goal. Years ago I had 4 colonies together in a 6x2x18 and while they didn't crossbreed, only 2 of 4 bred well with the occasional mouthful of of the other 2. I had Maingano, C Afra 'Cobwe', yellows and Benga peacocks. I only ever got decent numbers of the first 2.. I found out that the maingano were eating the eggs of the yellows and benga's when they were putting them down. I ended up dividing the tanks and have only had 2 species ever since. There is also no real can't they might you just never know. Mate pm rosco as he is in act and between him and Laurie have some very nice fish Thanks Trent . Between Laurie and I you could possibly get a decent start depending on what you are after. I have a a lot fry coming through but not many up to size yet as I just extended my fish room so I have slowed down my fry production. Yellow's stocking in Canberra at the moment is a little lacklustre. Theres tonnes around, but they are quite striped. Definitely will have some in the tank though. HMMM I concur they can be pretty awful at times we tend to take stuff to Sydney more frequently tan locally. I can pretty safely say that both Laurie and myself have decent yellows and we both have demon's (aka demasoni). I don't keep zebra's but I do have afra's and msobo. I suspect Laurie would have more fry up to size than me ATM. He has a nice collection of both tangs and malawi's and generally we have not doubled up where possible. HTH cheers rosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 thanks for the help. i got some egg crate early this week from ACT plastics actually. rockwork is in. Substrate is in the process of being washed. Really difficult trying to wash it at night in 2 degree weather.. hands dont last too long. Hopefully tank will be full of water by the weekend. Would be great to come and have a look at some of the stock you both have when you are available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 no probs WOuld be good to see some photos cheers rosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Tank filled for the first time. Filtration on. Unsure whether i will put in a black background or not. Would like the pipes to be hidden, may just secure them down the edges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 I have painted my 4x2x2 black and it really highlights the fishes colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 I want to avoid painting it incase I want to change it easily later. Would be quite awkward to paint now that its filled I should probably find a latex/plastic background and squeegee it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Cycling started. Doing it fish-less. I only have a tiny tank I can use to seed from, filter sponge squeezing's. Doubt it will help much. Ammonia levels are not dropping very much at all. Dosed at 5ppm the first day, has been 4 days and they are still almost as high. Nitrate levels have not risen at all yet. Tank is running at 32 degrees to try and speed up the process. Frustrating waiting game ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Still cyling. dont think i was dosing high enough on the ammonia :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~matt~ Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 What kind of ammonia are you using? Just to let you know incase u dident but it has to be 'clear' ammonia, which we do not have in australia im pretty sure we only have 'cloudy' ammonia which shouldent be used Cheers Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 cloudy ammonia is still pure ammonia.. doesn't contain anything else...atleast the one that I have. No detergent in it. Doesnt foam or froth. But i now do realise my mistake. Does it have a different chemical composition and wont break down the same way... crap. Suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~matt~ Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 im not exactly sure what the difference it but i was told not to use it, you can buy pure ammonia from aquadiso, you can buy it over the net aswell. dosing ammonia to 5ppm is too much and can cause to bacteria to not grow, dose to 2-3 ppm and just wait for it to start to drop when it does you will see nitrites then wait some more lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogie Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 This was my 4x2x2 just before the heat wave and most of my fish were lost. Hope that helps give you some ideas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~matt~ Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 nice tank Yogie, what is that first fish called that you zoom in on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 so should I empty the entire tank and start again? i have a lack of seed material to use so maybe i should just buy some damn danios or goldfish to send to their possible death. Frustrated that I made such a nub mistake after doing this for 15 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogie Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 nice tank Yogie, what is that first fish called that you zoom in on? That is a Jaguar (Parachromis managuensis), it doesn't belong in there but it has been in there for a year now with no dramas so should I empty the entire tank and start again? i have a lack of seed material to use so maybe i should just buy some damn danios or goldfish to send to their possible death. Frustrated that I made such a nub mistake after doing this for 15 years i recently setup a brand new 2ft tank with new filters and everything. I used Seachem Stability and added fish from day 1 without seeding the filters and all the fish were fine. Just don't go overboard with feeding the first week and you will be fine Here is the link if you want to have a read Stability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodannar Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 maybe ill just empty it and refill to be safe. chuck some prime and stability in and add a couple peacocks. dont want the guys to suffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~matt~ Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 its probably best to empty the tank and start again, its a pain in the buM but better to be safe then sorry. I used the stability when i recently fishless cycled my 5*2*2 with pure ammonia, but i used old media out of my 3ft tank and it took less then a week. See if you can get a couple hand fulls of some substrate from a friend or LFS it will help alot to seed the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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