Hey all. I'm a MFK virgin and just beginning the planning and acquisition stage for a new 180 gallon Aqueon tank for African Cichlids. Never had em before but have had tropical community tanks non-stop since I was a kid and definitely ready for cichlids. I'd appreciate ANY info, advice, suggestions you have.
First off...the Tank. Trying to get a special order Aqueon 180 gallon (2'x2'x6') with black silicone but that's prooving very frustrating and expensive. I'm receiving quotes around $1,000 to $1,200
"special order", or a mere $600 with clear silicone. (I hate clear silicone, but not so sure I hate it to the tune of double the price to loose it for black!
)
Next...filitration. Already got 2 Rena XP4s and 1 FX5. A sump or wet-dry is out of the question.
Heat...not sure what to do there. I hear Cichlids can get roudy and break glass heaters. I like the idea of inline heaters a lot to get them out of the tank (the less equipment in the tank the better), but not sure about going with external heaters. I've herd a lot of bad about them. Thinking maybe 2 titanium 400 watt heaters. The tank will be in a room that gets really cold in the winter (55 to 60 degrees F) so adequare heating capacity is important.
Stand...I'm thinking of having a tubular steel stand built for strength and then covering it in wood to look good. (Gotta love those POS stock stands from the tank manufacturer's, right?) Any input on tube size and design for steel stand?
Lighting...I have no idea yet on this one. HO seams a bit much but it seams to get anything decent you gotta go HO. Don't want to spend a fortune and want to keep the lighting low-key, preferably something that would sit on top of the tank flush to the versa-tops. Maybe somethign as basic as the double tube Aqueon Strip Light so I can get actinic with either 10000 or 14000 k)
Aquascape...thinking Black background, dark rock and light sand. Also toying with Dark background, sand and rock but I am liking the dark on light scheme with dark background and dark rock on light colored sand.
Substrate...thinking light sand with some oyster shell and gravel mixed in for texture.
Rock...struggling with this but heavilly leaning toward Lace Rock...but also considering Ocean Rock (Base Rock) or rounded River Rock. Trying to find large pieces of Lace Rock but I can't find anything except 25 or 40 pound boxes of what I assume is pretty much shrapnel. I'd like some large 20, 30, 40 pound pieces. Any ideas on sourcing this in PA/NJ/DE area?
Last but not least...stocking. Spent just some time thinking about this and know I'd like a well-stocked tank with colorful mid-sized Haps, Peacocks. Love the yellow labs and some of the sweet blue cichlids and zebras, but my initial focus right now is on getting the setup together and then focus on stocking list. Any and all advice and suggestions for a sweet-lookin vibrant stocking list would be most appreciated as well as any other advice on cichlid care.
As I said, just getting this whole process started and would love to hear from you guys. I'm sure there is a lot of great advice and suggestions out there that could really help me be succesful with this.
Thanks for reading my novel!
First off...the Tank. Trying to get a special order Aqueon 180 gallon (2'x2'x6') with black silicone but that's prooving very frustrating and expensive. I'm receiving quotes around $1,000 to $1,200
"special order", or a mere $600 with clear silicone. (I hate clear silicone, but not so sure I hate it to the tune of double the price to loose it for black!)Next...filitration. Already got 2 Rena XP4s and 1 FX5. A sump or wet-dry is out of the question.
Heat...not sure what to do there. I hear Cichlids can get roudy and break glass heaters. I like the idea of inline heaters a lot to get them out of the tank (the less equipment in the tank the better), but not sure about going with external heaters. I've herd a lot of bad about them. Thinking maybe 2 titanium 400 watt heaters. The tank will be in a room that gets really cold in the winter (55 to 60 degrees F) so adequare heating capacity is important.
Stand...I'm thinking of having a tubular steel stand built for strength and then covering it in wood to look good. (Gotta love those POS stock stands from the tank manufacturer's, right?) Any input on tube size and design for steel stand?
Lighting...I have no idea yet on this one. HO seams a bit much but it seams to get anything decent you gotta go HO. Don't want to spend a fortune and want to keep the lighting low-key, preferably something that would sit on top of the tank flush to the versa-tops. Maybe somethign as basic as the double tube Aqueon Strip Light so I can get actinic with either 10000 or 14000 k)
Aquascape...thinking Black background, dark rock and light sand. Also toying with Dark background, sand and rock but I am liking the dark on light scheme with dark background and dark rock on light colored sand.
Substrate...thinking light sand with some oyster shell and gravel mixed in for texture.
Rock...struggling with this but heavilly leaning toward Lace Rock...but also considering Ocean Rock (Base Rock) or rounded River Rock. Trying to find large pieces of Lace Rock but I can't find anything except 25 or 40 pound boxes of what I assume is pretty much shrapnel. I'd like some large 20, 30, 40 pound pieces. Any ideas on sourcing this in PA/NJ/DE area?
Last but not least...stocking. Spent just some time thinking about this and know I'd like a well-stocked tank with colorful mid-sized Haps, Peacocks. Love the yellow labs and some of the sweet blue cichlids and zebras, but my initial focus right now is on getting the setup together and then focus on stocking list. Any and all advice and suggestions for a sweet-lookin vibrant stocking list would be most appreciated as well as any other advice on cichlid care.
As I said, just getting this whole process started and would love to hear from you guys. I'm sure there is a lot of great advice and suggestions out there that could really help me be succesful with this.
Thanks for reading my novel!
...if only I could find the large lace rocks (like 20 to 40 pounders).
