CA advice needed.

[octofasciatus]

I second the argentea, but also favorable to a vieja bocourti.

I would like one but they are quite rare in UK I think

 

[hairdog]

under gravel trap all the waste at bottom of tank, building ammonia levels and they are almost impossible to clean.

 

[octofasciatus]

under gravel trap all the waste at bottom of tank, building ammonia levels and they are almost impossible to clean.

I don't anticipate any problems with this occuring, I vac the bottom twice a week and the FX5 takes care of most of my filtration needs. To be honest the UG is just overkill, I used it when I had a smaller Eheim unit and when i swapped to the FX5 I just kept it in.

 

[octofasciatus]

Anyway. I have got the option of a montaguenses or a freidrichstalli (sorry about spelling), what are peoples thoughts on these? Good mixers or not? I know it's a bit different from the vieja but there seems to be none about.

 

[orbit]

under gravel trap all the waste at bottom of tank, building ammonia levels and they are almost impossible to clean.

Fully agree. And siphons will not remove the sunken waste. Just a heads up from past experience.

 

[Bderick67]

With adding any large cichlids it will likely depend more on the temperament of the individual fish on if it will work or not.

I would not recommend an UG filter. Not for the ridiculous reasons posted above, they work quite well and waste will get trapped in your gravel whether you use a UG or not. Gravel vacuuming is a must either way. I would not recommend because as your cichlids dig, they will uncover the filter plates and the water will then bypass the gravel and not be filtered.