setup?????????

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R

randy84

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2007
7
0
0
Maryland
how does this sound for a setup for african cichlids?
- 55 gal. with stand
- bio- wheel 350
- 150 watt heater
- crushed coral
- driftwood and rocks
is that pretty much all i need? what do u think?:confused:
 
I agree no drift wood - more rocks! =) they need lots of rocks for hiding/territory.
 
what do u guys think,
i was thinking of setting up like a mostly blue fish setup and maybe some yellows but deff. some reds!
i think that would be cool! do u guys have any pics of red peacocks, or any other kind?
 
I'm a big fan of the driftwood, you just need to season it like crazy. I like to put the rocks around driftwood pieces to provide support.

Do you have a 1X4 piece of egg crate. Its a pain, but idealy you want to place the egg crate first, then rocks then substrate. It makes vacuuming tough and you really can't rearange the base rocks, but its the best way to distrubute the rock weight.
 
fish and water----and you're all set.
It is true that driftwood does not play a role in a ideal African setup, But hay, I like the way it looks. We all have got something that isn't perfectly true to nature in our tanks. I believe that you have the artistic license to stretch reality a bit in the pets that you keep.
Just do it tastefully, don't make me take away your license!:naughty:
 
Make sure that the rocks have tons of holes so they can use then as little caves and use cichlid caves two lots of them and if you use rocks use things like Texas holey rocks it raises the ph too
 
Instead of crushed coral I would go with sand, Africans love to dig and have been know to get sores around their mouths from the sharp edges of crushed coral.
 
I did a Malawi tank with rocks and drift wood last year and the fish did fine. The driftwood was about 6 or 7 years old and was used in a discus tank before hand so I'm sure it was washed out by the time I put it in my cichlid tank, Here 's a video of cichlid tank with rocks and driftwood pieces


I also agree on going with sand over the crushed coral. Made the switch from crushed coral to the live Fiji sand and there was a noticeable difference in the fishes feeding patterns with them digging in the sand way more frequently than they did with the crushed coral. Also after having a beautiful red shoulder loose and eye to running into a sharp edge on a rock after being startled with the tank lights off I only use round edge rocks. Thats just my personal preference though.

Good luck and enjoy !!!!
 
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