think of doing a african tank

I'm thinking of doing a african tank and don't know where to start.

do ineed a canister filter, or will a big wet/dry sump?
can i need dried up base rock thats been sitting out in the texas heat.
what are some colorful africans, are rusties colorful.
I like yellow labs what could i put with yellow labs?

DO IT! On my aquarium rentals in offices, I use a Marineland H.O.T filter or one of their new C-series filters with an 6 - 12 inch air stone under the gravel. Of course any brand filter will work. I use the air stone for the look it gives the tank, but if something happens to the filter the bubbles will help keep the fish alive. I also have a few 150 gallon tanks with wet-dry filters on them with a C-360 (Marineland) filter. Those tank run great. The base rock will work just fine too. (just cool it off. lol) I have tanks with reef sand in them. I also add crushed coral or reef sand to the gravel to help buffer the PH. I service the rental tanks every two weeks, so I only see them 2 day out of 30 with no problems.
Rusties are a goldy brown color with a slite purple tint to it when they get larger.
Most Mbunas are colorful. Some of them are solid in color or they have stripes or blotches. Yellow labs will go with the Rusties. The male Peacocks and Haps have the most color. Good luck and go for it!

how much holey rock will i need, and peacocks and haps can go together.

plantedtankdude wrote:

how much holey rock will i need, and peacocks and haps can go together.

Unfortunately I have not used holey rock so I can not recommend the amount you would need. Yes, Peacocks and Haps can go together.

dont think just do :D

xrickyhoangx wrote:

dont think just do :D

and kill fish not knowing what lake can go with what... I'm suprized david or kory hasn't replied aren't they the local african cichlid people...

Joey you can use as much holey rock as you want. Its reall more of a personal preference. Use a couple of big canisters and a large air pump with a couple of airstones attached. I have over 30 tropheus/petrochromis in my 120 and they are all fine with this setup. Just stick to the weekly 50% water changes and all will be good.

Terry wrote:

Joey you can use as much holey rock as you want. Its reall more of a personal preference. Use a couple of big canisters and a large air pump with a couple of airstones attached. I have over 30 tropheus/petrochromis in my 120 and they are all fine with this setup. Just stick to the weekly 50% water changes and all will be good.

cool, what about lighting, just normal 10k and a antic like joe did?
i have a 75 i could use, or a nice bigt 120 cube. (4x2x2) i could use only think is the 120 has a hole in the back for a bulk head, that's why i was ask if a wet dry would work, do i could go straight down to the wet/dry then use a pond pump as the return........

Use the wet dry and put crushed coral in the sump. This will help with buffering the water. There are many ways to get the water the way you need it if that is your concern. Africans are pretty easy to keep. I have seen many diffrent african tanks and it really depends on what you are looking for. A lot of factors come into play like colors, male to female ratios, and so on.

I've always used wet/dry filters on my African tanks. A good idea is to also use a canister on one, to aid in polishing the water. So, wet/dry for good biological filtration, canister for good mechanical/water polishing filtration.

Your cube tank doesn't sound very enticing to Africans, they like to have room to spread out and run. The 75 might actually be better. Africans don't spend too much time in the mid and upper sections of the tank, they tend to spend there time near the rocks and driftwood. Build lots of little caves and hiding spots, by stacking and staggering rocks.

The thing to really consider, even though they are small and cute in the stores, the average adult size of an African can be 5" and bigger. Aggression can also be multiplied during breeding time, I had some Melanochromis Johanni that were fairly docile, until breeding time. The male would actually kill other fish during this time.

Electric Yellows are still aggressive, just not as aggressive as alot of the mbuna. They can stand up for themselves, and usually don't just go on a full tank assault, this makes them good tank mates for practically anything African. Pick your yellows wisely, there are so many strains out there that are 'watered down' and overly inbred. Baby yellows should be VERY bright, and any males in the tank should have a jet black stripe on it's fin, look for a lack of stripes on the body, and no white belly. This should insure that your adult yellows will also look their best.

For colorful Africans.... You can't beat most Haps, Peacocks and Victorians. I'd say that Peacocks and Vics can even rival saltwater fish in their coloration. Just try to find these from a local breeder, so that you can see what the parents look like, and you can avoid possible hybrids from the petstores.

I personally stay away from mbuna, but that's me.

post photos....... what are the ones that are yellow with blue spots...

plantedtankdude wrote:

post photos....... what are the ones that are yellow with blue spots...

I'm not sure, the first fish that comes to mind would be the Hap Venustus, but those are yellow with brown spots.

They also get far too big for either of the tanks you mentioned.

Using Holey Rock in "MOST" water doesn't absolutely nothing to raise the PH contrary to popular belief. If anything it buffers and helps maintain the PH level. If you have very low PH you will raise it slightly... If you have high PH you will keep it high longer. If you have average ph you will keep it average longer. If you live in TExas you don' "Need" any holey rock for PH levels only looks or hiding places! Holey rock is great to have but not required.

As far as what africans to get it really depends on your goals. Do you want to breed? Are you looking for color and beauty? Do you want all male tank? Peacock?, Mbuna? I mean really there aren't a bunch of limits. So say you can't mix certain lakes... I say you can. Some say bettas don't go with cichlids, I know they shouldn't but I've seen it work. Honestly you should proabaly visit some fish stores or check out some fish tank set ups on some fish sites and get an idea on what you want. Then play with it and be ready to make changes. Yellow labs are a great starter fish, they get abused by many types of fish so that needs to be considered. Just take all the advise you get and be prepared for somethings to work for you and somethings aren't going to work... most of all have patience and be prepared to try things out!

Congrats and don't spend a bunch of money at the fish stores, most stuff can be gotten at landscape companies and home depot for 1/4 of the cost!

JB

you dont need anything to special as far as filters go, all my tanks have emp 400. you can pretty much keep anything with yellow labs but be careful as they will breed with alot of other africans. what color fish do you want, do you want it to look like salt water colors, really any male african is going to be colorful unless he's not domenite but still has color.

I want to go real bright and colorful, i was at the fish gallery today and i lost my self looking at all the africans they had.... i would say my goal is bright and beautful color...

That's how my tank is, I tried to get every different color I can find. I have all kinds of different Africans

plantedtankdude wrote:

I want to go real bright and colorful, i was at the fish gallery today and i lost my self looking at all the africans they had.... i would say my goal is bright and beautful color...

they are so over priced and most of the fish do not even look all that great or like they should. i would recommend individuals on this site or www.davesfish.com. you will pay less and get much better quality.

Holey Rock of Texas wrote:

plantedtankdude wrote:

I want to go real bright and colorful, i was at the fish gallery today and i lost my self looking at all the africans they had.... i would say my goal is bright and beautful color...

they are so over priced and most of the fish do not even look all that great or like they should. i would recommend individuals on this site or www.davesfish.com. you will pay less and get much better quality.

it kind of seemed that what, i do think the plant and driftwood prices are a good price. plus i get a 15% discount with my dfwapc card.

i'll look at the davesfish, or come talk to you -david, or kory.

would a wet/dry sump work, and for lighting 4vho bulbs. 2 10k and 2 antics.
then just fine lime stone rock etc...

Almost all of our 42 tanks are on wet/dry sumps . And most of our fishes come from either Africa or So. America. Just be sure to do water changes weekly and be sure to clean the bottom gravel(sand,stone,etc.)
Ray

Take your time is the golden rule
Trawl the net and get yourself a list of fish you like and see if they are compatible
Check out breeders and try and see pics of the parents as inbreeding will make the fish look rubbish as they grow
Mbuna need a 4ft long tank and haps around 6ft , sorry but I look at tanks in length height etc as I am in Scotland
If u put them in a smaller tank it won't be nice
Over filter and at least 50% water change weekly
I do a 75% water change and I have a big tank with a sump
Mbuna are very active and smooth rock is best
I think u call it Texas holly rock
Also buffer the water ph up with salts if u need to
Hope this helps
Some pics of mine in show and tell section

thanks, because i have a 75g tank. 4 feet long by 18 wide and 21 tall and I have a wet dry sump rated for up to a 75g tank.... i can get rock for a dollar a pound through texas holey rock.

I use holey rock in my tanks as I like the appearance, but also it gives the fish the "Cave" effect they desire.
Also I've found that when there is some aggression going on (and you will get aggression at times) the holes make excellent escape routes for smaller fish to dash through. Quite often with the minor aggression, out of sight is out of mind, with cichlids.
Finally, I also noticed that when they were smaller, I bought mine about 3/4 inch long, as I like to watch them grow up and develop, then the caves in some of the rocks were used as sleeping zones.

As for filtration, I work on the idea that I cannot over filter, I work on taking the Filter manufacturers quoted gallon capacity, and then run between double and triple filtartion to the size of the tank, so on my M'buna 55G tank I'm actually running 2 canister filters with a total manufacturers capacity of about 150G.
Apart from the back up of a second filter if one breaksdown, this also means that when I do a change/clean of one canister the second is still full of healthy bacteria if I mess up.