Upcoming 180 GALLON CICHLID TANK

[DEVANSH]

hi , guys this is devansh here , i have been keeping a 3 feeter (30 g) or about 8 months ( have no experience of fish keeping in winters), i am gonna buy a 180US gallon (600 litres) tank of 6x2x2 feet , i am buying a used one so its cheaper , will also be getting gravel & hood with it.
i want to know opinions of all of u guys on various aspects from moving to filtration.

Firstly should i start setting it up right now or after a "winter experience" with 30 gallon which has 1 fh & some cichlids???

other imp question:
1. I will be transporting it in a small tempo from about 45 kms , what things & precautions to keep in mind??
2. how many days will it take to cycle if i add 50 litres from my tank , some gravel & some cheap fishes (20)?? how can i know it has cycled without wasting money on test kits??
3. i cant afford a good external filter so i will be going for 2 internal filters & 1battery opereated pump for emergency, what will u recommend as a hassle free internal/top/HOB filter ??
4.should i go for sump?? does it require a lot of maintenance & cost??
5.i am thinking of buying 2 heaters for this tank , the cheap ones , fine??
6.i want to keep 3 golden arowana , only one first & about 30 cichlids, what cichlids to go with when aros are 10 inch long?? african /tang or american??

 

[Mokujin22]

hi , guys this is devansh here , i have been keeping a 3 feeter (30 g) or about 8 months ( have no experience of fish keeping in winters), i am gonna buy a 180US gallon (600 litres) tank of 6x2x2 feet , i am buying a used one so its cheaper , will also be getting gravel & hood with it.
i want to know opinions of all of u guys on various aspects from moving to filtration.

Firstly should i start setting it up right now or after a "winter experience" with 30 gallon which has 1 fh & some cichlids???

other imp question:
1. I will be transporting it in a small tempo from about 45 kms , what things & precautions to keep in mind??
2. how many days will it take to cycle if i add 50 litres from my tank , some gravel & some cheap fishes (20)?? how can i know it has cycled without wasting money on test kits??
3. i cant afford a good external filter so i will be going for 2 internal filters & 1battery opereated pump for emergency, what will u recommend as a hassle free internal/top/HOB filter ??
4.should i go for sump?? does it require a lot of maintenance & cost??
5.i am thinking of buying 2 heaters for this tank , the cheap ones , fine??
6.i want to keep 3 golden arowana , only one first & about 30 cichlids, what cichlids to go with when aros are 10 inch long?? african /tang or american??

Not to poo-poo on your enthusiasm, but I think you should start smaller if cost is an issue.

Test kits are not a waste of money. With a heavily stocked tank, you will need a nitrate test kit at the minimum. When cycling it, you should also have amonia and nitrite.

You will also need better filtration for a 180 with the stocking that you describe. My 180 is filtered with a 1100 GPH pump feeding a 50 gallon sump with an Aquaclear 110 on the back. I do weekly 100 gallon water changes and clean the filter media every week. It is not a lot of maintenance, but definitely more than maintaining a 30 gallon.... neglecting tank maintenance on a very large, heavily-stocked tank will turn things bad very quickly. Two Aquaclear 110s would be a good start for you don't want to do a sump, but you may need to add filtration later.

Cheap heaters are never good. Spend the extra $15 each to avoid frying your tank down the road. In the long run, you will be saving money because you will end up swapping them out for better ones when they break.

The arrowanas will not be compatible with any Tangs and will not work with most Malawi cichlids. They will get picked on by larger Africans when small and eat the same Africans a year later. You could try large predator haps, but I would not recommend it.

 

[DEVANSH]

ok, i will get the test kits but i cant have an external filter , max is a sump, or 3 internal filters , well then either i will kaee the aros or lake malawi cichlids although many have kept malwis with aros.

 

[DEVANSH]

Not to poo-poo on your enthusiasm, but I think you should start smaller if cost is an issue.

Test kits are not a waste of money. With a heavily stocked tank, you will need a nitrate test kit at the minimum. When cycling it, you should also have amonia and nitrite.

You will also need better filtration for a 180 with the stocking that you describe. My 180 is filtered with a 1100 GPH pump feeding a 50 gallon sump with an Aquaclear 110 on the back. I do weekly 100 gallon water changes and clean the filter media every week. It is not a lot of maintenance, but definitely more than maintaining a 30 gallon.... neglecting tank maintenance on a very large, heavily-stocked tank will turn things bad very quickly. Two Aquaclear 110s would be a good start for you don't want to do a sump, but you may need to add filtration later.



The arrowanas will not be compatible with any Tangs and will not work with most Malawi cichlids. They will get picked on by larger Africans when small and eat the same Africans a year later. You could try large predator haps, but I would not recommend it.

u got a really good malawi tank , i just swa the video , what are the pnats u have used ?? what is the sand thickness?? dont they (malawis)uproot/eat the plants??

 

[Mokujin22]

It's an old video from January, but thanks. The plants are anubias and are wedged between rocks. About 2" of sand, but it gets moved around a lot.

Not saying you can't do anything. Just saying I wouldn't.

You don't have to follow my advice.

Good luck.