Finally the time has come for me to make the change from S.American fish to Africans (again :roll:)

I used to have rams, apistos, clown loaches (still do), a convict, and heaps of other S.American cichlids, and most of them have gone now. All that and a cazillion plants. The plants have sold, been donated, given away to those who helped me get plants that i needed in the past etc... and are some are even in friends tanks cause I just can't get rid of all my plants.

The new tank shall have only demasonis (about 25) and electric yellows, and a feather fin syno who is awesome and has asked to stay cause he promises not to eat any other fish after he ate 100+ steel blue babies :lol: .

The Tank measures 4ft long x 15" deep and about 1.5ft high. It has T5 HO lighting @ 18000K, and now also has a marine blue, and a 6500K T8.

Here are pics of the tank in one of its many phases before the conversion:

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The process to change over has not been one I took lightly. I thought about it for months, deliberated and fought with my self and finally convinced my self that it made more sense :oops: :lol:

I first sold as many fish as I could (and wanted to), and sold more than 10-12 kilos of sagittaria subulata!

Then once there was just the heap (30kg) of gravel left - I gravel vacuumed it for the first time in over a year, and then proceeded to take out the driftwood (6 pieces), the remaining plants and then the gravel - which was a bit of a mission, as i had to use fish nets .

Then once all the hiding spots were gone, i had my poly box full of tank water, and i caught my fish and chucked them in that.

Drained the water from the tank, cleaned it, Refilled it; took the 2 cannister filters out, cleaned them (remember not to clean the media) and then put them back on the tank.

I had collected some schist from an awesome landscaping place in palmy The 5 huge pieces of schist were sold at $128/m^2 - it worked out to $56 - but the kind lady gave it to me for $40. Then the little pieces used as the rockwork cost $0.80/kg. The first batch I got was about 12 kg but again the nice lady happily charged me only $9.80.

Total spend that shop was $49.80 - bargain.

Then of course I needed more rock, so i went back and got 22kg more - in the cold, wet, rain, and with an unobliging bird on my shoulder! He charged me $20 for the lot. great deal again.

TOTAL Spend $69.80 on rockwork (south island schist).

Now the landscaping is complete! I am just looking forward to getting the fish. The plan is for ~25 Demasonis (I even bought some more spirulina flakes) and maybe a dozen or more electric yellows. I am shopping around for prices, but one place looks promising.

Pics after the conversion follow soon once I have something to eat. :bounce:

If there is something I may have missed out on please let me know and I can type it up.

looks like a neat setup (the old one)

cannot wait to see the african setup though, will be impressie with that many dems

And the after shots. Please excuse the murky water - the filters will have that sorted in no time.

Lots of hiding places.

now that is one wiked setup, im very jelous!!!!

gunna look sweet once the dems and yellows are in there.

Does the schist affect the ph of water?

Looking good - look much better once the fish are in there yah for africans

Are you gunna put the lumpys in there?

P.S I had a MAJOR accident with the lumpys today - half the babies died and mum and dad aren't too good I still really really upset about it all

lol. thank you.

Does the schist affect the ph of water?

I don't think so.. guess I'll have to find out. :lol:

I had an accident with the lumpies too.

PS- Ive left you a PM on fishkeepers.

OH I don't wanna know

Nope doesn't effect PH, did you get the schist from that place I told you about?

Looking good - look much better once the fish are in there yah for africans

Are you gunna put the lumpys in there?

P.S I had a MAJOR accident with the lumpys today - half the babies died and mum and dad aren't too good I still really really upset about it all

I had 6 lumpies survive, and then last night - i stirred up the tank once all the plants were out, and then against my better judgement - i didnt do a water change. ammonia spiked and all the babies died, as did the big one and my kribs

OH I don't wanna know

Nope doesn't effect PH, did you get the schist from that place I told you about?

Yes... same place. Nice lady - she gave me good discounts. I definitely recommend the schist from there, lol.

Wow that's a lot of rock!

It looks cool. Thanks for the set-up log - I really like reading about other people's tanks

lookin great phoenix44 - cant wait to see it with the fish

Looking good phoenix

do you have anything to move sediment from behind the rockwork?

Looking good phoenix

Thanks! :bounce:

do you have anything to move sediment from behind the rockwork?

yep. sort of. the rear column is devoid of rocks, although it may not look like that. then there is the intake for one of the 405's which should suck up all that extra poo. (well that's the plan) lol.. i havent had much to do with rock tanks. i still look at it and wonder where all the plants are

Then that large rock that sits at the back, is movable but is secure at the base, so i can shift it forward and siphon off there. I hope this works. I am very apprehensive about it all.

How often do people do WC's on african tanks? Is once a week enough?

i do weekly about 1/3

i have sited powerhead opposite end to sump intake but amongst the rock

aimed to power water through the rocks seems to work alright

i pull tank apart once a year, take out rocks, catch fish and syphon off dirty muck

edit: tank is 2.4 x 60 x 60 and a lot of big fish, lots of babies

I'll take a pic of how I have designed the position of the main rocks.

Weeeeeeee

and this is how i have hidden the base of the tank so all the poo should be easy to remove.

Will it work?

can't see why not

if you find some still settles there, you can always add a power head

fantastic. :bounce: Thank you oh wise one

I have a fluval 2+ internal filter that can be used as a power head by taking off the body off the filter, and its perfectly sized too. Alternatively, I can move the fluval 405's flow pipe thing lower. Currently it is creating flow at the back wall over the rocks.

not wise just had an african tank for awhile and have made a few mistakes (learning curve)

another problem i have is fish getting chased and wedging themselves face first in gaps

because scales stick backwards they sometimes get jammed

the rest of the fish clean them up

los of nooks and crannies means a high rate of fry survival

I was wondering about fish getting stuck in the rocks. I know if i were a fish, I'd get stuck in one, or have one fall on my head- knowing my luck!

If they breed i shall be happy - but i cant get more tanks, so everything shall have to be happy.

i could probaly pull 20 fish at 2cm out of the tank per month

Tank looks much clearer today

Plecos even came out and said hello! :bounce:

That is a great aesthetic you have created with the layered rock.

I love it.

Looking good phoenix!