Thanks for the comments everyone. I did happen to find a decent deal on a new 55 gallon combo (199 tank-stand-light-cover) after striking out on used deals. I did see a better deal on craigslist for a used 55, but they left no phone # and my computer is having issues preventing me from contacting them using my microsoft email. I just gave up after a while, I look for ads where they give a phone # or address.
So I already had the African Cichlid sand. I bought a 30something dollar submersible heater. Then I drove to the Mad River (as usual) to get some rocks to decorate with.
I had two submerible Fluval4 filters I was going to use until I bought a more powerful filter. Here's where it gets kind of funny. I added water and sand, and dropped in the filters. I ran the filters, they started up no problem. A half hour later, I noticed one stopped working. I wondered, wtf? Then later, the other one quit. Lol, I've been keeping fish since '77, but this is my first with sand, I am a sand n00b.
Well I guess those Fluval4 submersibles don't like sand. I don't know if they are ruined or just clogged. I will look at them some other day. So I went back to the LFS and got an AC500 (errr, AC110 now?). So much for saving money, lol, this hobby eats up money, especially when you get stooopid.
Now here is some bad news if any of you are waiting for me to start up a Rift Lake Cichlid tank soon with this aquarium. I am going to use it for a fry growout tank for a couple of months, probably until October sometime. I have some different New World cichlids breeding, I really need that room to grow out some of these fry.
Good news is, I still have room in my new basement fishrooom for more aquariums, and I plan to add more aquariums in the 30-40 gallon range devoted exclusively to fry. Then I can start up the Rift Lake cichlids in the 55, and it should be cycled by then thanks to the CA fry.
I am really not sure yet how I'm going to stock it. I don't know if I'm going all Tang, or if I'm going to mix in some Malawis. I already have the cylindricus. My dream Rift Lake cichlid is the kendalli, to get a breeding pair of those would be uberfantastic in my book. I suppose they might destroy the cylindricus, I believe kendallis get bigger and are more aggressive. I really don't know if I could put anything in a 55 with breeding kendallis, but I could live with that (I would not leave the cylindricus in with them to be killed).
If I decide to mix, Yellow Labs seem like the might work with cylindricus, they have totally diffferent looks. I think demasonis have a color pattern that is too similar to the cylindricus. I think yellow labs and cylindricus are both substrate spawners, aren't they? I've never had any mouthbreeders breed before in my 30+ years, I might be open to mouthbreeding species that are compatible the cylindricus. Mouthbreeders would be cool for a change, so many years of egglayers. I certainly don't want to mix in more agressive mbunas like kenyis, auratus, and zebras with the cylindricus. But if I get some mouthbreeders, I might also end up getting some multipunctatus cookoo cats, oh yeah!
Ok, moving on, I took a few more pics tonight. The first two are of the cylindricus. He has darkened up some since I last took pictures. The other fish in the second photo is a grammodes, which the cylindricus rules over. The pecking order in the 150 is just silly, there is no real ruler in it. Fish A chases fish which B chases fish C which chases fish A. Something like that, but of course more complex.
The 3rd pic is the new 55, the guy at the LFS said the African Cichlid sand would make the water cloudy for a while. Uh, slightly. I will add some cutteri fry to it once it clears up.
So I already had the African Cichlid sand. I bought a 30something dollar submersible heater. Then I drove to the Mad River (as usual) to get some rocks to decorate with.
I had two submerible Fluval4 filters I was going to use until I bought a more powerful filter. Here's where it gets kind of funny. I added water and sand, and dropped in the filters. I ran the filters, they started up no problem. A half hour later, I noticed one stopped working. I wondered, wtf? Then later, the other one quit. Lol, I've been keeping fish since '77, but this is my first with sand, I am a sand n00b.
Well I guess those Fluval4 submersibles don't like sand. I don't know if they are ruined or just clogged. I will look at them some other day. So I went back to the LFS and got an AC500 (errr, AC110 now?). So much for saving money, lol, this hobby eats up money, especially when you get stooopid.
Now here is some bad news if any of you are waiting for me to start up a Rift Lake Cichlid tank soon with this aquarium. I am going to use it for a fry growout tank for a couple of months, probably until October sometime. I have some different New World cichlids breeding, I really need that room to grow out some of these fry.
Good news is, I still have room in my new basement fishrooom for more aquariums, and I plan to add more aquariums in the 30-40 gallon range devoted exclusively to fry. Then I can start up the Rift Lake cichlids in the 55, and it should be cycled by then thanks to the CA fry.
I am really not sure yet how I'm going to stock it. I don't know if I'm going all Tang, or if I'm going to mix in some Malawis. I already have the cylindricus. My dream Rift Lake cichlid is the kendalli, to get a breeding pair of those would be uberfantastic in my book. I suppose they might destroy the cylindricus, I believe kendallis get bigger and are more aggressive. I really don't know if I could put anything in a 55 with breeding kendallis, but I could live with that (I would not leave the cylindricus in with them to be killed).
If I decide to mix, Yellow Labs seem like the might work with cylindricus, they have totally diffferent looks. I think demasonis have a color pattern that is too similar to the cylindricus. I think yellow labs and cylindricus are both substrate spawners, aren't they? I've never had any mouthbreeders breed before in my 30+ years, I might be open to mouthbreeding species that are compatible the cylindricus. Mouthbreeders would be cool for a change, so many years of egglayers. I certainly don't want to mix in more agressive mbunas like kenyis, auratus, and zebras with the cylindricus. But if I get some mouthbreeders, I might also end up getting some multipunctatus cookoo cats, oh yeah!
Ok, moving on, I took a few more pics tonight. The first two are of the cylindricus. He has darkened up some since I last took pictures. The other fish in the second photo is a grammodes, which the cylindricus rules over. The pecking order in the 150 is just silly, there is no real ruler in it. Fish A chases fish which B chases fish C which chases fish A. Something like that, but of course more complex.
The 3rd pic is the new 55, the guy at the LFS said the African Cichlid sand would make the water cloudy for a while. Uh, slightly. I will add some cutteri fry to it once it clears up.
