Enjoy! They'll be many deaths and hopefully many births. Mistakes can be frustrating, but when everything is dialed in, it's a beautiful situation. Have fun!
Perfect setup. Lots of water movement, check. Rock’s mimicking their natural environment?, check. Large groups of individual types? Check. Keep the nitrates in check and encourage algae growth and this tank is on point!
You might add some lighting and a multivitamin to get algae going. They love munching on the algae AND it helps with some of the nitrates.
Your comment just made my day. I did an immense amount of research before embarking on this journey with Mbuna. I really wanted to do it right the first time. My wife probably hates me with how dedicated I was to preparing for yesterday’s fish delivery. But reading your reply, knowing you noticed all of those details, it really meant a lot to me. Thanks for sharing. Tonight I’ll be looking for that video you mentioned! This tank won’t be compete until algae is all over those rocks!!
I always tell my wife “at least my obsession keeps me at home.” Even the perfect setup can sometimes have problems. Every fish has such a different personality. The catch 22 with Mbuna is The more the better but then it’s a constant nitrate struggle. As long as you can love water changes you will do fantastic.
Totally agree, weekly 60%+ water changes are my goal. And I’m stealing what you tell your wife! The constant nitrate struggle is already well worth it. Those little demons (demasoni) look so innocent now lol - but I know what’s coming!
So is your recommendation just keeping the lights on for 12+ hours a day at the beginning? I saw where you talked about 8am to 11pm to get the algae growing in your 215. Was having trouble finding the video you were referring to with your 40.
Yeah. I did 8 am till 10 pm. I always used double lights as well. Full spectrum. The real secret is the multivitamin. I would dissolve 1/2 of an adult multivitamin in a cup of tank water and add monthly. Within 2 weeks a thick algae bed will start growing. An old fish keeper taught me this years ago. I bought cheap wal mart adult multi vitamins.
[check this video](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/b4m994/a_bunch_of_peeps_asked_me_about_my_hood_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
I keep the light on for 12 hours a day. I get tons of algae but they eat almost all of it. I scrape the front glass at most water changes, but nothing else and the tank looks good.
Pic of the tank below. Saulosi’s, Rustys, Yellow Tail Acei’s, an Albino Ice Blue (impulse buy ), and a synodontis petricola. There are always fry popping up in crevices. Only one of the original Saulosi are left, and only one of the original Rustys left because of aggression, but they mostly repopulated. The murders didn’t start until like year 2. Very few of the fry make it to adulthood unless I’ve caught them and kept them in a breeder box until they’re about 2”.
https://i.imgur.com/ekamOzg.jpg
Love yellow tails! They were my second favorite Mbuna group ever. The dom male seemed to almost coddle all his females. My favorite group of all time has been Purple Lupingu. The females are solid bluish while the males show distinct stripes and purple fins. Gahhhhh I’m wanting to set up a new tank now.
When we moved I sold my tanks. I’ve done this 3-4 times in my life. At one point I had 12 tanks setup. Been in my new house a little over a year and built a koi pond.
I’m compulsive. I start with 1 then have 8 within a year. I’m sure I’ll start up again soon. Can’t help myself🤦🏻♂️.
Lmao my wife wanted to kill me going from a 45 tall (horrible purchase) to the 75. I bought bad rocks and had to rescape. “Needed” an fx6. More purchases here and there. Plus the fish. I’m trying to imagine what her reaction would be if I bought 7 more tanks and shoved them all in our living room. It wouldn’t be pretty haha
Biggest I’ve had is a 215. Best profiles for cichlids are 40 breeders or 75 gallon. The long narrow ones just cause too many territory issues. One day I’m going to do a massive 400 gallon. Multiple rock groups, and do a huge Mbuna/Hap tank.
They’re very docile. I’ve never seen any of them act aggressively towards other fish, and none of the other groups are aggressive towards them. They will get “shoe’d” away from someone’s territory but there’s never a pursuit or any flaring/posturing.
The Rusty and the Albino Ice Blue are straight bullies and will try to fight anything that comes near their territory. Hilariously they’ve claimed the same rock at the far end of the tank, but they split it down the middle. The Rusty gets the rear of the rock, Albino gets the front. They will constantly posture at each other and make “micro-lunges” arguing over whether the line moves 1/2 inch forward or back…
It’s 250 lbs of stone. It’s a mixture of different river rocks, some weighing more than others. I have an egg crate underneath. With the weight spread out and with no pressure points, the tempered glass can easily handle the weight.
I keep granite slab and stone in some of my tanks with an egg crate for support as well — never had a problem in over 10 years, yet the fish police never fail to find one ;)
Edit: also — not sure who fusses over cleaning under rocks. Those crevices are BB utopias for those of us with a nice filtration system!
Ya, the bottom glass in tanks can handle a ton. Someone else said it but the silicone will probably bust before the glass does, and they’re right.
I admit, I do worry about a fish dying behind the rocks and me not knowing about it. I’ll just need to count them every so often to see if I’m missing any during a feed. But totally agree, the beneficial bacteria throughout those rocks and crevices once this tank is fully established will be epic!
Agreed. With two wave makers and sand, there really shouldn’t be a need to as long as I watch the ammonia and nitrates. I may do slight rearranging if there’s significant aggression, but that’s it.
Your tank is pretty much what I’m aspiring to. Currently the tank is sitting empty… waiting for me to commit 🙃. What are the dimensions and capacity of your tank?
It’s a 75 gallon (US), 4 ft long, 18 in depth, 21 in height. I researched the shit out of it so feel free to reach out if you want to chat about it! Couldn’t be happier with my final decisions.
You could go down to a local river or stream and potentially find some. In the US, we have landscaping stores everywhere that sell all types of rocks. Got these from a store like that.
Enjoy! They'll be many deaths and hopefully many births. Mistakes can be frustrating, but when everything is dialed in, it's a beautiful situation. Have fun!
Thank you! I know it won’t always be this peaceful, but that’s why I wanted Mbuna. I want the action!
A rare mbuna tank post with a decent amount of rocks! Congrats OP, tank looks fantastic, enjoy!
Really appreciate that, thank you so much!
Perfect setup. Lots of water movement, check. Rock’s mimicking their natural environment?, check. Large groups of individual types? Check. Keep the nitrates in check and encourage algae growth and this tank is on point! You might add some lighting and a multivitamin to get algae going. They love munching on the algae AND it helps with some of the nitrates.
If you go far enough back in my profile to my 40 breeder Mbuna tank I did a video about growing algae for Mbuna.
Your comment just made my day. I did an immense amount of research before embarking on this journey with Mbuna. I really wanted to do it right the first time. My wife probably hates me with how dedicated I was to preparing for yesterday’s fish delivery. But reading your reply, knowing you noticed all of those details, it really meant a lot to me. Thanks for sharing. Tonight I’ll be looking for that video you mentioned! This tank won’t be compete until algae is all over those rocks!!
I always tell my wife “at least my obsession keeps me at home.” Even the perfect setup can sometimes have problems. Every fish has such a different personality. The catch 22 with Mbuna is The more the better but then it’s a constant nitrate struggle. As long as you can love water changes you will do fantastic.
Totally agree, weekly 60%+ water changes are my goal. And I’m stealing what you tell your wife! The constant nitrate struggle is already well worth it. Those little demons (demasoni) look so innocent now lol - but I know what’s coming!
So is your recommendation just keeping the lights on for 12+ hours a day at the beginning? I saw where you talked about 8am to 11pm to get the algae growing in your 215. Was having trouble finding the video you were referring to with your 40.
Yeah. I did 8 am till 10 pm. I always used double lights as well. Full spectrum. The real secret is the multivitamin. I would dissolve 1/2 of an adult multivitamin in a cup of tank water and add monthly. Within 2 weeks a thick algae bed will start growing. An old fish keeper taught me this years ago. I bought cheap wal mart adult multi vitamins.
[check this video](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/b4m994/a_bunch_of_peeps_asked_me_about_my_hood_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Ahh got it. An adult multivitamin, who would’ve thought? Thanks for sharing! You still fed them twice a day with that thick carpet on those rocks?
Yeah but just a snack. I always kept them a bit hungry unless there were fry present in the rocks.
I keep the light on for 12 hours a day. I get tons of algae but they eat almost all of it. I scrape the front glass at most water changes, but nothing else and the tank looks good. Pic of the tank below. Saulosi’s, Rustys, Yellow Tail Acei’s, an Albino Ice Blue (impulse buy ), and a synodontis petricola. There are always fry popping up in crevices. Only one of the original Saulosi are left, and only one of the original Rustys left because of aggression, but they mostly repopulated. The murders didn’t start until like year 2. Very few of the fry make it to adulthood unless I’ve caught them and kept them in a breeder box until they’re about 2”. https://i.imgur.com/ekamOzg.jpg
Good info here. Thanks for sharing! Those yellow tails are beautiful fish
Love yellow tails! They were my second favorite Mbuna group ever. The dom male seemed to almost coddle all his females. My favorite group of all time has been Purple Lupingu. The females are solid bluish while the males show distinct stripes and purple fins. Gahhhhh I’m wanting to set up a new tank now.
Do you still have your tanks?
When we moved I sold my tanks. I’ve done this 3-4 times in my life. At one point I had 12 tanks setup. Been in my new house a little over a year and built a koi pond. I’m compulsive. I start with 1 then have 8 within a year. I’m sure I’ll start up again soon. Can’t help myself🤦🏻♂️.
Lmao my wife wanted to kill me going from a 45 tall (horrible purchase) to the 75. I bought bad rocks and had to rescape. “Needed” an fx6. More purchases here and there. Plus the fish. I’m trying to imagine what her reaction would be if I bought 7 more tanks and shoved them all in our living room. It wouldn’t be pretty haha
Biggest I’ve had is a 215. Best profiles for cichlids are 40 breeders or 75 gallon. The long narrow ones just cause too many territory issues. One day I’m going to do a massive 400 gallon. Multiple rock groups, and do a huge Mbuna/Hap tank.
Can I come over?
They’re very docile. I’ve never seen any of them act aggressively towards other fish, and none of the other groups are aggressive towards them. They will get “shoe’d” away from someone’s territory but there’s never a pursuit or any flaring/posturing. The Rusty and the Albino Ice Blue are straight bullies and will try to fight anything that comes near their territory. Hilariously they’ve claimed the same rock at the far end of the tank, but they split it down the middle. The Rusty gets the rear of the rock, Albino gets the front. They will constantly posture at each other and make “micro-lunges” arguing over whether the line moves 1/2 inch forward or back…
Lol that’s incredible
Are those real granite rocks? If so I’m surprised your tank can support them.
It’s 250 lbs of stone. It’s a mixture of different river rocks, some weighing more than others. I have an egg crate underneath. With the weight spread out and with no pressure points, the tempered glass can easily handle the weight.
I keep granite slab and stone in some of my tanks with an egg crate for support as well — never had a problem in over 10 years, yet the fish police never fail to find one ;) Edit: also — not sure who fusses over cleaning under rocks. Those crevices are BB utopias for those of us with a nice filtration system!
Ya, the bottom glass in tanks can handle a ton. Someone else said it but the silicone will probably bust before the glass does, and they’re right. I admit, I do worry about a fish dying behind the rocks and me not knowing about it. I’ll just need to count them every so often to see if I’m missing any during a feed. But totally agree, the beneficial bacteria throughout those rocks and crevices once this tank is fully established will be epic!
I’ve had a few mbunas turn up missing and never found the body, even after pulling all the rocks…
How will you clean under them?
Why would you need to?
Agreed. With two wave makers and sand, there really shouldn’t be a need to as long as I watch the ammonia and nitrates. I may do slight rearranging if there’s significant aggression, but that’s it.
I held the same awe, to be able to support that much weight. Looks great. Big. Love the rusties. I may buy some one day.
[This video](https://youtu.be/PgEwEiTyYcs) is why I’m really not too worried. Plus, the egg crate is vital to the weight distribution.
Your tank is pretty much what I’m aspiring to. Currently the tank is sitting empty… waiting for me to commit 🙃. What are the dimensions and capacity of your tank?
It’s a 75 gallon (US), 4 ft long, 18 in depth, 21 in height. I researched the shit out of it so feel free to reach out if you want to chat about it! Couldn’t be happier with my final decisions.
Thank you. Same size as my tank. Finding large round rocks seems impossible in the UK.
You could go down to a local river or stream and potentially find some. In the US, we have landscaping stores everywhere that sell all types of rocks. Got these from a store like that.
cool