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New guy here, planted 55 gallon tang cichlid setup. Give me your opinions

2K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  tomfromstlouis 
#1 ·
Good or bad, tell me what you think. I will have the stock list updated later and I will post it.

This is my first EVER aquarium, and the bug has bit me, for sure.




















 
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#2 ·
The tank looks great. I'm glad the bug has bit you!

Unfortunately, i don't know how well.most of those plants are going to do well over time. Cichlids are typically plant destroyers. I'm not sure what species you have, but just a heads up.

What kind of light are you using?

Substrate?

Any ferts?

I am Rowdaddy.
SC Aquaria

75 Community
20H Community
20L Convict "Bedroom"
20L Growout
10gal RCS
1.5gal in progress
55 gal Paludarium/Vivarium coming soon
 
#8 ·
My Multi's are pretty prolific diggers, so I won't plant anything in the substrate near them.

Using Pool filter sand as the substrate, using the EI for fert dosing, and have Giesman T5HO's. One is the aquaflora, and the other is mid-day sun. My pearling has picked up heavily since I ditched the original odysea bulbs, and added injected CO2.
 
#9 ·
The tank looks awsome. Great layout!

Hope to see some updates as it progresses and matures.

I recently got into the hobby as well and am working on my first ever planted aquarium. I guess the bug bit us both.

Cichlids are beautiful fish, I'd like to try a tank with them one day. Love the pictures you posted.

What do you have on the side of the tank in the 9th picture? It looks like a diffuser but in the pic, seems to be on the outisde of your tank? I'm just curious what it is :)
 
#12 ·
I myslef have a planted Tanganyikan tank and can offer a few suggestions. The Val and Anubias will both do well in their tank, though the others might be tough in a long term set up. The Ph of the lake itself is one of the tougher issues facing plant keepers. The Ph (and associated Gh, Kh, and TDS) is extremely high and can vary from 8.6-9.6. The addition of CO2 into the tank will actually lower the Ph of the water, thus making it difficult to breed the fish and can possibly stress them. The fish in my tank (Cyprichromis Leptosoma, Eretmodus Cyan., Neol. Multifasciatus, Syn. Petricola) leave the plants alone other then occasionally uprooting them. I myself have never seen CO2 injection work out in the long term for a Tang tank with breeding in mind. With just vals and Anubias, Excel dosing seems to alter the Ph and water chemistry far less. I wish I could offer a better suggestion (and I like the look of the tank), but in the long run I would recommend setting up another tank to use the CO2 on and just having two seperated aquariums. I run into the same issues with my Sulawesi biotope tank and plants.
 
#13 ·
I like the tank and I love the species you chose. Tanganyikans are probably some of the more challenging cichlids you can chose to keep but I've seen them flourishing in many variables. Keeping their pH stable is really important and keeping the nitrates in the tank below 20 mg/l is also vital as tanganyikans seems to be more sensitive to it than most freshwater fish. I think Vallisneria, Potamogeton (pondweed), Anubias, and Java fern may be your best bet as far as tolerance to the fishes requirements. I've seen my Transcriptus continue to breed at a pH as low as 7.7 but notice a change in their behavior if it dips lower. We see tanganyikans that are kept at constantly low pH having issues with weight gain and some (I think I saw Leptosoma in your tank) will distress and eventually die. In that sense the CO2 may create issues as it will keep your pH lower.
Other than the chemistry, your leleupis and the Caudopunctatus are the only real challenge to your aqua-scape I think. The leleupi are territorial and aggressive and will excavate more than your Leptosomas, who spend most of their time in the upper water column, and your red-top caudopunctatus who are sand dwellers and big excavators also are peaceful (somewhat) and may get bullied by the Leleupi.

Keep an eye on them but don't be afraid to make some adjustments if your initial plan doesn't work out. After all you're learning. Enjoy and keep us posted.
 
#14 ·
I was under the impression that co2 affected PH, but not KH. With the inherit hard KH of my water, and the fish being more sensitive to KH than PH specifically, I didn't think I had much to worry about. I had read an article on the BAR report that had outlined that the PH drop with co2 didn't have much affect on the fish, as the KH stayed steady.

I haven't seen much stress or low activity from my fish, though I have noticed when I do dose Nitrates on the EI day, the punks aren't happy, so I quickly cut that out. The fish seem to be getting along decently, I am looking to build a 3rd tank to move the punks and 2 of the small featherfins out.

I have been having fun playing with the co2, and trying to get my PPM where I want it. I start at about 7.8-8.0 PH, and have been using the co2 to get it near 7.0 or so.

I must admit, noob mistake, I need a KH test kit.
 
#17 ·
I was under the impression that co2 affected PH, but not KH. With the inherit hard KH of my water, and the fish being more sensitive to KH than PH specifically, I didn't think I had much to worry about. I had read an article on the BAR report that had outlined that the PH drop with co2 didn't have much affect on the fish, as the KH stayed steady.

I haven't seen much stress or low activity from my fish, though I have noticed when I do dose Nitrates on the EI day, the punks aren't happy, so I quickly cut that out. The fish seem to be getting along decently, I am looking to build a 3rd tank to move the punks and 2 of the small featherfins out.

I have been having fun playing with the co2, and trying to get my PPM where I want it. I start at about 7.8-8.0 PH, and have been using the co2 to get it near 7.0 or so.

I must admit, noob mistake, I need a KH test kit.
CO2 does affect your kH which is a an indicator of how well your water will resist changes to pH with introductions of carbonic acid (CO2). Hardness is most key when attempting to breed as it affects egg development from specie to specie but as a general rule for well-being, you want to try to maintain fish in their preferred pH range and deter any fluctuations in pH greater than .3 in a 24 hr period. While fish may appear to be "okay" in ranges outside of their preferred levels, it will eventually do them in. Remember these guys can live close to 10 years. If we're only getting a couple out of them, then something we've done has shortened their lives.

Keep up with the research. You'll get it dialed in.
 
#18 ·
Well, looks like I took a giant step back.

I had my co2 cylinder refilled...brought it home and hooked it up. Reset the bubbles per second, and all was well. Came home yesterday, and it was going super slow.

So I reset it again....

Came home today, and something happened, it was CRANKED.

Emptied my entire co2 bottle into the tank, and killed all of my fish.

I am very sad right now.
 
#19 ·
Newbie Also

Hi, my name is Linda and I live in Sonora, CA. I'm a newbie to planted tanks and also to keeping angel fish.

You are braver than me just starting out and dealing with CO2.

I like the back right plant that has jagged edges and also the 4th pic. of the maroon plant. They are delicate and pretty.

I think the 4 plants that are planted in the front middle will get to large to be in the front.

I've heard that you can put some larger stones than your gravel around the base of your plants to keep the fish from pulling them up. You can give it a try.

I'm soooo sorry to hear about your loss of fishies. It must be devastating. I read on this forum one guy did the same thing twice, and he said he knew what he was doing so it does happen. Maybe you could start again with just several fish at first. Please don't be discouraged. Us newbies have to start somewhere and we won't do anything that hasn't been done before.
 
#20 · (Edited)
The absolute moral of this sad story is that you must ALWAYS recheck equipment after making changes. As for CO2, I recheck in ten minutes AND again in an hour or two. Clean the filter? Come back in five minutes to make sure it is working and there are no leaks. Many of us have made this mistake; what matters most is if you learn from it.

I am not sure you need to mess with CO2 on this tank at all. Why bother? See the low tech forum show and tell thread and ask yourself if you really need the extra wrok and expense.
 
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