Vincebus - aka: Anthony from Taneytown, MD

[Vincebus]

Hey all, just thought I'd finally join the forum here... I've had an Acie for a while, it's a nice fish to look at although a bit skittish at times and very territorial now that it seems to be past the juvenile stage. My tank has a mirrored back and it seems to be competing with the other fish in the mirror. It will open it's mouth wide and wiggle then swim away... I guess it's maybe intimidating itself? Not sure but, it seems to be getting used to the surroundings of his 44 gallon home instead of the 10 he started in...

I would like to introduce some rock into the tank soon so it can have more hiding places and whatnot but, it's so darn expensive. I have a broken clay pot and some artificial plants for it to hide around/behind right now. I am half-tempted to get some river stones and maybe some of the limestone from the Hagerstown valley (I'm a field tech so, i'm always running over that way) and put those in since it will cost the labor to wash and clean them instead of some of the prices the shops charge for rock... I'd rather save the money for other supplies or fish.

Like I said, I have a 44 gal hex

Water params are:

PH - 8.2ppm (Water is pretty hard @ 250+)
N03 - 0 - 20ppm
N02 - 0ppm

I add salt per instructions on the carton and do weekly 5% water changes. The prams seem okay per what I've read about the African Cichlids...

I'm using just a plain old black aquarium gravel, the fish moves it around wherever it feels..

I run a sponge filter/power head combo, I've been using the sponge filter method for a while, bought one that would work in the bigger tank and I added the power head to see how that would work out. I could always go back to the air stone if it's too much for the tank, however, it doesn't seem to be at this point.

Anyway, that's about all I could think of at the moment to type so... Here we go!

Anthony

 

[jonclark96]

Welcome to the forum.

As for decorations for the tank, buy rocks at the pet store is about the most expensive option out there. There's nothing wrong with getting "wild" rocks, just make sure to clean them up well before adding them to your tank. You can also pick stuff up from landscaping suppliers or stone supplier (I like Irwin stone). They sell river rock by the ton, so it is literally pennies for a few softball sized rocks.

What other fish do you have in the tank? Although your water parameters look healthy, most would recommend larger water chagnes. I personally do between 40% and 60% on all my tanks on a (mostly) weekly basis.

 

[Vincebus]

Just the one Acie at this time. I'm apprehensive to put any more in till I get some more rocks and whatnot in there. This is the first one I've had and not sure how it will act around another since it's been by itself for a long time... I actually end up changing about 15 gallons or so out a week from the tank, a bit more with my 75 gal community but, I've done it this way for a while and the parameters seem to stay within the expectable range. I assume the single fish just isn't taxing the filtration as much as a few would...

 

[cichlidaddicted]

Buying stone is very silly. depending on your preference the sky is the limit and all for free to pennies at most. I am a stone mason so every piece in my tank has come off the scrap pile (about 75 lbs). Most quarries or landscape suppliers would probably find it a bigger hastle to weigh and price a few lbs than to just give it to you if your friendly with them. Ime the more rock in the tank the more comfortable the fish are. This will reduce stress which is a major contributing factor in the health of a fish. If you do add fish I would add or rearange your rock at the same time because your fish has been alone and rightly believes the tank is his. I agree you should bump up filtration if not you will need to bump up your water changes to about 25% twice a week. Rest assure that if you do run into a problem you can get the best advice around from the members here. Good luck

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[Vincebus]

I was leaning more towards getting a tank-mate once I got the rock(s) in there...

Nice to know that I'm not alone in my thinking, about buying rock to put in ones aquarium. When there's plenty for the picking just out the front door... I'll be sure to hit you guys up when I run into any issues. The forum looks packed full of great information!

Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[Tony]

Welcome aboard. Nice name.

+1 on what the guys said about the rocks. I was keeping almost all Malawi cichlids at one point (25 or so tanks full of them) and all my tanks were heavily rocked up - mostly with rocks I found on the side of the road.

On stocking your tank, density is key to its success. Because of their relatively high aggression, good luck can be had with either a very light stocking or a heavy stocking. Stocking "in the middle" generally results in violence.

For example, if there are just a few fish, each can have their own territory and all is fine. If you overstock, there are enough fish in the tank that the aggressor will start chasing someone and either get distracted by others or lose the fish in the crowd. In the middle however, there is not enough territory for all the fish and not enough traffic in the tank for a fish being harassed to escape.

I am not sure what the dimensions of your tank are, but if it were me, I'd pick up rock, add it (very densely) and at the same time, introduce another 8 or so mbuna. You will have better success doing this than adding them a couple at a time. The change in decor in the tank will put the dominant fish out of his comfort zone a bit.

If you did add 8 fish though, I would certainly consider getting some sort of power filter. Aquaclear hang-on-back filters are my preference.

Anyway, welcome to the forum. Feel free to ask questions and definitely try to make it to a meeting some time. In fact, I'm giving a talk on my collecting trip to Peru tomorrow!

Cheers.

 

[Vincebus]

hah.. nice, thanks... I was talking with one of my co-workers that either is or was a member of your club. He was telling me the same exact thing. I think (like you said) I'm just going to rock the heck out of the Hex tank and see about getting some more tank mates for it... I'll probably have to do some serious water changes every week until I get another filter to keep up with the environment. I have an aquaclear powerhead running on top of a sponge filter at the moment which is okay but I know the bio load will increase dramaticly once a bunch more bodies are added...

I'll have to maybe hit one of the meetings soon, is it in a centralized area or is it close to DC? Not a huge fan of driving down that way (if I can at all help it..).

 

[Localzoo]

Welcome
I'm pretty new also. theses guys...and gals are all really nice and knowledgeable. So far all the advice given is spot on as to aggression rocks and bumping up water changes. Only concern would be the broken flower pot did it ever have anything in it? I ask bc of how porous it is it will absorb fertilizer and slowly release it into the water...I got a bunch from Home Depot for free they had broken and were going to be tossed so be creative and keep an eye out..
Most important have fun and don't hesitate to ask questions


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[Hannibal]

Welcome to the club! If you ever get out to Hampstead let me know and you can swing by my house and check out my tanks if you want to get an idea on "rocking up" a tank. I might have some fish for you as well if you wanted some.

Also, as far as meetings go, I attend most of them so if you ever wanted to meet up you could ride down with me if you did not want to drive.

 

[Vincebus]

Sharing a ride to a meeting sounds great, also sounds like the next one won't be till January sadly. I don't get up to Hampstead but once in a while. My work keeps me going mostly West and South-West towards Frederick/Hagerstown areas and it's been really busy as of late... Don't really have much of a reason to head up that way unless it's for work. Who knows, might just get a visit from me some day...