Ordered my first peacocks!

[ratstar]

I jumped right in to the lake, no dipping toes here. I own a 20g that has a few small ciclids and plecos and such, and I love having them but was looking for something more and something big and rad! So I picked up a 55g and mulled over which bass I was going to get. I decided on a peacock (still dont know tons about them besides what I've been reading on here over the past week or so, trying to learn all I can!) and ordered two from my lps.
So my list of things to do till they get here (approx 2 weeks) is:
-Build my stand (I'm a hardcore DIYer at heart)
-Trade my other fish over into the 55g and let it cycle
-Research, research, research!!!!

My list may need some stuff added to it so please feel free to tell me what to do, cause I'm new to the monsters!!

 

[fish junkie]

#1 plan on getting a bigger tank within about three months er so bass will quickly outgrow a 55 gallons footprint youll need something about 4 times that size.
#2 filtration should be top notch with tons of bio filtration shoot for a 15x turn over or better the more you have the better off you will be
#3 temperature should be consistently over 86 f small bass get ich real easy keep your temps over 86 and if you see any signs of ich add aquarium salt and i add stress coat it seems to help them recover faster . Other then these two chemicals stay away from all others chemicals designed to cure disease generally kill your bass.
#4 Airstones with high water temps you have less oxygen in the water so add a few large airstones . It helps your fish stay active and recover from weakness faster even the nfl knows to use oxygen to revive tired players it work the same way for fish allthough they will just suffocate and die .
#5 Water changes a bare minimum of 50% a week i prefer 50% twice a week
#6 Food live feeders are like junk food to pbass Feed only quarantined feeders and feed sparingly healthier alternatives tilapia, market shrimp ,krill are all excellent alternatives some folks prefer a pellet diet to save a little cash im all for saving money but pbass are designed to eat meat any pellet that is high in animal proteins and not vegetable proteins should be fine but what ever you feed them change it up all the time give them a varied diet and throw in a feeder once in a while .

 

[ratstar]

1- Three months???? Seriously they will be out of it in three months?? Holy crap!! I knew they'd outgrow but not that soon! I will be on the hunt for a bigger tank then!
2- I've got plenty of filtration right now, but I guess with the whole set up gettng bigger I'll be doing some more on the 200g tank!
3-Got temps tanken care of with the heaters, for both the first grow out tank (20g) and the second grow out tank (55g). Both sets can easily reach 88, so I will keep them high for the bass.
4- Got PLENTY of air coming in!
5- I can do 50% at least once a week, if not twice.
6- I will get them whatever it takes for food, so shrimp and tilapia with an occassional feeder thrown in. I change my ciclid diet all the time to vary it for them so I cant imagine doing anything different for these guys.

 

[fish junkie]

looks like your set then , also what city you in i may be relatively close if not i know a few cichla keepers north of me that can help you out with questions and we commonly grab frozen food in bulk i live about 5 minutes from brine shrimp direct they are hella cheap compared to any local stores .

 

[ratstar]

I'm in Tooele, west of SLC about a half hour. That'd be great! Thanks man!

 

[importracer]

I'm in Tooele, west of SLC about a half hour. That'd be great! Thanks man!

One more thing...............You mentioned liking the DIY stuff.............Since you have potentially BIG fish, try startingoff with BIG filters..............A DIY wet/dry filter is not only easy to build, but is a money saver for the wallet...........I have built wet/dry filtwer out of TARGET and OFFICE DEPOT supplies........Cost me less than $60 for the materials..........Two choices for the intake system: OVERFLOW or PRE-DRILLED..........Pre-drilled costs almost free to do, with the exception of puirchasing a large drill bit, which may cost $8.............The Overflow box for my 125g cost me $40...............The extra PVC piping will cost no more than $10 for the average setup...........
**********post pix*************

 

[ratstar]

Yeah I've been looking at the setups in the the DIY filter section. I will probably be building one for their permanent home eventually.