smidey

welcome, great you could join us

that's quite a mix, tangs, malawians, south americans and indonesians. What is the common language? :lar: you have some stunning peacocks, how do they look without the camera flash?

hi & welcome

beat IRA to: check her PMS?

nice progess. i like the background and plumbing setup, well done. I had one of those tanks for about 5 years and it was brilliant.

why would you want to kill them by boiling? they are food for your fish haha

i wouldn't have either, i would have just given them a scrub if i thought they needed it but only if they were dirty

to keep them well you need a 200L tank or larger IMO. also the key to keeping africans is to set up well, as above plenty of hiding places is a must. Aim for at least 6 times the tank volume of filtration per hour (200L tank aim for at least 1200lph canister filtration) and feed plenty of good food like NLS cichlid formula, JBL Novorift and Sera Granugreen and granured. A good sized group, say 6 or more yellows will readily breed with the right ratio of male to female and adding the blues or dems has been done plenty of times with good success.

Sons of Anarchy, now that is some intense story lines

you're right, they are not fish but they do go very well together

hi & welcome

here's a link. There is a search engine up the top of the page. viewtopic.php?f=28&t=48784&hilit=timber+stand

I made one, there's a thread on here titled smideys 2.0m tank stand or some thing like that. I'm sure a search will find out, I can't search at the moment

my 5000lph in my 400L 2.0m long tank makes way too much current, perhaps the one i have creates more current than yours.

i think a 1000lph will be sweet, if not it's all in how you aim it.

don't get any wave maker for a 200L tank, it will be far too much. I have a 2.0m long tank and a 5000lph is far too much and a 3000lph might be ok or near to too much flow. I have a 300L tank and use the spraybar from my CF1000 canister to create flow, aimed down the length of the tank it makes quite a current.

i got a 5000lph one and it's a great wave maker but too much for what i need really. I did get a magnet base and cut a rebate into the poly on that side of the tank so all good there.

Hi and welcome

i use crushed marble as a substrate and river stones to create piles which gives them hiding places and areas to create territories.

Would an ice cream container be big enough?

not usually i don't think. most of or all of the malawi species don't eat while they hold so it can take months for them to put on condition to prepare to spawn again. Yellow labs i had would go at least 6 weeks before they held again and that was with plenty of food. I believe in lake malawi there is enough space and hiding places for them to drop their eggs/fry and feed but that isn't possible in the small bodies of water we keep them in but that is just a theory i have come up with with my experiences. I have seen a red zebra female release her fry to feed and then she sucked them back up when i approached the tank as she saw me as a threat. She had around 200L to herself with plenty of rock work but still kept them in her mouth for the majority of the time. Tanganyikan species eat while they hold so don't loose much condition if any and can spawn again within a couple of weeks but that isn't too common i have found. IME they generally hold again three to four weeks after i strip the fry.

hi and welcome. I am also in whangarei and notice there has been a few from up here join recently.

awesome tank, great work

Welcome, I hope you enjoy it here

Hi and welcome from a fellow northlander