29G to 60G Upgrade!

Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the hobby, I had a few tanks growing up and have wanted to get back into it for years now, but have only recently been able. Let's just say I've aqcuired an obssessive attitude towards keeping an aquarium, and recently upgraded from the tank I started with to a 60 gallon!
Here's the setup I started out with, 29 Gallon


And after the upgrade to 60!

With the exception of the pleco, the tank is a malawi cichlids primarily (one leleupi keeps it from being 100%) This was the first time I've moved a tanks residents to a bigger home. Transferring and cleaning took me a damn long time but well worth it. I intend on upgrading the filtration soon but haven't decided, any recommendations are definitely appreciated. I'll post some cleaner pictures of the tank itself soon.

Good to have you with us Shank. Tank is looking good.

Upgrades are always fun huh, nice tank.

I'm guessing you got that tank at Petsmart.

I've got the EXACT same tank and stand!! Looks good!

Yuma wrote:I'm guessing you got that tank at Petsmart.

I've got the EXACT same tank and stand!! Looks good!

Haha, guilty, I try to stay away from the big stores for anything living but for a new tank w/ stand it was one of the better deals I found.

It was a good deal. Even better when they took 10% off for me because it had glue residue on it from the sale sticker.

Only problem is, for saltwater, there's not enough room in the stand for a sump. If I knew then what I know now.....lol

Yuma wrote:It was a good deal. Even better when they took 10% off for me because it had glue residue on it from the sale sticker.

Only problem is, for saltwater, there's not enough room in the stand for a sump. If I knew then what I know now.....lol

Second that, first fish i picked up for the original tank was a tiny tiger oscar... I was kicking myself for not getting a bigger tank from the onset and eventually had to trade him in... upside I guess is I've been able to provide the africans a much more comfortable pH since he's no longer in the tank.

I'm almost a a week in on the new tank, did a water change and slight gravel clean because of an algae bloom, but other than that everything's gravy. I wanted to post a few pics:



















The lab's stil holding and everyone else is doing great. I intend to set up a 10G nursery tank in the next week and have it above the communal on a shelf, not too heavy right?

Nice looking fish!

I installed an emperor tonight, had to syphon half the water into the old tank so i could move it an extra inch away from the wall...
I'm not going to lie, I really kicked myself for not taking care of this when i set the damn thing up. The pH was a little low so i added some lake salt and buffer.
Also, I tried taking the preexisting biowheel and rubbed it on the new ones, even drug my finger through the troughs and repeated the action on the new wheels. I'll probably continue this through the next week or so, hopefully to expedite the growths on the new wheels, if I time it right i can use the smaller filter on the fry tank, if i don't sell the 29G tank in the next few days I sort of feel obligated to use it as the fry nursery. For Labs it may not be a bad size nursery....

For the record I was planning o n picking up a 10G to use and installing a shelf above the community tank, but in looking at how I could arrange things I could very easily put a shelf above me comp's to hold my printers (much less weight.) I'd much rather put my printers on a shelf than a tank... though I do thing what I had in mind would look awesome as hell >_<

Yuma wrote:It was a good deal. Even better when they took 10% off for me because it had glue residue on it from the sale sticker.

Only problem is, for saltwater, there's not enough room in the stand for a sump. If I knew then what I know now.....lol

Something that just hit me that I really got a kick of, did you notice how the warranty info you were supposed to fill out was 'to scale' on the back of the BIG A$$ poster on the front of the tank? I guess they expect you to write really big and fold it into origami before sending it back....

I stopped by The Fish Gallery this afternoon after performing a service call at the DMA today, had a great conversation with one of their staff whom I've talked with before and gotten great advice. He gave me some good tips about the yellow lab I have holding and what to do about it. In looking at some possible new tank mates he brought up the idea of picking up a few lithobate females to keep my male occupied, gave me a deal I couldn't pass down, long story short two female lithobates came home with me and I've got my fingers crossed for babies, will keep you guys updated on any romance that ensues....

Lithobate females are bottom right, I'll get closeups tomorrow if I can and post them for you guys.

You ought to do a live plant refugim for filt. that would be awsome

Shank wrote:

Yuma wrote:It was a good deal. Even better when they took 10% off for me because it had glue residue on it from the sale sticker.

Only problem is, for saltwater, there's not enough room in the stand for a sump. If I knew then what I know now.....lol

Something that just hit me that I really got a kick of, did you notice how the warranty info you were supposed to fill out was 'to scale' on the back of the BIG A$$ poster on the front of the tank? I guess they expect you to write really big and fold it into origami before sending it back....

Actually that was one of the things we laughed at most about the tank. HUGE a* warranty card. I'm not sure how they expected buyers to get that thing in an envelope, but I did.....and hopefully they received it.

Your 60G's stand is almost identical to my 60G's stand... I think the only thing different is the door handles. LOL.

question Shank: what kind of cichlid is that blue one with the yellow stripe running down the fishes face? I have to say that fish is good looking!!

wlazo312 wrote:question Shank: what kind of cichlid is that blue one with the yellow stripe running down the fishes face? I have to say that fish is good looking!!

It's a Lithobate male, other wise known as a yellow blaze cichlid, lake malawi hap... just picked up a couple females for him so I've got my fingers crossed >_< I'm actually in the process of setting up my old 29G as a nursery tank, initially for the yellow lab I have holding, but hopefully I'll get lucky and have baby lithobates soon
I took a bunch of photos recently and I'm still combing, posted a few of the lab where you can see a fry in her mouth on the cichlid forum 'puppies' if you're interested in seeing some baby eyeballs lol

I guess it's also called a sulfur head...

Updated 'best pics' of the tank if you will...


Demasoni

Lithobate M

Green Pleco

Acei Dominant Male

Acei Dominant Male schooling

Great pics! I like how your tank is progressing. I would like to interject with a few comments on the proper vs trade names, just as added info.

The name "sulfur head" is a trade name that is not necessarily tied to a single species. It could be placed on several different species including mbuna.

What you appear to have is a Otopharynx Lithobates "Zimbawe" like you said. Other locales have different features mainly in blaze color, but also body color, to a lesser extent. Zimbwe is known for the bright yellow blaze and is the most popular lithobates in the hobby. Lithobates max out at less than 6".

Protomelas spilonotus Mara Rocks is generally tagged with the sulfur head name. This species is a lighter blue, has a less distinct blaze, a deeper body, and grows to an impressive 10". There are other spilonotus sub species from different locales that have different color patterns. Perhaps the most notable is the Protomelas sp. "Spilonotus Tanzania" with blue upper body and bright yellow belly. I say this to show that even with the proper latin name you can get messed up by not getting the correct locale.

I would be very put out if I bought a o. lithobates for a 60g tank (for example) that turned out to be a monstrous 10" p. spilonotus when it grew up. On the other hand it would give me a good reason to buy a bigger tank.

I don't know if that helps anyone or not, but I think it is worth knowing. I always encourage people to learn the latin names for african cichlids just because there are so many different species that are sold under the same trade name you could end up with something completely different than what you think you are buying.

Stickzula wrote:Great pics! I like how your tank is progressing. I would like to interject with a few comments on the proper vs trade names, just as added info.

The name "sulfur head" is a trade name that is not necessarily tied to a single species. It could be placed on several different species including mbuna.

What you appear to have is a Otopharynx Lithobates "Zimbawe" like you said. Other locales have different features mainly in blaze color, but also body color, to a lesser extent. Zimbwe is known for the bright yellow blaze and is the most popular lithobates in the hobby. Lithobates max out at less than 6".

Protomelas spilonotus Mara Rocks is generally tagged with the sulfur head name. This species is a lighter blue, has a less distinct blaze, a deeper body, and grows to an impressive 10". There are other spilonotus sub species from different locales that have different color patterns. Perhaps the most notable is the Protomelas sp. "Spilonotus Tanzania" with blue upper body and bright yellow belly. I say this to show that even with the proper latin name you can get messed up by not getting the correct locale.

I would be very put out if I bought a o. lithobates for a 60g tank (for example) that turned out to be a monstrous 10" p. spilonotus when it grew up. On the other hand it would give me a good reason to buy a bigger tank.

I don't know if that helps anyone or not, but I think it is worth knowing. I always encourage people to learn the latin names for african cichlids just because there are so many different species that are sold under the same trade name you could end up with something completely different than what you think you are buying.

I couldn't agree more with this, I really like your explanation especially regarding to the various species which could be misclassified... The LFS I picked this guy up at sold it specifically as an O. Lithobate and nothing I've seen looking online would indicate it was anything different (though I completely agree about being a little upset if it keeps growing since it's already at 6"!!!!!) The guy that helped me at the store had been breeding cichlids for over thirty years so I hate to assume anything, but I'm fairly confident he'd be able to spot a misnomer so to speak

One thing I'd like to bring up as it's something I've been thinking about for some time now, My Acei are getting to the size where I've been able to identify two males distinctly, but the jury is still out on the other four(I'm fairly confident that I can identify at least one of the four as Female, but no real clue on the others). I'd like to remove the sub-dom males and leave the one male with the remaining females, I've also read mixed reviews on how to sex them, any tips or advice? I've read that venting is the best way, but as to how to vent I'm clueless...

With acei you really don't need to worry about removing extra males unless there is excessive aggression. That being said, the most reliable method for sexing monomorphic cichlids is venting. Basically what you do is catch the fish, hold it upside down and look just in front of the anal fin. There will be the anus and the papilla (aka the vent). The vent is closest to the anal fin. They will look like 2 little circles. If they are both the same size it is a male. If the vent is larger it is a female. The way I remember it is oo = male oO = female. Sometimes it helps to use a magnifying glass or have someone else hold the fish while you look. Here is a pretty good article on venting.

Determing Your Cichlids' Gender

The article suggest that you hold the fish in a net to help you grip the fish, but I have found that the net is really unnecessary. It is hard to get the net and the fish in the right position and the net usually ends up obstructing the view. I prefer to net the fish and grab it out of the net with my bare WET hand. It is quick and easy and the fish rarely struggles. Having your hand wet makes is so the slime coat is disturbed less. Another reason I don't like to do it in the net is the net scrubs the slime coat off. You may want to do this over a soft surface until you get the hang of it in case you drop the fish or it wiggles free. If you have doubts about what it is and can get a good pic, post it and I will look and see what I think it is.

Guys, I have looked at the Demasoni on line, and looking at Shanks, and I think they are a pretty stunning fish.
Now as usual for my questions.....seems I have so many questions for the pair of you, like every time I post?
1) I now have the tank fairly settled with the 3 of the Verginalis, Butterfly Peacock (Aulonocara Jacobfreibergi?) & Aulonocara German Red + the 2 Mutts (Mbuni mix).
The tank is 2/3 river stone rock wall about 2/3rd height of tank the rest is open with some holey rock.
Presently I'm thinking I may want to reduce the rock wall by about 25% as they young ones seem to be more inclined to open water and the holey rock (about 10" cubed).
Am I being to hasty on thinking of reducing the wall with this mix?
2) Do you think the Demasoni, about 3 or 4 would fit in with that mix?
3) Are they readily available other than over the internet? I Go to Dallas, to go to DFW, or the very occasional meeting. Infact I would rather drive in Paris, London or Frankfurt than Dallas, Houston is easy, but Dallas, Arghhh, roads change names, Hwy's become something else with no indication, you exit to the left , you exit to the right, you see signs for Houston when heading North! It's a Englishman's nightmare. So yes, I have avoided Dallas other than DFW.
However, if it meant getting 3 or 4 of these, if suitable, then I would take on the challenge. And curse my girlfriends GPS for giving me instructions in its pompous voice, giving me late instructions and...and... the battery dying just when you really need it.
Pauses and watches one of the fish swim into the holey rock nibbling the algae off, see's new colours appearing in the babies and thinks "ahh it's worth it".
Dam I'm hooked. So if you know where they are generally available, small (1 1/2 to 2 " long I guess at the moment to fit in) I would appreciate it.