Hi All,

The tank I am working on at the moment.

Over the last two weeks I have been adding fish. I really didn't know tonnes about cichlids so I have tried to stick to lake Malawi and got babies so I can see them develop into adults, the tank is +/- 350l 5 foot long.

Next job this weekend is to pick up and change over the stands - I am chucking this one out by the way in case anyone in Auckland wants it(1500L x 480W x about 600H but not the best condition, though I do have doors for it) - and changing over the ballasts in the lighting as they are buzzing quite badly. (notice RODI unit I got shipped from the USA still in its box and skimmer which I also don't need)

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/7986 ... hlnqui.mp4

*Update

Changed new stand today.

Hi,

I have been having fun today putting in new rocks, someone suggested stone and water world on here and saved me tonnes of money so thanks for that.

I have been having a bit of difficulty over the weekend with the tank becoming cloudy and the coral rock turning pretty much all green, I have a uv sterilizer which is all that is keeping the tank from going bright green. About how long does it usually take to clear up?

Do you think the coral rock will be causing me more problems then it is worth?

Anyway here are some pictures.

As you can probably tell I am not yet an expert at arranging tanks etc but I will get to something I like eventually.

nice start, well done.

Rock pile looks mint. Just be careful with them as a lot of Malawis are diggers, so you may end up with squshed fish, or worse cracked glass.

nice start, well done.

Thanks! Its a bit worrying putting big rocks in with a particleboard stand haha

Rock pile looks mint. Just be careful with them as a lot of Malawis are diggers, so you may end up with squshed fish, or worse cracked glass.

Thanks for the advice, I hope it is stable enough! These fish are only tiny at the moment so hopefully will not be able to cause too much mischief.

I have heard the Blue haps which look like electric yellows can cause problems with them, is that true do you know?

Siliconing them together can help stability, but can cause rather heavy issues come removing time.

I cant think of a blue hap that looks like an E yellow and I cant remember if my fryeri hap did much digging or not. But as a general rule I found most Malawis to dig, or rearange sand to their own liking.

Siliconing them together can help stability, but can cause rather heavy issues come removing time.

I cant think of a blue hap that looks like an E yellow and I cant remember if my fryeri hap did much digging or not. But as a general rule I found most Malawis to dig, or rearange sand to their own liking.

Fryeri was what I meant sorry, I really want to get some. I have noticed that already! Its algood, they can add their personality to the layout.

I will silicon the rocks once I have a good layout.

parctially burying your bottom rocks in the sand will help stop the rocks from tumbling if the fish do decide to dig round the bottom of your pile

parctially burying your bottom rocks in the sand will help stop the rocks from tumbling if the fish do decide to dig round the bottom of your pile

I did that to an extent but thought a bit of sand underneath would help spread the weight over the glass

My fryeri do some digging but not nearly as much as my E Yellows they will always rearrange the tank to how they want it, but hey, they are the ones living in there not me

I bury my rocks very close to the bottom of the tank, probably unnecessarily I also put a layer of silicon on the bottom of the bottom rocks as an added precaution.

Looking good so far! :bounce:

My fryeri do some digging but not nearly as much as my E Yellows they will always rearrange the tank to how they want it, but hey, they are the ones living in there not me

I bury my rocks very close to the bottom of the tank, probably unnecessarily I also put a layer of silicon on the bottom of the bottom rocks as an added precaution.

Silicon on the bottom of the base rocks is a really good idea I hadn't considered, thanks for that!

My fryeri do some digging but not nearly as much as my E Yellows they will always rearrange the tank to how they want it, but hey, they are the ones living in there not me

I bury my rocks very close to the bottom of the tank, probably unnecessarily I also put a layer of silicon on the bottom of the bottom rocks as an added precaution.

Everyone has some old undergravel filter plates laying around, don't they? Stack the rocks on them.

Everyone has some old undergravel filter plates laying around, don't they? Stack the rocks on them.

Never had an undergravel filter sorry!

Never had an undergravel filter sorry!

Neither have I. But I still have those stupid plates in piles of junk everywhere.

undergravel plates is a good idea, but I've never had one either and I too live in a little one bedroom flat so can't keep everything that "might come in handy sometime", even if I want too lol Silicon is a must have lying around.

tank looks sweet, what fish have you got so far?

i wish i had a small house so i had to throw stuff out.

instead i have literally tons of crap which i don't even know what is in it. i know i have those undergravel filter things somewhere but i don't have a spare month to look for them

We don't have a big house. But every time I'd get a fishtank or some gear second hand I'd end up with more of those stupid filter plates.

tank looks sweet, what fish have you got so far?

Honestly I bought a bunch of different fry in varying amounts according to breeders recommendations. When all their colours come out etc I will be able to go through and name them all.

I know there are 6 electric yellows, 2 demasoni, 1 Red Peacock, 1 Girraffe looking one, about 4 of the Mbuna rock dwellers who should turn black and blue like one of them is, four blue body yellow fins which I forget the name just now, and a couple of others which are small, tubular and have black horizontal lines down their otherwise white bodies.

Any help from a cichlid expert with their actual names would be awesome.

Eventually they will be too big for this tank but my plan at the moment is for something around 1000 litres in my showroom which they can move into in time.

Some of the electric yellows have white under their chins which I am not too sure about, is it a different breed or a sign of a lower heirarchy in the tank?

i wish i had a small house so i had to throw stuff out.

instead i have literally tons of crap which i don't even know what is in it. i know i have those undergravel filter things somewhere but i don't have a spare month to look for them

I envy you

What breeder suggested only 2 dem's?

Pictures will help as far as id goes

from your description an vid it looks like you have some auratus in there, keep an eye on them they are super aggro and i would look at getting around 15 more dems as these guys need to be in big colonies to spread the aggression. They are super aggressive amongst them selves and your 2 will prob become 1. Maybe some red top ice blues, i think i can see 1 at the end of the vid. You should be fine with theses if they are still juvies but as they get bigger your probs will start. I would suggest going with a hap/peacock tank or getting rid of them and going all mbuna, all 3 together is generally considered carnage.