Newbie Fish Owner- My tank, and a few Q's!

[Ripponlea]

Hi Everyone,

Very excited to join the world of Cichlid keeping! I am a new fish owner, and have spent many months researching and learning as much as I can about the hobby. In Nov last year I purchased a 4ft tank second hand. It was quite shabby looking, so I have spent the last few months repainting the cabinet and deciding what fish to keep. Once I set my eyes on African Cichlids, I knew they were for me!

I am almost ready to put water in the tank and do a fishless cycle, but I do have a few questions that I am sure you all may be able to help with.

This is my tank, just because I do like showing people! I cant wait to fill it up.

First question. I am a little confused about how much 'flow' is needed in tanks. I have an Aqua One Aquis 1250 canister filter for the tank. Max flow is 1400, but now I am really concerned it wont be enough, as I since found out the operational flow is half this amount. Will I need another filter to increase the 'flow' (my understanding of this term is very basic, bare with me!), or does the ideal flow of a tank include the filter as well as water movement like a powerhead or wavemaker? Would adding one of these be worthwhile? I am quite unsure what avenue to take. Baring in mind, the tank hasnt been stocked yet and I am open to suggestions about how and what to keep.. taking into consideration my filter's cleaning capacity and bioload etc.

Having only kept goldfish before, this is quite an overwhelming but exciting adventure. It is amazing how much of an art fish keeping really is.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to becoming part of your community!

Cheers!

Bec

[Link2Hell]

Hi Bec

welcome to ACE

so glad to hear you have done some research and have the

patience to start your adventures with Cichlids

the tank and cabinetry look very neat ... great job

the Aquis 1250 should be fine for a standard 4' tank and if you

want to add extra filtration another filter can be added later

have you started the tank and kicked off the bacteria for the filter

once things are running you will be fine

do you have a stocking list and will you be starting with fry to grow

or get larger fish

enjoy

[Ripponlea]

Thank you! I have jumped head first into fish keeping before with some unpleasant consequences. I've vowed to exercise patience and do it all by the book this time! I have learnt a lot but feel like I've only touched the surface.

Anyway, good to know the filter will be fine to start with. Fingers crossed I won't need another.

The water will be going in in the next few days. I am not quite sure if I will go with fish food for the cycle or ammonia. I don't have any friends with established tanks to pinch some filter media or anything which is a shame. I believe there are a few products though that help with bacteria?

I do not have a stocking list yet I definitely don't want to go down the tank buster path as this is, and will be, my only tank. Whatever goes in will need to be of the dwarf variety. Will happily take any stocking suggestions! I have no preference between the types as yet.

[Ripponlea]

And I will be getting smaller/younger fish from my LFS They would only be an inch or two maximum. They do sell larger but my budget likes the smaller ones better

[cooder]

Hi, welcome to the forums,

For your fishless cycle, ammonia is probably better than fish food. You can get higher quantities for lower prices than if you were to use fish food. There probably are products, but i have never seen anything promoted as being really worth buying. The best you can do is be patient, and letting the fishless cycle process do its thing.

What type of African Cichlids are you going for? I can suggest looking at some fish at your LFS, finding what you like, writing the names down and researching that specific species when you get home. You should find tonnes of information on what is best for that species.

Ask lots of questions on the forums too, it helps

[Buccal]

Adding a little power head of 5watts worth at the surface of water breaking tension will allow better oxygen transfer and help keep water cool in the extreme heat.

The added circulation will also increase movement at substrate level which picks up the junk and collects in filters giving a cleaner tank with likely no siphoning maintenance if set right.

The fish less cycle using ammonia is really commonly used in quarantines or shops where large numbers of fish come and go.

Large numbers of fish arriving can majorly disrupt a cycled balance.

A experienced person will know his bio-load size before its arrival and use a measured dose of ammonia prior to increase beneficial bacteria numbers to a particular level to deal with the sudden impact.

Just by your fish in twos and threes at a time and slowly build the stock to let the nitrogen cycle balance and catch up each time.

A good three weeks before the first two,,,, then add them weekly after that.

[Ripponlea]

Thanks heaps for your suggestions and information It is much appreciated.

I will pop down to my LFS this week and see what tickles my fancy and do some research on the species. All I know at the moment is that I want bright, bright bright.

We are having extreme heat at the moment of up to 44 degrees. The room the tank is in tends to reach around 33 at that temperature, so a little extra circulation sounds like it might be a really good thing. Luckily these temperatures are only a few weeks of the year, and will likely drop before I add fish.

If I have any more questions I will be sure to ask.

[Paulochromis]

Never bothered with cycling - clean the gravel, de-chlorinate the water (I use Prime), run mechanical filter for a day to clear things up, then add fish and bacterial agent (I use SeaChem Stability). Follow the instructions on the bottle. I keep Tropheus!

[Gombe]

Hi Bec, welcome to Ace, just want to make sure you cleaned the sand, clean it then clean it them clean it again, I didn't clean my sand once, Only once.

[TimB]

SeaChem Stability is a good option while cycling. Helps lower ammonia and nitrite.