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Well thanks for the response but both the Jack Dempsey and the Green Texas Cichlid are actually illegal in my state because they are a potential threat to our water ways. SO any other suggestions?

Ok well I am now awaiting my stand to be finished so I am just stockpiling all my stuff. The one question I have is will a fluval 304 cope with the 3 ft tank or should i get a 404?

The tank is about 150 lts.

I know aquarium safe silicon works. Do they even make aquarium glue?

Um, you may not need glue, depending on how you place/stack them. But if you do need to glue them down, i've heard it's best to use aquarium silicone sealant (i hope i have that right).

Thanks PJ

I am getting some "Mintaro Slate" which seems to be very good. A dark colour slate apparently. So I will wash it well when I get it and then should i use some aquarium safe glue to stick them together?

Thanks Chris

Ok, cool. You got your filter now.
You can add fish once the cycle is finished, or you can do a fish cycle. If you do a fish cycle it is faster (i recommend you do a fish cycle ) let the tank run for a few days then add around 2 Bristlenose catfish, because they're very hardy fish. Thats what i did with my 115g. . After about 2 weeks from the addition of the BN's it should be safe to slowy start adding a few cichlids.

And with the slate/stones just check out garden shops etc. You should be able to find some there. Just remember to wscrub them very good. And watch out for rocks with metal vines.

Good luck with everything chris.

Last edited by PJ at 29-Mar-2005 05:10

Ok I have just recieved my filter, heater and my 2 pieces of driftwood. I am using an aqua one cf1500 which does 1500lph but I am only going to use that to get the tank ready before I add a fluval 404 to run the tank. So how long should I let my tank "mature" before adding fish? Now I am going to buy slate stone but any ideas on where to get my lfs don't sell it.

Thanks Chris.

They're very hard to find here.

I have only ever seen 2 juveniles at a lfs for $105 each. They were the striped morph.

My friend got his ink fins from a breeder for about $50 each. He got them for cheap because he knew the guy. His asking the guy for some more, then he's gonna sell them to me. So about $50ea i'll be getting them for



Alto. Calvus are great fish, dif one of my faves

Last edited by PJ at 26-Mar-2005 07:11

The black Altolamprologus Calvus are really cool fish. They sell for like 100 here for a 3' inch. How much are they where you guys live?
Should have bought some at the auction last month when they selling them for 4-5 1 inch juv at 30 the lot.

I think you should consider african cichlids. You can use those tanks for breeding, If you can find some Altolamprologus Calvus You could setup a breeding tank and earn a bit of extra cash

Thats what i'm currently planning. Altolamprologus Calvus are hard to find around here. If you can find them and get them breeding I'm getting some Ink fins from a friend so



You can also breed some of the easier cichlids like Electric Yellows etc. They pretty much are the best to start with.



Last edited by PJ at 24-Mar-2005 06:07

I live in South Australia.

From what I have now learnt from calling the fisheries board they say that the fish are illegal to BUY in this state but they are not illegal to own if you get them from a listed breeder. So I really can't be bothered to do that then get them sent from another state so I will explore other options.

penthrox, was interested to learn about those fish being illegal in your state. Just out of interest what state are you in?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Largest tank: West African cichlid tank
Blockheads
Pelvachromis sp.

40 gal 1: Indan Estuary
Shoal of orange chromides

40 gal 2: Cichlid community
Apistogramma sp.
C. leptosoma
Firemouth

Best of the oddballs and common new world species in an assortment of tanks.

Hi,

I have recently obtained 3 new tanks from an old high school biology lab. One being 4ft wide by 1ft deep by 1.5 ft across and 2 standard 3 fts. Now I was looking at using the 4ft as a cichlid tank. Not 100% on what types yet as my LFS doesnt have a lot of variety at the moment. So my real question is how should I set up my tank. I will do the obvious thing and leave the tank for 2 weeks with a good dose of cycle and I will be running a fluval 404 with quite possibly an aqua one CF1200 Canister (running one at each end). So what I want to know is how to set up a cichlid tank ie what type of gravel to use, plants, rock set up and so on. I have been saving and preparing this for a while. I have a 2 ft dedicated hospital tank with heater, filter and ceramic pot. The other question I have is what precautions should I take for the tanks after coming from a biology class because who knows what they have had in the tanks. What can I clean it with?

Thanks in advance Chris.

yep, exactly what I wanted to know...except I had to convert to inches. ok, here's what you have:

4 foot tank
48" x 13.7" x 18" = ~48 U.S. gallons

Big 3 foot tank
39" x 19.7" x 12" = ~40 U.S. gallons

3 foot tank
37" x 14" x 18" = ~40 U.S. gallons

ok, I would probably do the 4 foot tank as a Tanganyikan setup with a group of 10-12 Cyprichromis leptosoma]http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/species.php?s=32[/link], [link=Altolamprologus calvus and some [href=Synodontis multipunctatus].

The Big 3 foot tank I'd do a pair of Jack dempseys or H. carpintis aka the Green texas cichlid.

and in the other 3 foot tank I'd do a group of 6-8 small (1-2" firemouths, 6-8 platys, a big group of corys and a bristlenose pleco.

Last edited by jason_r_s at 22-Mar-2005 22:31

Ok man the dimensions are:

4ft Tank:
Length 1200mm x Width 350mm x Height 450mm

Big 3ft Tank:
Length 1000mm x Width 500mm x Height 300mm

3ft Tank:
Lenght 950mm x Width 355mm x Height 460mm


The "big 3ft tank" is a short tank but alot of area so still at a loss as to what to do with this particular tank.

So I hope this is what you need to know

Penthrox, first of all you've picked up some great tanks. Second you've done a great job of getting them cleaned up.

Now, I'd love to help you stock these tanks...we could get you some wonderful setups with some gorgeously colored New World (Central/South american) cichlids but first could you post the exact dimensions of all 3 tanks. I was a bit confused when you posted dimensions of the first tank. I'm not sure what you meant by "deep" and "across" so could you give the dimensions in Length x Width (front to back) x Height (top to bottom).

from the pic, the short 3 foot tank looks like it would make a great tank for some firemouths, platys, cories and a bristlenose pleco.

Ok basically I have done the first clean of the tanks.

Here they are so far.

4ft Tank:


Standard 3ft Tank:


Short 3ft Tank:


With the tanks the dirt you can see if underneath the tanks on the poly floor.

So far so good. I have some algae that I can not get too as it appears to be behind some silicon any ideas on this?

Algae:



Thanks Chris.[/font][/font][/font][/font]




Last edited by penthrox at 22-Mar-2005 03:01

In getting the sides off I used a thin wire. Worked a charm.

An exacto knife I am guessing that is some form of stanley knife of craft knife like a scalpel?

I am trying to be super careful because as you can see from picture 3 there is alot of silicon on the glass and I don't want to break the glass.

Is there any tupe of liquid that can disolve it?

Thanks