new here and need ideas

[fishinfun]

first off Hi all. new to the site. been keeping fish for 10 years or so. i have a 180 gal (48"x24"x36") i had discus in it for the last 4 years ended up getting black hair algae and snails among other problems. got tired of fish (expensive ones at that) getting sick so i gave up and gave all fish away drained tank, and i am sterlizing everything and starting over.ok enough on the past now lets talk about the future. first off how do i guarantee all black hair algae is GONE from bogwood? everything else is getting replaced but i want to keep the wood. next im looking for ideas on inhabitants. i have always liked cichlids i just want to find something a little different so what what would you do if you had to start over? i do like having lots of plants, rocks, and bogwood(i know that most cichlids like to rearrsange things). so i usually have lots of hiding for smaller less agressive tank mates. one more thing im trying to accommplish is no more changing water parameters i have liquid rock for water with a ph of 7.8 so i would like to look at critters that like the parameters i have. so lay it on me what would you do?

 

[bdevilcasey]

Ive never heard of black hair algae but id imagine if you could boil the wood (not sure if thats possible) that would do it.

 

[Miguel]

wellcome.

Is the wood and the algae dry? If so, scrub it off as best you can.

Is your PH 7.8?

With that I would look into a Tanganika set up.

 

[fishinfun]

yes ph is 7.8 maybe its not called black hair alge but its black looks like hair about 3/4" long and covers everything. not fun stuff to have

 

[Sarah88]

yeah that sucks that stuff is hard to get rid of once it takes hold in a tank but as long as your wood is dry i would clean it really well with a vinegar solution and then let dry in the sun, with pH like that you could either do africans or central americans but i would stay away from the SA cichlids since they like it softer. with a tank that size you have tons of options its all just about what you would like, do you want a bunch of smaller cichlids or just a few much larger ones? and do you want it more peaceful or more aggressive

 

[fishinfun]

not picky about if its a agresive tank or not. i just want to find somthing different. maybe 3 or 4 med to large fish that are not what you could find at your local pet store then some more comon ones to round out the tank. i just want to put together a plan first becaus as i said this is a total do over so if i know what rare fish i want i can pick good tank mates and when my tank gets well established agin then i can find the star atractions and know that everyone will be compatible

 

[CLDarnell]

I know if I had to do it over, I would look only for rare or near endangered Cichlids. I would probably stay with Lake Victorians since they seem to be not as common as the other rift lakes.

After reading your post, I keep eyeing my 150. I would love to start over, but have gotten attached to many of my fish!

Good luck

 

[Sarah88]

well as far as CAs go you could do a midas, argentea, carpintis, cyanoguttatus, other veijas, etc. drawing a blank right now so not thinking of others but im sure lots of people will chime in with ideas, the midas especially will have some great personality, these examples aren't really rare but they are great looking fish and pure specimens are not easily available unless you get from a reputable dealer

 

[MonteSS]

Being only four foot long really limits your choices.

I think with your water pH Africans would be your best choice.

I would consider one of the 3d rock backrounds. With the tall tank would look amazing.

I made one myself and it was much easier than I thought. My tank was only 26g though.

....Bill

 

[Sarah88]

Being only four foot long really limits your choices.

I think with your water pH Africans would be your best choice.

I would consider one of the 3d rock backrounds. With the tall tank would look amazing.

I made one myself and it was much easier than I thought. My tank was only 26g though.
....Bill

yeah i totally didnt see that he had written that it was only 4ft, yeah i agree that limits the choices, you could maybe to a large cichlid pair or several med size cichlids with lots of cover but yeah 4ft doesnt give you a lot of wiggle room, and yeah if you like africans that idea with a cool 3-D background would look pretty awesome, though they aren't as personable but you would have a lot of commotion in the tank with them all swimming and around vying for space and you could put in some aragonite sand to make the water even harder and they would do great