Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this is a 75 gallon tank that was given to me in exchange for some mice and rats. I decided to turn it into an african cichlid tank. This is it after I put the crushed coral down and set my cave system up. Let me know what you all think about it.

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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

>>this is a 75 gallon tank that was given to me in exchange for some mice and rats. I decided to turn it into an african cichlid tank. This is it after I put the crushed coral down and set my cave system up. Let me know what you all think about it.

Please tell me your rock base is sitting on something other than crushed coral. In my old rift tank I made the mistake of placing all of the rocks/caves on the sand base. As with all African Cichlids mine decided the sand needed to move. And down came the wall. Bad way to lose fish. Just one note of caution.

None the less it looks good. Would love to get back into African Cichlids but alas Fish Tanks are harder to move than Reptile enclosures so I am sticking with those for now. Enjoy both Hobbies as long as you can.
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's -Coming Soon-
0.1 Albino RTB -Coming Soon-
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's -Coming Soon-
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

i haven't as of yet, I just placed the rocks in there with no water as of yet. I was thinking of placing a small bead of aquarium silicon to fasten the rock system together so nothing would come tumbling down. I will probably do that tomorrow and thanks for the advice, I almost thought the rocks were to heavy for the fish to move but didn't think about them digging the sand from under the base rocks.
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

>>I will probably do that tomorrow and thanks for the advice, I almost thought the rocks were to heavy for the fish to move but didn't think about them digging the sand from under the base rocks.

I had a Breeding pair of johanni that were horrible about the bottom of the wall. When I fixxed my mistake I made a base of 2" PVC each 5" long along the entire back wall. The rock was then stacked on this and the sand filled the bottom of the tank. That way when they dug down they tunneled into the pipe without disturbing the rocks.

I never bothered siliconing or fastening the racks in any way. I was always one to re-arrange the tank every 6 months to eliminate terriorial aggression to a point. Everything was fine till I joined the service and gave it all up. Now I am back into reptiles and havn't caught the fish bug.........yet!

Enjoy, Looks good so far!
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's -Coming Soon-
0.1 Albino RTB -Coming Soon-
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's -Coming Soon-
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

It looks great but like the other person said some cichlids will dig and the rock can fall but all you have to do is just set the rocks first than pour the sand in this way the rocks wont tumble as the base is resting on the tank bottom.
If you get small types of African cichlids its impossible for them to move any rocks and some arent diggers anyway.
Its great looking set up. I have yellow "lab" cichlids . Those will be perfectly fine in your set up as is so will julies among so many other types .

I'm actually looking to set it up as a hap/peacock tank so they will all probably get in the 5-9" range, at least the ones I'm looking into getting. The sand was poored in first but the base rocks are burried into the substrate to the glass. I'm thinking that a small bead of aquarium silicone will do the trick to prevent any of the rocks from falling, and I'm not one to re-arrange my tanks, only time will tell though if the silicone will work. All the base rocks are very heavy large river rocks that I'm sure the fish won't be able to move. I'm still another month from putting fish in the tank as my filters still haven't came in. I'm running 2 aquaclear 500's in the tank with 2 foam cartriges and 1 carbon cartrige in each filter. From the fish people I've talked to, I will need to put at least 25-30 fish in the tank to prevent too much gang-up aggresion.
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

When I started my tank I bought 30 1" Cichlids assumming some would die off and I would be left with a happy mixture. I was wrong I ended up with 28 3" long fish in a 55 within 3 months. Luckly my homemade filiter was large enough to handle a 100gal tank. They all lived happily and even breed for nearly a year before I left for the service.
Good Luck Fish are Fasinating
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's -Coming Soon-
0.1 Albino RTB -Coming Soon-
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's -Coming Soon-
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

Peacocks are great looking real pretty .Haps I know very little about .
Some peacocks looks like saltwater fish as you know . 2- aquaclear 500s will move a lot of water should be nice.
With 2 you can really rinse out one of the sponges alternate months as the other will hold bacteria well. I use Emperor 400 and an Eheim canister but love the aquaclears to.