spoon Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 hi im wondering if a 200l tank is suitable for some of the smaller cichlids , im not sure on names of them yet but i like the bright yellow 1s . i realise they like a higher ph and hardness than most community tropical fish, but im wondering if they can be kept with large clown loaches and or a 25cm red spot pleco as these are they only fish in my 2ool tank i would like to keep i anebody could point me in the right direction with a few links to sites or something it would be much apprieated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 A 200L tank would be fine for some species, 4ft I am presuming? Things that would be good: Electric yellows Demasoni Peacocks (probably stick to a trio or more of one species or add multiple males of the same size and age at the same time and hope they get along and stay coloured up.) Maybe mix in a few tanks, pulchers, jullies or brichardi. Lionheads Fryeri (depending on temperment etc but have seen the im a 4fter before.) I'd stay away from zebras and stuff like that, if you want a nice well balanced smaller tank zebras can cause trouble, all depends what you like and on the nature of your fish etc. I have kept clown loaches in my african tanks and have seen others keep the big pleco's in there too so they will be fine, obviously adjust them to the new conditions slowly. Here are some photos of my 130L 3ft tank that I have setup.. Current enhabitants are 21 demasoni (just starting to breed), a trio of marleri gold peacocks, 9 fryeri (going to be moving to bigger quarters as they mature) and I will add some more yellows when/if I can find some quality ones.. As for links this is about as good as it gets and you can get lost there is sooo much info here... http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ Good luck and keep posting if you have any more questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 hi im wondering if a 200l tank is suitable for some of the smaller cichlids , im not sure on names of them yet but i like the bright yellow 1s . i realise they like a higher ph and hardness than most community tropical fish, but im wondering if they can be kept with large clown loaches and or a 25cm red spot pleco as these are they only fish in my 2ool tank i would like to keep i anebody could point me in the right direction with a few links to sites or something it would be much apprieated Clown loaches usually means more than one I thought it was pretty safe to assume they were talking about africans as they mentioned the higher ph and hardness and also bright yellow fish.. Yellows can get big I have seen some monsters but would guess they are 8-10years+ old to get that huge, and they would probably have still be fine in a 200L tank. Obviously you have to make the assumption its a standard sized tank if its one of those tall 200L rental type tanks it might not work out so well. Found this guide here http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/c ... er_55g.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Nice looking tank there Ryan what kind of gravel/sand is that you have in there? where can you get it from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 i like the pics yes this is the sort of fish im thinking of . my tank is a euroview 90 its 200l but only 3 ft long coz its a bit higher and deeper(front to back) than normal . i have 2 large clown loaches and a red spot pleco which is 25cm long i do realise 1 day he will be too big for the tank. im thinking i will sell the fish i dont want and pull all the plants out then slowly add some coral sand to the existing white sand till i have enuff to buffer the tank (is this a good plan?) so that the clowns and plec have time to adjust .am i able to leave the driftwood in the tank ? its been submerged for over 3 years so has long since stopped making the water yellow. filtration is 1 cf12oo though would probably upgrade to two of these. i have 2 kribs at the moment too are these fine with the above mentioned ciclids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 in that size tank i have 4 adult fryeri, 2 baenschi peacocks, 3 electric yellows, 2 red zebras, 2 cobalt blues, 8 red empress & 2 clown loaches. This stocking works fine & i have little or no aggression issues. These are mostly adult fish also. When i need to for a short time (2-3 weeks) i also put in juvenile fish (up to 15) when i need extra storage & i works well also. I have 1900LPH filtration on it so never had any water quality issues with that amount of filtration. You wont regret it if you change, these species provide brilliant colour at a fraction of marine cost & they are active as well. I have used aragonite to buffer the water along with limestone & with two cf1200's it will be set up well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 thanks for your help guys, i didnt understand the attraction of them till i seen a few peoples tanks up and running in real life and i also got mts so that helped. the substrate in my tank at the moment is mt somers sand its a super fine white silica sand so its inert. i have some mixed with some coral sand in my brackish tank it looks ok mixed. i was planning on adding a cup of coral sand every 7 days till i got the desired ph (could somebody tell me this too?) question tho can you have too much coral sand or other buffering agents or say 8kg of coral sand and a few dead corals be ok until i can find some decent calcuim based rocks mite have to go on a roadtrip ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Rocks..well I just brought some big chunks of oamaru stone (dolomite I think) beat the hell out of it and placed all the fractured stuff in my tanks. You can use slate as well as it is easy to handle and stack, Most of my guys are just in tap water but to get them really going I alter pH etc. HTH Navarre Oh and MTS...it does help Lmao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 just be careful of what substrate you use as africans dig & move the substrate alot. adults will move a quarter of my substrate in an hour when they are building a nest & they also are very quick swimming & will stir up a fine substrate when chasing each other while being aggressive. my Ph is about 7.9 - 8.0 & they thrive, live plants often don't do well in these conditions & if they do the fish will often destroy them anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Thats a good point smidey, I use "gravel" rather than fine sand 3 mmm or bigger usually. Sand goes ..well...for africa...when they are on the move Try something that Redwoods has called Marine mix..about $10 a bag from memory Good size and a good buffering agent. Navarre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Mel the sand is pool filter sand.. Used to have it in my community tank I don't know where it comes from it came with my tanks etc when I brought them, but try a pool shop it is neutral so wont change ph etc. I have buried limestone rocks at the back of the tank because I got sick of all my my african tanks being white (white sand and rocks) and darker substrate brings out the colour better in the fish. If you add enough buffering to counter act the lowering of the ph the driftwood tends to do it wont affect anything so you should be fine. Your plants may or maynot survive, the tank I pictured is a trail for me and I chucked all the plants out of my community tank in there, the fish are eating them however the growth rate of the plants seems very high so plants may keep rejuvenating.. You cant have too much buffering agent most of them only buffer to a certain degree and adding more wont have any additional effect on the ph, ph should be 7.5+ how much buffering you need depends on your tank and water and you will only find out by experimenting. If you wanted to avoid mixing your sands (probably a good idea in case you decide to use the inert stuff for a community tank) you can stick the coral sand in stockings or fine netting and bury it or just use the limestone rocks or chips as Nav suggested. Make sure you start building your rockwork on the bottom of the tank not on the sand so the fish can't undermine your foundations and cause a shower of falling rocks. I did some research on the sand hurting gills theory before adding it to my tanks and couldn't find any solid evidence it causes any harm, I use it in most of my tanks and saw alot of breeders (on the net) with 100's of tanks who have been breeding for years with it in their tanks with no problems. Smidey are you saying you have 4 x adult fryeri, 8 x adult empresses, and others in a 200L tank? Empresses get to 8-9" and 8 of them in a 200L tank would certainly be a site to behold, where did you find adults of them? Personally I would ditch the kribs, if you were keeping them with just yellows you might get away with it as yellows are placid, I had nowhere to stick my pair of kribs but in my african tank when I was going overseas and they got killed. I was pretty gutted I hate loosing fish from being a dumb ass and sticking them in the wrong tanks would rather give them away What are the exact dimensions of your tank? Generally tanks that get their volume from height aren't the most ideal for aggressive fish as alot of them need footroom to claim or to create enough hiding places for less dominant fish to hide in. For this reason I would probably stay away from most haps as they get big and like alot of room, there is no reason not to try them and rehome them if it doesn't work out as they grow though. A cf1200 would be fine with regular water changes etc of course more is better but should be fine with that you will still be turning over 4-5times your tank volume an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 my pleco shifts the sand incredibly all of the bottom dwellers seem to like it as well as the kribs which spit it around its not sharp edged at all as some sand is i think the coral sand i have is actually sharper. the footprint of the tank is 90x48cm roughly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 well been thinking once i have got rid of all the fish im not keeping i will suck most of the mt somers sand out with the python and go from there adding coral sand(note is there ane cheaper alternative to coral sand ? i have heard about this argonite sand but dont really know what it is or where to get it from ) thank you to the people who offered help with fish i will be in touch. i will update this thread as i get going and add photos. another question is lighting important for ane other reason other than asthetic value with cichlids(wont be having plants but mite have a few fake 1s thanks for the idea mystic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 i got 25 kilos of aragonite for $45 + $12 shipping from auckland, depends on the look you are going for but I personally like it from hollywood fishfarm, though not using them as couriers - using their supplier ... not sure about what us available in chch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 thank you for the advice mj after talking with navarre tonight and veiwing his tanks i have decided to use a black gravel and make a polystyrene structure with all sorts of caves and what not (sort of a large honeycomb) i will coat this with coral sand and possibly chips of oamaru stone to help buffer the tank this will be in the middle of tank but more to the back leaving enuff room behind it so i can get a net in and and more room in the front for substrate may also use more oamaru stone at the ends depending on how the buffering if going by this stage and how it looks (if no good then i will add extra buffering to the filters as coral sand in mesh bags) filltration will be 2 cf1200s with 1 posibly running a reverse undergravel filter(or undergravel jets -have to do more research) the other cf1200 will split into two with a adjustable valve on each side i will go directly into a spreybar in the tank the other will go via a small fluidised bed filter back into the tank(maybe filled with coral sand depending on how this this works otherwise white silica which is working fine at the moment) as for stocking im still getting there but think i have it sorted(thanks navarre!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 pics when it is all set up :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Oh it would help to read where you are of course Nav would sort you out.. He has an awesome setup down there (although I haven't seen it.. yet..) and awesome quality fish so all will be well there Sounds like you have some interesting plans regarding filtration, probably a bit of an overkill but you can never really have too much.. Undergravel filter won't work as the fish will dig it up causing the flow to all concentrate in one point and not through all the gravel resulting in the bacteria in the gravel dying and possible problems in your tank. All in all sounds like it is going well echo mj's post requesting pictures when it is all done The lightweight rocks sound good I use all natural limestone, its awesome stuff but very heavy and hard to move when catching fish etc, and its also very prone to becoming soft and just breaking when you pick it up (not so good when you have it over your tank). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thanks for the ups...lol...was no problem spoon. I have the same problem with my big hunks of Oamaru stone but I try not to move it to often. The RUGF might be my fault I have it in one of my tanks as a experiment and it works well....but I dont really have diggers in that tank. It does work with diggers if it is just under your bigger rocks but then surface area of rocks on filter can cause issues as well I also have my spray bar in the 6x2x2 on the gravel and under my rockwork. angled up and out. This pushes any detrius to the front and into the water where it is filtered out or easier for me to vax. Current over rocks also encourages algae I think for young uns. HTH Navarre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 i have a few ideas regarding the gravel to try now, im not actually too worried about vacuuming the gravel as currently all my tanks have white sand which is way worse to keep clean. at the moment im trying to source a big block of poly to carve got quoted $87 for the stuff i wanted but there is no way im gunna pay that ! i have a few tricks up my sleeve mite be able to get it for a few doz instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 well i made a background instead its coming along nicely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted February 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 well the background is finally in , i have passed on all unwanted fish and have the two clown loaches and pleco in with the goldfish (heater and cannister filter are also on the goldfish tank) water is finally in the tank and the third time around i managed to get the silicone to hold it in :bounce: the background is coated with roughly a kilo of coral sand and some blocks of oamaru stone for buffering will add more if there is not enuff so after a few water changes to get rid of the scum from the gravel and ane residues the clown loaches and pleco will go in (having become accostomed to a higher ph in the goldfish tank which has a coral sand fluidised bed filter and some coral in it) then get to get some cichlids yay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 nICE. it looks like the nutrafin CO2 thing is hanging inside the tank - is that so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted February 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 yea lol wont be used on this tank anemore just part of the stuff lying around the tank that ive stripped out of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Where you going to get cichlids from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 a few people from the forum have offered advice and fish for sale and i will be taking them up on there offers very sn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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