Lake Tanganyikan style tank?

Tazman

Erm, whoever told you that is talking out of somewhere the sun dont shine

I have 2 Rena XP 4's and 2 FX5 on my cichlid tanks so that busts that straight away...in my opinion they are by far the only filter I would consider putting on a cichlid tank except the Marineland Penguin 400 or Aquaclear 100.

You must over filter with cichlids 10-15 times or more the tank volume.

krish

oh... haha

So, what substrate should i put for the tank? I was thinking maybe sand, but i read that the sand needs to be "aerated" or something like that... and are there any backgrounds or substrate colors that will enhance the cichlids color?

krish

wow... im a junior member now

jsagrav

If I'm not too late, I suggest staying out of Petsmart for Af. Chiclids if possible, and when you buy, get the smallest ones you can. Make sure all the fish you get are as close to the same size as possible. The larger ones are pretty, but in the long run, you get to watch them grow up, and I think they get along better than mixing adults together.

krish

Yeah... we've got a LFS nearby, but I'm not sure if they hold the cichlids i want. Also, the cichlids are quite expensive! or it could just be my tightwad alter ego. Do you know how much these cichlids might cost?

krish

On a separate topic, we got the tank just yesterday!

Our friend gave us tons of accessories he used to make his angelfish feel at home. Although he did have one piece of slate he used to get them to lay eggs on, most of the rocks look kinda like this:http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg , but maybe smaller. I'm not sure if he had any other cave like things, but this kind of stuff made up the majority. Now i don't really want to go and buy more ornaments because we've already got like a gazillion right here, so will these be good enough?

He also had a few pieces of bogwood, dont know whether to put them in or not.

krish

Oh and I've got more to add!

So he also gave me the substrate he used, which was basically just gravel. Can I use this in my tank?

Tazman

The rocks are ok, they look like drilled lava rock which is fine for the cichlids.

I would consider doing sand as a substrate as that is naturally what Lake Malawi is.

There are numerous sites, which offer excellent choices for cichlids online, drop me a PM if you want them, as I am not sure if it is ok to openly post them in these forums.

Slate you can use but it will not be any help for breeding as Lake Malawi cichlids are mouthbreeders.

krish

I was actually talking about that general form of rock. Can I just put a lot of different holed rocks in the tank, and will the cichlids be ok with that? Also, he gave me a few pieces of bogwood, will that be good?

I also was wondering about the substrate, how much does sand usually cost and what is the general maintenance? and plus what should i do with the gravel if I'm using sand? I'm not sure i can really sell it because there probably aren't many people out there who would want to buy old black and white gravel...

Tazman

As mentioned..Lake Malawi is naturally sandy bottom..so you would want to try and recreate that...cichlids like to dig and will find it a lot easier with sand.
When building the rock structures (again Lake Malawi is full of boulders and rocks), start the rock structure on the bare glass or add some egg crate(light diffuser panel), this will prevent any cracking should the rock structure be undermined.
If you have a small tank, what I did with my breeder / grow out tank, was put gravel in the bottom of that...that way it doesnt go to waste, either that or us it (once washed) in the bottom of plant pots.

Generally holey rock is good for cichlids, they like caves , overhangs etc..I would advise building it up close to the sides of the aquarium, again because of the digging nature, if it closes it can crack the side of your tank...also makes it easier to clean any algae which may grow.

I will PM you the links to some good cichlid suppliers online.