RE-scaped 55 gallon

[Wydukey1991]

Well I re-scaped my 55 gallon Cichlid aquarium.....tell me what you think


DONT hold back, I WANT to hear it ALL
ask me questions, make suggestions, criticize me


Tank currently consists of

Livestock:
Four Wild Silver Angelfish
Three Jack Dempseys
Two Asian Black Upside-Down Catfish
Two Red Zebra
Two Elongatus Cichlids
One Nimbochromis Fuscotaeniatus?
One Chilumba Peacock
One Pike Cichlid
One Pleco
One Electric Blue Johannii
One OB Slim Blueberry Cichlid

Equipment:
Aqua-Tech 330gph HOB filter
Top-Fin 200gph HOB filter
Two penguin Biowheel 125gph HOB filters
300 watt heater
Powerhead for water circulation
air bubbles for looks
Two 40 watt fluorescent lights

 

[jonclark96]

The tank looks nice but unfortunately I don't know if you stocking will work out in the long term. I'd pick either New Worlds or Old Worlds, but not both. I can't really comment on the compatibility of the africans, as they are not my forte, but with the new worlds, I think that you will eventually find that the angels cannot hang with the dempseys and the pike from an aggression stand point.

The easy solution is to set up more tanks. That's what I did.

 

[Wydukey1991]

thats just one of my 15 current tanks, also my nicest looking lol. the angels are in there so the aggressive cichlids can take their aggression out on them instead of each other. the jack dempseys are just in there temp til i find someone that wants them. i only have them left over from trying to get a breeding pair which are now in the original JD tank with the fry. the pike gets along great with everything except the OB Slim for a few hours after putting them back in after re-scaping the tank.

 

[Tony]

the angels are in there so the aggressive cichlids can take their aggression out on them instead of each other.

Man, that's kind of a waste. I'll happily trade you some other mbuna or rainbow fish for your wild angels. They make much better dithers/target fish and it's only a matter of time before the angels get killed by the other tank mates.

Being Jon's African counterpart, I'll comment on those guys. Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus gets *way* too big and aggressive for a 55 (or 75 in my experience). Looking a bit at your pic though, I'd say it's either a N. livingstoni or a N. polystigma (which unfortunately are not that less aggressive than a fusco). Also, that peacock will likely get whooped on by the mbuna and the fusco. Then you've got the issue of inevitable hybridization between all those single/paired fish...

Even without the new world fish, you've sort of got three different genre of non-compatible Africans going on in there. Personally, I'd lose the fusco, the peacock, all the new world stuff and add to your mbuna groups. If you wanted to go with Africans, it's the move you can do with the least number of rehoused fish and will be suitable for that tank size.

The tank does look great though.

Sorry for the criticism. Wouldn't have been so honest if you didn't insist upon it.

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

Man, that's kind of a waste. I'll happily trade you some other mbuna or rainbow fish for your wild angels. They make much better dithers/target fish and it's only a matter of time before the angels get killed by the other tank mates.

Being Jon's African counterpart, I'll comment on those guys. Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus gets *way* too big and aggressive for a 55 (or 75 in my experience). Looking a bit at your pic though, I'd say it's either a N. livingstoni or a N. polystigma (which unfortunately are not that less aggressive than a fusco). Also, that peacock will likely get whooped on by the mbuna and the fusco. Then you've got the issue of inevitable hybridization between all those single/paired fish...

Even without the new world fish, you've sort of got three different genre of non-compatible Africans going on in there. Personally, I'd lose the fusco, the peacock, all the new world stuff and add to your mbuna groups. If you wanted to go with Africans, it's the move you can do with the least number of rehoused fish and will be suitable for that tank size.

The tank does look great though.

Sorry for the criticism. Wouldn't have been so honest if you didn't insist upon it.

DITTO ON THE FISH. NICE LOOKING TANK THOUGH.

 

[Avatar]

You asked for it mate..

The rocks look stacked - and obviously so. I always imagine that the trick is to make any hardscape assemblage of wood, rocks, plants, etc. look as natural as possible. Looking at what you have to work with I'd go with asymmetric groupings based on color and characteristics, like shoving all the holey rock off to one side on its own in a small cluster and working up the other solid pieces into some sort of edifice mid-center of the opposite side. Lose anything that doesn't fit in or looks like it doesn't belong with he rest and Voila! - less is more.

That's just me mind you - I'm happiest with my own tanks when they begin to resemble what I might expect to see if was looking at an underwater habitat somewhere (albeit one with slightly clearer water than you generally see in nature).

Am with Tony & RUCKUS on the fish - you must not be doing water chemistry or if you are either your Rift species or your Angels aren't likely as happy as they could be given the difference in respective optimal water parameters. You should move them lest you lose them or trade them for something more compatible with the others. Course with 15 tanks could be all you really need to do is a little creative movement and harmonization.

Long as you (and your fish) are having fun it's all good.

 

[Tony]

Long as you (and your fish) are having fun it's all good.

+1.

 

[Wydukey1991]

let me just say real quick that this is more of a "catch all" tank where everything is mixed because it cant go with other breeders and such

-Tony...i had my 30 or so F2 silver angels listed in marketplace a week or 2 ago.... if u want to make a trade shoot me an offer. they are about 2 - 2 and a half inches currently

and i thought it was N. livingstoni too but the bag i got them in at the november meeting was labeled Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus so thats what i put it as (still have labeled bag and i just checked it)

-Avatar...i was thinking about doing something along the lines of grouping the rock but the way my mind was working at the time was to have some sort of hiding spot avail all the way across the tank. the "stacked" rocks arnt just stacked, i took 45 mins to set it up so there is at least 1-2 hiding spots for each fish and may i add that it is poss for all the fish to swim behind/thru all of the rocks. as for my chem....i run a (mostly) stable ph of 8.0 w/ a 0.2 change for a few hours after water changes and near 0 ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.


**THANKS Tony, Ruckus, and Avatar for the input**

 

[Wydukey1991]

everything is mixed because it CANT go with other breeders and such

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

I GOT YA ITS YOUR "HOLDING/GROW OUT TANK.

 

[Wydukey1991]

mainly holding tank and one/two of a species tank lol but it also has some "wow" factor/"show" tank to it as well since its right inside the front door in the living room lol not with the other 13 tanks in my bedroom aka my "fish room" haha

 

[Wydukey1991]

Update: the three jack dempseys are gone and out of this tank. =)