Help...and/or advise!! :)

I just rinsed the Florida sand for about 20 mins per bucket outside (you will see foam and muck come out, I just let the water run while mixing the sand in the bottom of a larger container until it was clear) and added it to my tank no cloudiness at all and settles fast.

you also have a higher volume canister than mine so not sure you would need it unless your going to specialized each one?

Thanks Siberman, I couldn't for the life of me remember the Latin name for the Featherfin, Synodontis. Mine lives happily with the Peacocks.

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Today... Gravel gone, sand in. Still a little cloudy but getting better!

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This guy needs a new home!

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I do like that sand, and the fish will enjoy it more than gravel, when they do their own aqua-scaping of the tank.

Thanks! And thanks everyone for the help! I appreciate it very much!!

Its good you went to sand and KEEP the pleco and add a featherfin cat. Your holly rock will gro algea faster than anything else if you leave your lights on for more than 4-5it hours at a time. And i know everybody is going to shun me for this one but stop doing big water changes so often. Its just fish in the tank. I had a 215 cichlid tank and never did a water change and i had 45 cichlids 2 14" plecos and an featherfin cat. I just added water as it evaporated. I am down to a 42 hex for my discus and i do a 20% water change once a month with tap water. They lay eggs yet once every two weeks and are supper healthy. Cichlids are simple just double your recamended filtration for the size tank you have and slow down the water changes. If you want to call me feel free to 936-676-8667

And just so it doesnt get twisted i do water changes on my saltwater ganks biweekly.

I agree on the water changes, when I do one on my FW tanks it tends to be about 20%, but I can't claim to do them even bi-weekly, but I do have about double the filtration capacity in most tanks.

I do freshwater water changes like once a month and just add water once a month

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Water is looking sooooo much better!! Getting the second pump tonight and waiting on my holy rock to come in... Oh and still new to find this big ol guy a home cause he's makin a mess in the sand!! thanks again to everyone for the help!! Getting close to Bein ready for fish!!

looking good I am heading home now so I should be there in about 30 mins.

Thanks Kevin,...and thanks for the filter! Can't wait to get it operational!

and...your tank looks GREAT!! maybe someday... i will work up to sw! lol

In a 90 gallon you should be fine doing the substrate at full water level as long as you're careful about it. I highly suggest lowering the sand down in a bowl instead of pouring it in, so there's less sediment in the water. Rinse the bowl, no soap!

I assume you're doing Africans instead of CA / SA because of the limestone. It'll buffer your PH and hardness a bit too high for others. perfect for Africans though!

As far as the type of Africans you choose, you can either do a lot of small mbuna, a medium amount of male peacocks/haps, or a smaller amount of very large haps that will get very pretty. If you mix you'll wind up with dead fish, with the exception of yellow labs/acei. They can go with haps and peacocks.

Mbuna need overcrowding to cut down the aggression. Carnivorous Africans like peacocks and most haps aren't nearly as aggressive and don't need overstocking. Generally the bigger they get, the sweeter they are. VC-10's and Hawks can get up to over a foot when fully grown, and are usually completely docile. Unless of course something is small enough to be mistaken for food.

As far as the filter goes, personally I'd just fill my filter with scrub pads. The surface area/price is unbeatable. They provide biological filtration only, but that's what does 90% of the work once the water is cycled. A polishing pad is fine, I personally wouldn't use more than one tray for that though - at the most. Ceramics are great too (rings/stars) if you have the money.

The advise on the MFK forums is drastically varied in... accuracy. Kind of a hit and miss crowd. But this writeup on filter media is excellent.

Filter media writeup

Good luck! Post pics when it's all done

Thanks for the info!! I actually started a thread "here goes" and have been posting pics as I make progress!! I am trying to be patient... Don't want any more lime green water, but I is fun and my oldest daughter is starting to get interested too... She wants to save her $$ and get her own tank! (easier said than done for a 16-year old) but if I come across a great deal I may surprise her! Lol

Thanks again for the advice