Likoma

It works great to replace the mechanical filtration in all canisters. IN fact Eheim is our manufactuers biggest customer. All mechanical filtration in a canister filter will block over time and needs regular cleaning to ensure filter efficiency is maintained and that clean water reaches the biological section. You can increase cleaning intervals by staging the mech filtration from a 10ppi and then a 20ppi. You could also gain the advantage of an HMF which would work as a pre-filter by placing a sheet of foam into the tank and position the inlet of the canister filter behind the foam sheet. The water would pass from the body of the tank water through the foam sheet and into the filter. Many of our customers operate this method.

Cheers for the feedback Cameron, it was filmed with a Canon 60D and I think some footage from the Gopro Hero3

Here is a quick video of our lowest maintenance aquarium ever. Both species of whiptails are breeding regularly although only the Royal whiptail youngsters survive the Cardinal tetras. All it takes to look after it is feeding the fish and the plants and a once a month water change. Thanks for watching

Hey there Shayne, I still feed Hikari as I feel it's the better of the 2. In the morning I crush up a small square of nori and a sprinkling of sinking pellets. Mix it up with water in a jug,This ensures that fish like tropheus get to it, pour it in. midday the fish get fed some more nori. Evening the fish get fed earthworms, freeze dried krill and more nori. For most people a single feeding of nori will be sweet as it doesn't get as broken down as processed foods. Little bits can be seen floating around to be delt with by your filter. We sell a 100 sheets of nori for $35. I have some very nice looking jacobfreibergei peacocks that will look great in your tank. Cheers Greg

Sorry I should have added the caveat that they won't grow they will survive, Thanks Caryl. I use a few on rotation. 6 months in the water and then sit them out the tank with roots in the water for a few months. This allows them to bounce back and look great for their next breath holds session.

Dont worry about finding an immersed plant. Just grab yourself one from a store. Remove the soil , cut some roots and plant away.

Seems like a cool tank. Good exposure for the soothing effects of a nice looking aquarium.

Thanks for the feedback. Indoor house plant the humble Spathiphyllum, common name the Peace Lilly. A really cool plant.

How does you biological degradation cope with such a high cycle rate? Is it seachem matrix or a similar product?

Go all in. A small harem of auaratus and trewavasae and single male peacocks(numbers dependent on size of tank) Nice

I have put together a video showcasing how we feed our fish. We have been feeding our fish, African cichlids, dried seaweed or nori for over a year now. In that time we have noticed improved health and coloring in a very large group of fish(all of them). We used to only feed Hikari and Nls. Both are great foods but I still felt like I was macdonalding our fish. With such large groups of fish I had to feed excessively to get the smallest guys fed. This led me on the path of discovery and we haven't looked back. With so much veg food I'm able to feed freeze dried krill to all fish. Now I don't recommend this but it's pretty good evidence on how good the nori is. Make sure you get one without any additives and if your stuck I have some spare packets. Enjoy the video and subscribe to pick up the latest content. http://youtu.be/3VUU2sk5V8Ah

Very cool looking aquarium.

Hey there Chris I think David R said it best a while ago. Porous material like ceramic noodle or sintered glass lose their effectiveness when they get covered with mulm. To ensure the best results with them try placing them in the final basket. Stage the mech filtration going from your most coarse foam ie 10ppi or 20ppi and then your filter wool and then your ceramic noodles. The big stuff gets taken out by appropriate material. The little bits of detritus are dealt with by your filter wool and the water that ends up in your biological stage is as clean as possible. This also means you have an extended cleaning period. Cheers Greg

I keep a single pair of Tropheus moorii firefoxes with a group of Malawians with no issues. I also have a few spare male firefoxes residing in various tanks 1200.600.300. I have never kept dubs so cant comment on them. If you want to try a firefox I have youngsters coming up.

Sorry I didnt think I made myself clear. These fish are awesome. Very colorful and energetic. A top choice.

Are you looking at the water/fish ratio as a water quality or space issue? Mmm thats an interesting fact about nori, can you elaborate please. Cheers Greg

I think those numbers sound fine for the tank. In the lake they have very high stocking densities. The important thing is to provide excellent water quality, enough food for everyone and lots of water changes. You would have a natural die off of a few individuals over time through human error and nature. This means you will end up with a smaller colony that is constantly getting replenished with a few fry that are die hards. Having redundancy on your filter or running it through a Hamburg Matten filter(your bio filter) first and then through your canister will be more than enough. Coupling this with lots of water changes and growing plants on the tanks will make your life easier. To be able to feed everyone sufficiently try feeding nori (sushi wrap) in combination with your conventional food. This means your able to bulk out everyone and not add massive amounts of nitrates. I buy the stuff in 100 piece packs and it works out very affordable. This is a large predatory cichlid female feeding on nori in Lake Malawi. She is McLovin it.

Your tank will only be able to support a set amounts of boys. Its really important to provide lots and lots of bolt holes. Due to the feeding nature of these fish they are not as prone to Malawi bloat as say the dems. They are pretty brutal and you need to hold fast as they work out the population dynamic. They will dominate a small* specific staked out area but are otherwise very species specific in their aggression. It is not uncommon to find a surplus male hunkered up in the top corner of tank without any fins. Keep a smaller hospital tank handy for the losers. Im running an all Mbuna aquarium 1800.600.600 that houses 4 males and a bunch of girls amongst 6 other species of mbuna. The hierarchy has been set and things have been constant for 4months. Any pics of your tank, I would love the see how you got on with the corner matten filter. Triangular aquariums are always tricky to work with. *the more fish the smaller the defined territory.

If it is a show tank and you have the space I would run 2 pieces one a 20ppi and then a 30ppi. It would depend on the inhabitants. For a heavily stocked African cichlid aquarium the all rounder option for me is the 20ppi. Excellent mix between long cleaning intervals and biological degradation. If it is a 60cm gap we join two pieces that measure 50.33.5cm to form a large sheet that can be cut down. All extra off cuts can be used to replace the existing media in your canisters in the future. I'm happy to chat through any options with you. Flick me a text and Ill call you back. Cheers Greg

Yes definitely this will work. We have heaps of customer that operate their aquariums this way. To make life easier and to ensure the most positive bacterial population I would suggest having the inlet to your cannister(where the water sucks out of the tank) located as high as possible. This prevents the valuable *mulm* being sucked up and clogging your canister. Since you are pre-filtering you should see improved cleaning interval. Have the foam sheet pushed up hard against the front left or right hand corner. Angle the foam out at a small angle. This creates a small right handed triangle behind the foam sheet. Place the inlet in the largest part of the corner. This way you take up less visual real estate and still have have a super powerful bio-filter. Cheers Greg

Mbuna feeding on Nori Tyrannichromis sp female feeding on Nori.

Mostly vegetable food matter- nori, nz kelp kale and home made frozen food with vegetable matter making up 75%. Algae wafers comprise 80% of commercial food and the last bit is a 3 times a week feeding of NLS, Hikari or Nutrafin. In the warmer months when I run the temp higher I include whole earth worms in all tanks excluding fry. In the the Lake haps and Peacocks all had straight or slightly concave bellies. All mbuna had full fat bellies (lots of vegetable matter with a low energy content) I do notice that my fish dont grow as large nor as quickly as others. They do however develop really vibrant coloring ,very natural sizing very healthy attributes.

I am currently running an mixed African aquarium tank with Black Calvus, Moliro Firefoxes,Leuleupi, J. marlieri and an assortment of Malawian Cichlids, mbuna and haps in a very heavy stocking density. Havent run into any drama yet.. Truth be told my feeding routine incorporates far less commerical fish food(NLS, Hikari) than almost everybody else.You are what you eat. To give an idea of the stability of this setup, we were away for a month with our house sitters managing and feeding our fishy friends. As far as I can ascertain we didnt lose a single juvenile or adult fish. I was gobsmacked by how successful that period was. In my experience I have found C. moorii ,the blue dolphin, to be the best aquarium fish ever. Large, shoaling and beautiful. IN one of our large tanks we have 8 full grown boys just getting on with life.

Carlsberg Fossorochromis rostratus male and female in shallow water (750mm deep) Copadichromis azureus Protomelas steveni jet

The public aquaria is on a commercial croc farm in South Africa and the indoor pond is in the late Stuart Grants home.