Hey Kobarg! Welcome. Nice start so far! You'll get lots of good advice here, especially on the african forum.
Here's my suggestions from my 65 african tank (take it for what its worth, nothing!)
Filtration: get as much as you can afford. If you can swing a sump, go for it. I first went with two emperor 400s and then added a magnum 350. I think the 400s are about $50 from Foster's.
Lighting: Some folks think too much is no good, but I think the more light the better. Africans don't live in the shade like some tropical fish do. Light does encourage algae but that is a good thing especially when the tank cycles. All you'll have left is the good green algae which is good for the fish diet and the algae eats the bad stuff. Also, I like the fish lighted no matter where they are in the tank. I don't have any experience with LEDs but they seem to be great as long as you get the bright ones, they are more expensive but cheaper to run. I have four t5s on top of mine: one actinic, one 6500 and two 10,000. I think the actinic brings out some of the colors of the fish.
Rocks and wood. Use as much wood as you like. Just wash it real well before. If you have a good substrate it won't soften the water. I like to use "lava" rocks and lots of them. First they usually aren't as heavy as stones or slate and they have alot more surface area for algae and bacteria to grow on. They also come in many different shapes so you can build a cool rock structure.
Substrate: Until I did some research on here, I would never have considered sand as a substrate. I now have have the carib sea african mix and I love it. Its very white, and fine. It does buffer the water, poop sits on top of it instead of sinking down between the pebbles and rotting. Algae does not seem to grow on it and I have not had problems with it getting sucked up in the filters.
Lastly, I think that crowding your africans is a good thing. It really decreases agression and you can have more cool fish. However, it requires very good filtration and if you get them small, they won't all be able to fit in there when they grow up.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps and remeber its only my experience and advice.
Do keep us posted (with pics!) on your progress!
mark
Here's my suggestions from my 65 african tank (take it for what its worth, nothing!)
Filtration: get as much as you can afford. If you can swing a sump, go for it. I first went with two emperor 400s and then added a magnum 350. I think the 400s are about $50 from Foster's.
Lighting: Some folks think too much is no good, but I think the more light the better. Africans don't live in the shade like some tropical fish do. Light does encourage algae but that is a good thing especially when the tank cycles. All you'll have left is the good green algae which is good for the fish diet and the algae eats the bad stuff. Also, I like the fish lighted no matter where they are in the tank. I don't have any experience with LEDs but they seem to be great as long as you get the bright ones, they are more expensive but cheaper to run. I have four t5s on top of mine: one actinic, one 6500 and two 10,000. I think the actinic brings out some of the colors of the fish.
Rocks and wood. Use as much wood as you like. Just wash it real well before. If you have a good substrate it won't soften the water. I like to use "lava" rocks and lots of them. First they usually aren't as heavy as stones or slate and they have alot more surface area for algae and bacteria to grow on. They also come in many different shapes so you can build a cool rock structure.
Substrate: Until I did some research on here, I would never have considered sand as a substrate. I now have have the carib sea african mix and I love it. Its very white, and fine. It does buffer the water, poop sits on top of it instead of sinking down between the pebbles and rotting. Algae does not seem to grow on it and I have not had problems with it getting sucked up in the filters.
Lastly, I think that crowding your africans is a good thing. It really decreases agression and you can have more cool fish. However, it requires very good filtration and if you get them small, they won't all be able to fit in there when they grow up.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps and remeber its only my experience and advice.
Do keep us posted (with pics!) on your progress!
mark
