500 gallon african cichlid tank
- Thread starter stempy
- Start date
Nice setup Stempy!
It will be interesting to watch this tank growout. Hopefully it's large enough in the longrun..
You'll have plenty of color/activity in there to please the eye.
I would only be worried of crosses, especially if you end up with any single fish
Update as the Tyrannochromis Nigriventer grows, my buddies is 12"+ in a 240
most people don't have the geography to see them at adult size
Cheers
Steve
It will be interesting to watch this tank growout. Hopefully it's large enough in the longrun..
You'll have plenty of color/activity in there to please the eye.
I would only be worried of crosses, especially if you end up with any single fish
Update as the Tyrannochromis Nigriventer grows, my buddies is 12"+ in a 240
most people don't have the geography to see them at adult size
Cheers
Steve
It's nice to have some 12+" size fish in a 500 gal to have an impact. I have never had Tyrannochromis Nigriventer, but looking at the web, it looks like a big Fusco, another classic blue predatory haps that will add size, but not much color and shape variation to the stock.
This whole "argument" is just silly to begin with. It's like sayin I like red cars so your white car sucks..... Again to each their own, I see lots of variety in that tank as well as most hap tanks, it's all in the eye of the beholder. SA/CA cichlids do nothing for me, to me I see an empty tank with a few fish that lazily hang out, it's not my style but does that mean it's boring or ugly or anything else....absolutely not. Those fish can be beautiful, I've kept MANY in the past but they just aren't my thing I grow very bored of them quickly. To those who enjoy the tank thank you 
I'll post more as they mature and color up! I think I may have found a wild pair of lepidolamprogus nkambae that I may or may not add to the tank (one of my favorite fish for sure) I also had a chance to add a nice colony of cyathopharynx foai "kachese" but passed on them due to the fact these fish would prolly chew them up once they fully mature 
I'll post more as they mature and color up! I think I may have found a wild pair of lepidolamprogus nkambae that I may or may not add to the tank (one of my favorite fish for sure) I also had a chance to add a nice colony of cyathopharynx foai "kachese" but passed on them due to the fact these fish would prolly chew them up once they fully mature 
Stempy your tank looks great! Malawi cichlids is all I keep now. CA/SA also do nothing for me. Also can't stand peacock bass or rays. I have kept them but just don't care for them now. But that is my choice just don't understand why some people keep Praising CA/SA cichlids, Your'e on the wrong page. This is African rift lake cichlids.
Stempy your tank looks great! Malawi cichlids is all I keep now. CA/SA also do nothing for me. Also can't stand peacock bass or rays. I have kept them but just don't care for them now. But that is my choice just don't understand why some people keep Praising CA/SA cichlids, Your'e on the wrong page. This is African rift lake cichlids.
Well, came home from work to find a busted valve on my drip system allowing hot water to pur into the tank. Temp was 92 degrees f and all but 5 fish are dead.....roughly 7-800$ of fish gone with one busted $5 valve. Makes me wonder why I keep fish sometimes No idea what I'm going to do now but no chance in hell I'm restocking this tank with another $500+ worth of africans, not yet anyway I would like to keep my marraige...
No idea what I'm going to do now but no chance in hell I'm restocking this tank with another $500+ worth of africans, not yet anyway I would like to keep my marraige...
Sorry to hear the bad news. The idea of a warm water drip has always made me nervous.
If you are looking to save on your electric bill I would recommend getting rid of the Iwaki (it's a total energy hog, pulling 390 watts) and the Lifeguard mechanical filter (which requires a high head/pressure pump) and instead run a low speed pump like a Reeflo or a W Lim pump and use filter socks for your mechanical filtration. Changing out your pump and filtration would cut your electric consumption in half and would increase your turnover = win-win....if you are looking to have the tank setup long term, changing to a more efficient filtration system (one that does not require a high pressure rated pump) could save you some cash...just something to think about. If you pay the national avg for electricity ($0.11/KWHr) then that pump is costing you a little over $30/month to run.
Hope you take my comments for what they are...just something to consider...I don't want to come across like some of these yahoos on here saying that telling you to change your stock is somehow a constructive exercise. For those that don't like his stock, build your own 500G tank and buy what you want for it.
BTW, the tank looked awesome...love the look of smaller fish in a large tank.
If you are looking to save on your electric bill I would recommend getting rid of the Iwaki (it's a total energy hog, pulling 390 watts) and the Lifeguard mechanical filter (which requires a high head/pressure pump) and instead run a low speed pump like a Reeflo or a W Lim pump and use filter socks for your mechanical filtration. Changing out your pump and filtration would cut your electric consumption in half and would increase your turnover = win-win....if you are looking to have the tank setup long term, changing to a more efficient filtration system (one that does not require a high pressure rated pump) could save you some cash...just something to think about. If you pay the national avg for electricity ($0.11/KWHr) then that pump is costing you a little over $30/month to run.
Hope you take my comments for what they are...just something to consider...I don't want to come across like some of these yahoos on here saying that telling you to change your stock is somehow a constructive exercise. For those that don't like his stock, build your own 500G tank and buy what you want for it.
BTW, the tank looked awesome...love the look of smaller fish in a large tank.
I am sorry to hear the loss of your fish. I am surprised that 92F is enough to wipe out your Malawian. I used to live in Florida and had a Malawian tank. The air temperature routinely climbed to lower 90s in the afternoon in summer. When I was not home, I didn't turn on the AC so the water temperature could hit low 90s, and I had no heat related death. The only problem is that the fish get more aggressive and breed like crazy. I wonder if the death may be linked to a sudden crash of the nitrogen cycle. How long have you cycled your tank?
