New malawi setup

[Eric]

I think I finally solved my eternal what-to-do-with-the-empty-tank question.  I am going to set up not one but two .  The 72 will be my first african tank and I have been swarming the web digging up info -- actually the timing is great here -- hamstercaster and groans posts had tons of ideas.

I have some pretty basic questions if anyone can look the plan over:

Fish - Still reading.  I haven't decided on mbuna or haps/peacocks.  Are peacocks with mbuna ok?  Overall I am hoping for lots of colour and on the lower side for aggression.  I am not that keen on regular beatings in my living room... ha   

Substrate - I like a dark substrate more.  Is sand better for the fish?  Does that leave me with moon sand or nothing?   

Water - I have pH 7.8 and hardness I think was 200 (I can't quite remember).  If this is right, I don't need to treat the water, right?  Or maybe coral in the filter?

Filter - Is a Fluval 404 enough, or should I add an AC?  I need to decide this to decide how close it goes to the wall before I fill it, so what do you think?  I am not planning any crazy overstocking -- is the 404 enough? 

Thanks for looking and any advice.

[FishBuddy]

I think I finally solved my eternal what-to-do-with-the-empty-tank question.  I am going to set up not one but two .  The 72 will be my first african tank and I have been swarming the web digging up info -- actually the timing is great here -- hamstercaster and groans posts had tons of ideas.

I have some pretty basic questions if anyone can look the plan over:

Fish - Still reading.  I haven't decided on mbuna or haps/peacocks.  Are peacocks with mbuna ok?  Overall I am hoping for lots of colour and on the lower side for aggression.  I am not that keen on regular beatings in my living room... ha   

Substrate - I like a dark substrate more.  Is sand better for the fish?  Does that leave me with moon sand or nothing?   

Water - I have pH 7.8 and hardness I think was 200 (I can't quite remember).  If this is right, I don't need to treat the water, right?  Or maybe coral in the filter?

Filter - Is a Fluval 404 enough, or should I add an AC?  I need to decide this to decide how close it goes to the wall before I fill it, so what do you think?  I am not planning any crazy overstocking -- is the 404 enough? 

Thanks for looking and any advice.

I have a 72 gallon bow tank as well and here's my settings:

- 2 inch of brown coarse sand substrate (from Canadian Tire)
- 2 driftwoods
- few plants
- Texas Holey Rock
- filtration: Fluval 404 and Rena XP3 canister filter
- species of fish: see my avatar :-)
- number of fish:  around 40 (large and small)
- pH 8.7
- GH 220
- KH 200
- temperature 77F
- water change 50% weekly; for every 5 gallons of water I add 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp epsom salt; 1 tsp sea salt (non-iodized)

Finally, you can see my recent tank picture here:

http://ovas.ca/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=760

[darkdep]

Some answers

Peacocks and Mbuna are fine together.  They will "mostly" ignore each other.  In general, beatings occur between members of the same species, not between species (although there are plenty of exceptions).

Substrate:  You can use anything.  Many Africans like to dig, so "smaller" substrate is a little easier for them but they will still happily work with larger gravel.  I use Geosystems substrate in a couple of my tanks, they make something that's bigger than sand, but smaller than standard gravel and works quite well. 

Your water is fine.  With Africans, "stable" water is more important than water that has "perfect" parameters.  IMHO, anything 7.6 or higher is fine.

Filter:  A 404 is enough...for biofiltration.  Canisters are not, in general, stellar mechanical filters.  The reason many people add an AC to their setups is because Mechanical filtration is something the AC's do very well.  I would consider it. 

[groan]

Thanks for the credit!

my 70 has 2 304's (or is that 403) on it. not sure why the overkill but my dad liked very well filtered water so when i transported to my house i put them on.

Now with this thought maybe I should consider replacing one with an AC HOB.

[repeej]

I'd run a second canister filter.  You can't have too much filtration.

Like FishBuddy, I run a Fluval 404 along with a Rena XP3 on my 75gallon african tank.  I also run a Fluval 304 and a Rena XP2 on a 55 gallon african tank.

[aroc]

I wouldn't put mbuna with peacocks unless the tank is very large, and even then.. ehhh.. IF you insist on doing this, make sure your peacocks are larger then the mbuna or they will destroy them.. as I found out the hard way putting my uncles bred albino aulonacara species into my mbuna tank after coming back 5 minutes later there was only a head left floating around..

as for pH, the epsom salt/baking soda formula is great, as remember the higher your pH the more colourful your fish will be.

I personally always use a canister and a HOB.. fluval 304 and a AQ 200 on my 50 gallon.

I think I finally solved my eternal what-to-do-with-the-empty-tank question.  I am going to set up not one but two .  The 72 will be my first african tank and I have been swarming the web digging up info -- actually the timing is great here -- hamstercaster and groans posts had tons of ideas.

I have some pretty basic questions if anyone can look the plan over:

Fish - Still reading.  I haven't decided on mbuna or haps/peacocks.  Are peacocks with mbuna ok?  Overall I am hoping for lots of colour and on the lower side for aggression.  I am not that keen on regular beatings in my living room... ha   

Substrate - I like a dark substrate more.  Is sand better for the fish?  Does that leave me with moon sand or nothing?   

Water - I have pH 7.8 and hardness I think was 200 (I can't quite remember).  If this is right, I don't need to treat the water, right?  Or maybe coral in the filter?

Filter - Is a Fluval 404 enough, or should I add an AC?  I need to decide this to decide how close it goes to the wall before I fill it, so what do you think?  I am not planning any crazy overstocking -- is the 404 enough? 

Thanks for looking and any advice.

[CuckooJay]

Fish - Still reading.  I haven't decided on mbuna or haps/peacocks.  Are peacocks with mbuna ok?  Overall I am hoping for lots of colour and on the lower side for aggression.  I am not that keen on regular beatings in my living room... ha   

Substrate - I like a dark substrate more.  Is sand better for the fish?  Does that leave me with moon sand or nothing?   

Water - I have pH 7.8 and hardness I think was 200 (I can't quite remember).  If this is right, I don't need to treat the water, right?  Or maybe coral in the filter?

First off, I've had plenty of success mixing the two types. My first large african tank was just that... a 75, with a prety random mix of malawi, as I was just learning. A year later, my yellow labs, Aulonocara, and a group of ocellatus (tanganyikan... I know) were all breading... and none of them were ever sacrificed.  Not to mention at present day I set up a store displey tank which houses an even more diverse set of fish. Including two pairs of Aulonocara that don't try to kill each other.

Point being I found that pairing, or grouping the less agressive fish, while keeping more agressive males single seemed to balance things out. It's all about balance... Put the smallest, least agressive species in first giving them time to find "their place" in the tank.

As for substrate... keep in mind that some fish, like aulonocara are sand sifters in the wild. They will pick up a mouthfull of sand, eating whatever they can find and spitting the rest out their gills... if its a fine grade that is. I'm sure they can do without, but many species will "feel more at home" with a sand base. Not to mention their is definately dark sand out there.
PH?... yes cichlids will live in a ph of 7. whatever... but I'm sure some Malawi's would live in 6.0 water if you made them. I'll quote a fellow employee for this one. "If you kept a dog in a 4'x4' cell it's entire life and never let it out, it would live... but it wouldn't exactly be happy." (thanks Adam) My advice is to try your best to match nature. It's also relevent to mention that any eggs laid, may not hatch or the babies may not "do well" in a low ph.

Anyways, all that said.... just use common sense. If things arent going well... change the tank around. Good luck!

[Eric]

This is great info -- thanks everyone, much appreciated.  It's all coming together!  Now I can obsess over the fish for a while and we are good to go.  I have to say the Tang information in hamstercaster's post is tempting...
Eric

[Eric]

Thanks for the credit!

my 70 has 2 304's (or is that 403) on it. not sure why the overkill but my dad liked very well filtered water so when i transported to my house i put them on.

Now with this thought maybe I should consider replacing one with an AC HOB.

Yeah I am digging your post - sure I am not the only one.  Keep it going -- I can't wait for pictures!