215 Conversion

[Duncan6618]

After having my 215 setup as a reef tank for 6 years I decided to go back to Malawi cichids. So I thought it would be nice to make a photo conversion thread.

Here's an older pic of what the tank looked like before I kinda lost interest.

I spent most of the day gathering up some holey rock from my backyard and then cleaning it. I think I'm happy with the rockwork but might change my mind tomorrow when I'm not so tired.

And then I added the gravel.

 

[iamzrad]

Sand goes awesome with holey rock, ditch the gravel! (just my opinion)

 

[Duncan6618]

Yeah the gravel wasn't quite doing it for me but I like a dark substrate to contrast the rock so I replaced the gravel with black sand. I just kept two 250w halides to light it. Hopefully the 1120 less watts will make a dent on my electric bill. Right now I still have the reeflux 12k's but I think it will wash out the blue's on the cichlids so I'll probably end up going to a lower kelvin at some point.

 

[Pittbull]

That looks sweet good job so far can not wait til the cichlids go in..

 

[iamzrad]

6500k, 6700k and 50/50 lights are nice for African setups.

 

[Pittbull]

i agree

 

[kingyella]

i would ditch halides period, get a nice t-8 or t-5 setup, african cichlids do not require any amount of light. You'll definitely notice a "dent in your bill". i agree with iamzrad, 6700k or 50/50 looks real nice. A double back of t-8 6700k bulds at home depot are only 8 dollars. Just a thought, and btw the setup is looking nice.

 

[Arturo]

Great looking tank. Keep us updated.

 

[gomezladdams]

The tank looks awesome!Cant wait to see the fish.

 

[bl00]

Nice setup. I'm looking forward to seeing the livestock in it.