HELP with a New 180 gallon African Cichlid Tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Nobody has given you any stocking advice here huh... I'll throw in my two cents. Definitely a hap tank, maybe a couple dolphins? REALLY looking forward to my tank finishing its cycle so I can start growing mine! And some fossorochromis rostratus! I can't keep them in my tanks but somebody should! I haven't seen too much of either species come up on this site so its one of those times when a newcomer has a ton of questions and you're one of the select few that can give first hand advice. Anything you choose though, good luck with them!

And one more thing, don't do an all male tank. I think a little aggression and a little less color is a small price to pay to be able to witness reproduction.


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Hey thanks for the stocking suggestions, and I completely agree about not doing the all male tank. I'm looking forward to reproduction. I do like the fossorochromis rostratus but not sure about the large size. Same for the dolphins, but I'll definately take it under consideration!
 
Man, if they are charging you 1000-1200 for black silicone, why not investigate acrylic tanks?
No silicone seams, the tank is a lot lighter, never have to worry about glass breaking, etc.
Acrylic gives you the option of walling off a small area to the side and having a built in wet-dry filter too (I did that on my tank, and it's wonderful).

Also, in a big tank.. if you can put a bulk head on the bottom and hook it up to your drain system (or even a hose that can go out a door/window), water changes will be a lot faster than syphoning.
Acrylic is easier to drill.. although glass is obviously doable.

Anything you can do to make water changes easier on a big tank is worth doing.

You have lots of other questions.. not sure if they all got answered.. ask again if you have to..
 
Also acrylic is alot better at retaining heat and temperature will stay more consistent oppose to glass, witch Will help you maintain temperature on those cold days .

Good luck

Dan
 
I personally disagree with the acrylic suggestion. Buying new probably does have it's benefits, but when acrylic ages, it looks terrible. I have a 125 glass, and a 55 acrylic. I wish I'd never bought the acrylic, and am, in fact, currently hunting for a good deal on a decent quality 55-90 gallon glass to replace it. I'll still keep the acrylic, but will probably set it aside for a female tank, or convert it into a sump for my others.

It scratches, it hazes, it 'fracs', and the additional support structures on the top limit the size of items I can put into the tank. Also, in my opinion, cleaning algae off acrylic seems much tougher than off of glass.
 
Can I ask where you're trying to special order the black silicone 180 from that it's so expensive? I don't know if it will help you any, but I saw a 120 w/ black silicone + stand, glass lids and light combo for $579.00 at the PetSmart in Clovis, CA. May help to broaden your search area?
 
I would use the filters you have should be enough and run external heaters on the xp4s. I would not put gravel in the sand. No need.

I would also recommend led lights. I would not do all dark rock back and sand... too dark. Dark back is good. Also get holey rock as it is not as rough as lace and base rock

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paulW said:
Man, if they are charging you 1000-1200 for black silicone, why not investigate acrylic tanks?
No silicone seams, the tank is a lot lighter, never have to worry about glass breaking, etc.
Acrylic gives you the option of walling off a small area to the side and having a built in wet-dry filter too (I did that on my tank, and it's wonderful).

Also, in a big tank.. if you can put a bulk head on the bottom and hook it up to your drain system (or even a hose that can go out a door/window), water changes will be a lot faster than siphoning.
Acrylic is easier to drill.. although glass is obviously doable.

Anything you can do to make water changes easier on a big tank is worth doing.

You have lots of other questions.. not sure if they all got answered.. ask again if you have to..
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Yeah the store quoting the $1200 was gauging me it turns out. I've been working with Aqueon and it should be about $950 retail for black silicone. Turns out I could get black silicone on 180 gal. Aqueon glass tank for about $950, but I found a store selling exact same tank for $600 with clear silicone. I really want to stay away from acrylic due to scratching, hazing etc. (even though I understand that it can be restored) and have pretty much settled on glass-hopefully not a mistake since I've seen pics of glass tanks blown out and that is scary. Really struggling with the silicone color though since I hate clear silicone as it ages. It looks like absolute crap. But man, not sure I want to dump $350 into black. That just seams nuts!

As for water changes, I have a window about two feet from where the tank is going, so I plan on using that to my advantage and just stick the end of the hose out the window :) Also the FX5 has an option where you can connect a hose to the outlet and just pump the tank out that way. Might give that a shot.
 
danray14 said:
Also acrylic is alot better at retaining heat and temperature will stay more consistent oppose to glass, witch Will help you maintain temperature on those cold days .

Good luck

Dan
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting. Really think I want to stick with glass...and as I just posted under a recent reply to another post, there's no way I'm spending 1000 to 1200 on glass. I might go for clear silicone for $600.
 
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