Finally got my 180!!

[FlorabamaTrigger]

Thanks! I finally got the Ammonia to come down, the Nitritres are still a deep purple, and the Nitrates are just starting. Shouldn't be long now..

BUT... Here's where the twist comes in...

My previous tanks were not only this large (Largest was a 125). But also this is my first Acrylic Tank. They weren't kidding about just looking at it wrong it will scratch!! I've already got a couple i'm gonna have to buff out, but they're only visible under the white lights. The blue lights don't show the scratches as much.

Okay, here goes. Couple things rolling around in my head. In my previous glass tanks, I had a mixture of all Africans. Basically I went to my local Petsmart/Petco and picked few up here and there and just watched them grow. Surprisingly I had pretty good luck with them surviving. Everyone told me to only buy from a LFS, but where i was it was too far. So what TYPE African Cichlids did I have? UUhh... Some blue ones, Yellow Bumble Bee Striped ones, Solid Yellow, some red ones, etc.... So I started researching which type I wanted this go round. I like the size of the South American Cichlids, but I think I prefer to have ones that are more active.
Next problem is my wife is pushing me to put some kind of 'theme' in the tank. Yeah Yeah.. I know... But, my point is i was considering a big ship, or a castle or two, actual decorations rather than just slate rocks that could also cause a scratch inside the tank which would be a HUGE nitemare to fix.

So, As long as the fish have hiding places, (like cichlid caves, holes in the side of a ship or castle), would that still work with Africans?

Thoughts pls.

 

[FlorabamaTrigger]

I also am considering a background from Universal Rocks. But installing it while its already filled might be a bit of a chore. Also, the top access to the tank is a bit limited as the slots are only 8" X 28", so making sure it will fit into those openings is also key.

 

[Szar]

So, As long as the fish have hiding places, (like cichlid caves, holes in the side of a ship or castle), would that still work with Africans?

Thoughts pls.

as long as they can fit.


If you don't want to scratch up the tank try these rocks, from heir youtube vid they seem light as a feather in comparison to real rocks. https://www.universalrocks.com/fish/holey-rock

 

[FlorabamaTrigger]

I was looking at those! Still waiting for the water to cycle. I've put in 3-5 hours a day messing with this tank every day for the last week. Gotta take a break so I don't start to look at it as a chore. I'm still having flow issues with this being my first bottom drilled tank with this large of a sump. The return overflows are still a bit noisy (Okay really noisy) and when I tried to put a straw in the hole at the top of the overflow drain, it causes the water to fluctuate in the return chamber only on the left side for some reason. It fluctuates so much it almost breaks past where the overflow sucks the water in. I'm got some more tuning coming in this week and will try to shorten the flow so it's more of a direct flow from the bulkheads to the sump intake to see if that helps.
I've also watched the Current-USA videos on youtube and I've got the 1900gph submersible pump. Sounds like they rate that pump for up to 150 gallons. The next step up in pump size for their systems is a 3100GPH that fits up to 300 gallon tanks. It can be dialed down for my 180 gallon, but still that seems like a lot. Although the sump I have is an Ehopps Sump rated for up to 300 gallon tanks. So maybe that's my answer. This project has already gone over budget so I'm trying not to order anything else for now. Hell at this point, I may have a 180 gallon tank with 5 African Cichlids in it, that I over feed and with the huge filtration system only have to do water changes once every 3 months?

 

[FlorabamaTrigger]

So I wasn't seeing any light at the end of the tunnel with the cycling. For some reason I couldn't get my ammonia to go down. I added Seachem Matrix. It said to add 500ml for 200 gallons. I have a 180, so yup. I added 1000ml. No more ammonia. Although now I have no nitrites or nitrates either... Ah well. I'll give it till this weekend and if all are still zero I guess it'll be time for another week of Stability and some sacrificial feeder fish to get it kick started I guess. Can't say I didn't try the fishless cyling route... Even tried my LFS. They all had one spinning wheel type filter that filtered all the tanks in a column, so no live media to obtain there... And of course, can't seem to find any one else in my area that has aquariums..