African Cichlids: General Discussion => 55 gal & 46 bow front

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55 gal & 46 bow front [message #9480]

Mon, 07 April 2008 22:59

Kerbchek

Messages: 3
Registered: April 2008
Location: Iowa

Junior Member

Hello... I'm a newbie to cichlids and to this web forum... I've had fish aquariums for over 20 years and since I have so many established tanks at home now, I shouldn't have a problem cycling my new tanks...

I am going to build a stand to hold a 46 bow front and a 55 gallon tank... one I want to make a Lake Malawi tank and the other one Lake Tanganyika...

I definately want Calvus or Comps in one and Yellow Labs in the other...

I have no exact idea what I'll do yet with either... but here's how I'm thinking about starting out - please give me any suggestions or ideas... Ultimately I'll choose one way or the other...

- Sand or choral gravel?

- I have LOTS of rockwork to add to each tank - I have TONS - there will be plenty of hiding places, etc...

- 46 Bow - Tanganyika - Calvus or Comps - what could go well with them as a second species? and, how many of each?

- 55 gallon - Malawi - Yellow Labs & maybe Rusties??? Should I try a 3rd species, if so, what would work well, maybe zebra's or Aceis??

I still have a lot of work to do to get the stand built and other fish moved around to their new tanks to empy out the 55 - then to cycle the tanks, etc... but I know there's so much research to do, I'm trying to LEARN as much as I can so I don't make any stupid mistakes when I really get into getting these tanks set up...

Thanks for the advice in advance

Kerby

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Re: 55 gal & 46 bow front [message #9488]

Tue, 08 April 2008 09:47

Trpimp147

Messages: 502
Registered: March 2007
Location: Littlestown, PA

Senior Member

i would suggest getting a few acei and they will breed for you its great. mine breed all the time ihave around 20 fry right now and the moms holding again....

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Re: 55 gal & 46 bow front [message #9517]

Tue, 08 April 2008 23:08

Kerbchek

Messages: 3
Registered: April 2008
Location: Iowa

Junior Member

Thank you...

I think I'll go with the Acei's - I think they are awesome looking fish...

Someone else also suggested to me to put Demasoni (12 or more) with the labs and Aceis... seems a bit overpopulated to me - I'll have to really think about filtration, but apparently the overpopulation helps with aggression dispursement.

Anyone else tried a similar mix?

Thank you!

Kerby

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Re: 55 gal & 46 bow front [message #9518]

Wed, 09 April 2008 08:05

Trpimp147

Messages: 502
Registered: March 2007
Location: Littlestown, PA

Senior Member

i'd suggest over filtering the tank it helps alot have to clean less often and holds more bio for the tank. i'd say if you got two penguin bio wheels 350 that would be more then enought for the tank and that would be perfect for the tank alot of movement. my aceis breed alot i she is holding for the 5th time... in like 5 months. only had 2 batch of fry from her due to stress from other fish and me... but one batch died from chems in the tank that shouldnt of gotten there. i have a batch right now around 20-26 i cant count them they swim to fast and hide with each other makes it hard to count. another fish i would suggest is socoflie (sorry for spelling) vary calm fish beautful they are like blue with a dark blue strip on the top fin, and they have the snow white ones that pure white. it adds diff colors of fish to the tank.

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Re: 55 gal & 46 bow front [message #9618]

Mon, 28 April 2008 01:48

Broken Arrow

Messages: 4
Registered: April 2008

Junior Member

I would recommend about 12 demonasi with around 4 Labs...It makes a pretty tank along with 24 hour entertainment. Dems have such a personality. They do some strange acrobatic maneuvers...mine will smim vertically head down and do this dancing spin move (I don't know how to properly explain this) it is a trip. They like to be kept in numbers and it is good for them to be heavily stocked to keep the aggression in check. I have heard people keeping 12 in a 30 g and being okay as long as there is a lot of rock with a few inches in front to flee. They are a smaller fish but extremely beautiful and funny. When I put my hand in the tank about 6 of them always drill it...it cracks me up. Mine play nice and are a joy to watch. They are very compatible with Labs. And to the above post...they are totally right filtration is the key...I alway triple my filtration...a little overkill but my problem are few and far between. I've got a penguin and an Aqua Clear and like the aqua clear better because the option of adding your own media...which I always put extra ceramic and a chemi-pure for my activated carbon substitute.

[Updated on: Mon, 28 April 2008 02:03]

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Re: 55 gal & 46 bow front [message #9629]

Mon, 28 April 2008 17:01

Kerbchek

Messages: 3
Registered: April 2008
Location: Iowa

Junior Member

I bet I sat for 30 minutes the other day at a LFS watching Demonasi... They are so cool to watch. I wish I had my tanks set up right now, I saw about 8 or so yellow labs in a tank of "mixed cichlids" for $2.99 each - arg!

I included a pic of the progress of my new tank stand, I have a ways to go... but you can see where the bow front aquarium will go - It's sturdy, there are 8 4x4's for legs, and 2x6's as horizontal supports - it's overkill, but I'm not an engineer, and the last thing I want is a collapsing tank.

I was thinking maybe 15 demonasi and 5 or 6 labs in the 55 gal, which goes on the bottom of the stand... I'd like to see if I can try keeping the fry of both - I have a few tanks I could set up as maturnity tanks. We'll see