New WC Pims C. Gibberosa Mpimbwe

[Wharf]

Well I just placed them in the tank 30 minutes before the video. One of the females was holding a few but the little guys didn't make it. Seems like a good sign though. There are 4 wc trios all 4.5-5.5 inches it seems. I might get rid of a few of the males once they fill out a bit.

Lighting...I think my 72" beamswork is going to be way too much for Fronts. I am considering maybe a current satellite 48 inch (the one with the white/actinic...not rgb). I have had both the current satellite planted + 24 hour and the finnex 24/7 planted + both made a bad humming sound and became very glitchy after a year or so. Probably going to steer clear of tubes for convenience...however I like tube lighting the best sometimes. Any suggestions on LED lighting would be great.

 

[An7ny]

They look great, I use to breed afew types of frontosa ,giberosa, years ago, theirs some good led lights out their but some are expensive, all I used was t8- blue tube, have a look at evergrow it ,if ya really want led lights , their good for the money, had one on my old marine tank

 

[RD.]

Well Matt, you weren't kidding - the haps are gone! lol

Congrats on the new Mpimbwe.

Personally I like less intense light, which I think is well suited to a deep water fish such as Cyphos. I use an Aqueon modular LED https://www.aqueon.com/products/lighting/led-modular-aquarium-light-fixtures in my tanks for this reason. In 6ft tanks I use 4ft lights, just a single daylight tube, with the fixture pulled up to the front of the tank. This gives some shadows at each end, and gives the illusion of a deep water setting. Below is not my tank, but gives a somewhat similar result.

 

[RD.]

Have you seen this set up? They used the Current Satelite LED 48-60".

https://www.cichlid-forum.com/tanks/displaytank.php?tank=27210&group=TS

 

[Wharf]

I re-homed them to what appeared to be a father and son that really love and respect fish. They have multiple large tanks and I truly felt they were in very good hands. I agreed to a rather decent re-homing fee. As far as I was concerned, I would rather the fish go to a good home with good fish husbandry...than receive any money. That was definitely the most important thing and my deepest concern. Yeah, they went quick lol.

Yeah, I was already thinking about the OG Current Satellite that has the white/blue lighting like above. Very good lighting and Current is fairly well made.

My rockwork isn't that natural, but I just made caves for the Cyphos...making that the important thing. The beaming blue background kind of prevents any natural look...lmao. The only thing keeping me from getting the Universal Rock Background was the videos I watched...the glass was getting scratched in some of the installations. In a acrylic tank, with the limited access to the top, it would be like putting a Leopard cub in the tank with a large ball of yarn....the thing would get massacred on installation and I would be spending a lot of time sanding and buffing the inside lol. When I originally saw this tank discounted at the LFS I immediately thought yep, here's my group of Moshi or a Red variant of Petrochromis which would look amazing on Blue....I have since put that idea to rest.

 

[RD.]

Good on ya, at least they went to a what sounds like a good home. I bet the new owners were pretty stoked, it was a great collection of haps.

I think that with subdued lighting, and the light pulled forward, the blue will be less beaming. Either way I'm sure it will look very nice. I agree with attempting a background with the limited access of an acrylic tank, you won't be able to prevent scratches. Another idea would be to leave the lighting ramped up along the back of the tank for the next year or so, until algae covers most of it. Then remove that light, and run with the LED up towards the front. I think that's doable. Then years from now when you get back on to a Petro kick, they will have a nice dark green snack to start off with when they arrive. lol

 

[Wharf]

Great suggestion about moving the light up. I did a big water change and a Novus touch up job on some of the front pane surface scratches. I moved the light forward and it really does a lot for viewing...even with the 72" OP light. I forgot I had some powerful moonlights on this fixture too lol.

Most likely will keep it a species tank in the future, but was flirting with the idea of keeping something yellow in there for a year or so like some Altos...Gold comps, Firefin Comps ,or a handful of a really good line of N. Lelupi. Now, I know many people have had some mixed results with this so I am not really committed because they are nice by themselves. I will actually remove the Synos if they start breeding. Have another friend that has Botas with them, but i don't know...

I have an acquaintance that has a colony of 10 4inch + WC Jumbo Cyps that he wanted to sell me. Although they are stunners, that would be some really expensive Cypho food. Considering they do eat them in the wild.

 

[punman]

My six foot frontosas tank has had a 4 foot 10 000 K bulb and a 4 foot actinic (dark blue). I have liked that combination for many years for all AFrican cichlids but am now trying a 4 foot LED fixture: Two light modes: White and Blue LED for daylight mode and Blue Lights for nightlight mode. So far I am liking it too.

 

[Wharf]

I scored a used 48 inch Current Satellite + for free from my LFS 2 miles away. I had given this owner some equipment in the past when changing tanks...so he gave it to me for free. Good karma. The remote and all the LED's work as well. It just needed a little cleaning and a few tweaks. He couldn't get it working but I was able too. All the settings are working as well. Here's a pic...its somewhat darker in person.

 

[The Morning]

For what it is worth.....and I will say I have never worked with acrylic tanks but when I was installing my Universal rocks background in my glass tank I put paper on the sides of the tank. Little bit of tape held it in place. Not sure if the rock work ever actually touched the glass but better safe then sorry.