240 gall Reef to Cichlid

gliebig

gliebig

Members
I'm getting tired of my reef tank and want to try something new.
Specs of my current tank:
240gal Glass Cages- 60"x36"x24".
Two 1 1/2" overflows which drain into a Glass Cages 90gal wide sump.
Currently have 2x400watt halides
Two vortech pumps
Mag18 return

The tank is built in wall and viewable from the front and left side
Here are some semi-recent pics:

greg001.jpg

gregshom.jpg



I want to make this a really good looking show tank. The first dilema I have is finding one of these 3D backgrounds. The ones I want, I can't find and other designs aren't much easier to find.

Here are the choices I have of the one's that I found are availble:

1. Rocky1.
+Would fit my tank well because it's thin on the left side..
- Kinda boring. Not as much depth


2. Malawi.
+I really like the look of this one the most. A lot of depth and overhangs which is good for my 36" deep tank.
- It's not going to look good from the side where it's siliconed because it sticks out so far.


3. Tanganyika.
+I think it would fit up against the side pretty good.
- I'm kinda luke warm about the overall styling, but it's nice.
tanganyika.jpg


4. Ledge.
+I think this one would also fit pretty good against the side.
- Not sure about the finish and color on this one.


The main issue I'm having is that my tank is viewable from the left side. I'm tying to minimize the uglieness of the left side where it would be siliconed to the side. I want to avoid painting the side of the tank or even covering up with something. Since this is the first side you see coming down my stairs, I want it to look nice.
My favorite of the group is the Malawi, but it is also the one that would be "ugliest" on the viewable side.

I found one person who has the Malawi on thier tank and this is how they covered it up:

tank10.jpg


I'm trying to aviod doing it this way. Love to hear some ideas on how to get around this if possible.

I will also be downgrading my 400wt halides to either 250's or 175's. I'm just wondering if 175's would light the tank enough? The bulbs are hung in large lumenarc pendants about 10" above the tank.

That's about all I have for now. I'm sure I'll have all kinds of filtration/plumbing questions once I get things moving.

Thanks for looking!

-Greg
 
cabinetmkr39

cabinetmkr39

DavidG / CCA Member
Welcome to the Forum

Hey Greg , It was nice to meet you last weekend. Welcome to the forum ,If you have time this Saturday your welcome to come to the meeting as my guess. Good luck with the 240 so many choices.
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
I think background #3 will look awesome with the MH. How many MH do you plan on using? Three 250w MH should do nice, I think the 175w’s on a 240g will not produce enough light and your tank will be on the gloomy side. Keep us posted!
 
gliebig

gliebig

Members
cabinetmkr39 said:
Hey Greg , It was nice to meet you last weekend. Welcome to the forum ,If you have time this Saturday your welcome to come to the meeting as my guess. Good luck with the 240 so many choices.
Click to expand...


Nice meeting you as well. I'll try to make it to some meetings, but I'm horrible at planning my time.:lol: I think this Saturday, I'm going to start breaking down the reef. I don't mind letting it go, except for my yellow tang (Woodstock), I've had him for almost 8 years. I'm sure I'll find a good home for him.

I think background #3 will look awesome with the MH. How many MH do you plan on using? Three 250w MH should do nice, I think the 175w’s on a 240g will not produce enough light and your tank will be on the gloomy side. Keep us posted!
Click to expand...
I'll most likely do 2x250 halides. Since the tank is only 5ft long, I can easily get away with only running 2bulbs with the pendants I have. (Thankfully. Eat it BGE.)

 
Rasta Fish

Rasta Fish

CCA Members
Have you decide what Malawi cichlids your going to put in the tank?
I think 3D back are nice but they take up too much space in the tank
and i think its safe to say we can never have enough tank space.
there are many Malawi cichlids to choose from and once your hooked on cichlids your going to want more and more tank space.
 
gliebig

gliebig

Members
From the little bit of searching that I've been doing, I'm liking the mbunas (how is that pronounced?) and the peacocks. I'm interested in keeping smaller sized fish.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Hi Greg. If you're doing mbuna, you're going to want real rocks in the tank as well to form a network of caves for them to swim through... which in a 3' x 5' footprint, should be ridiculous!

Keep this in mind though when selecting a background... you'll probably want to find rocks that sort of match the background (or make weighted down stryo rocks that match it).

I thought about putting one of these manufactured backgrounds or a DIY background on my 180 Malawi setup and finally realized that a painted black background with real rocks was easier/more flexible/much cheaper in the end.

Just a thought. Either way, it's gonna be awesome. I'm really excited for you.
 
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Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
gliebig said:
I guess that's the next thing on my list. Where are good places to find rocks for our tanks?
Click to expand...

To stock something like that, I'd go to a nursery and try to fins some landscaping pieces you like. Some folks use rock called Texas Holey Rock, which is really nice, but would cost you a small fortune to stock a tank that size.

Billy Rocket said:
Hi Greg, I see you found the site. Are discus out of the plan?
Click to expand...

There you go again, Bill.... ruining all my fun. ;)

Actually, considering the lighting you plan on using, a new world community in a planted tank would be pretty nice.

I think Africans would be more fun, but I'm sort of partial....
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Greg,

Here's a couple of links on another forum for DIY backgrounds. I think this would be the only way to eliminate your main issue about viewing from the side.

The first is a compilation of build threads and the second is a new thread that someone posted about reasons against 3-D backgrounds (there weren't too many reasons). I learned a lot about backgrounds from the first thread last year when I was considering building one.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=99515

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=218971

DIY is a lot of work, but would be worth it if you're willing to put in the effort.

Nice striper over the tank, btw.
 
gliebig

gliebig

Members
I thought about making my own, but I'm not remotely handy. I hung a towel rack the other day after having it sit in a box for 4 years. Hasn't fallen down yet, though!
I was thinking about getting a premade background and trying to DIY just the left side.? It probably wouldn't match perfectly, but since it's just a small part viewed from the side....
All I know is that I found my 1st gray hair this morning. I think I know what's causing it. lol.
 
chris_todd

chris_todd

Members
Greg, this is going to be really cool, please keep us posted, and take lots of pictures! Keep in mind, if you want to do a planted SA tank, GWAPA is a local club where you could learn everything you need to know (and get any plant you might want in their auctions or direct from members).

I have had decent luck getting rocks at the stone store out by BWI (http://www.thestonestore.com/).
 
gliebig

gliebig

Members
So I was reading up on some different species today and I was like - mbunas, yeah I'll do those, then I looked at peacocks and I thought maybe these, then I looked at haplochromines and those look sweet too. :eek:
I don't know what to do. How would you guys stock this tank? Is it possible to do all males since I'm not interested in them doinking?:wub:
 
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