Anyone out there a fish tank expert...

Ended up going with just four african cichlids... talked to a ton of people on here and in six different stores and finally went with them... figures start with four and maybe add some more later along with a pleco...

Only thing that concerns me is do I have enough hiding spots or do I need to add more rock and take out some plants and the plastic decor...

 

your tank decor should be fine with 4 african but if and when aggression issues arise, more rocks and caves will help.

New HD Vid of my Tank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQON-my5QM

 

does anyone here do saltwater?

 

man if only i would have known earlier that there is this much interest aquariums on here. ive been trying to sell my small tank for ever with no luck. ive got a 55 gal with filter heater air pump stand hoods lights deco everything but water fish and chemicals just siitin empty cuz my attention is solely on my 75gal and new dog. would sell dirt cheap if someone wanted to pick it up. also ive been breeding cichlids for quite a while and was actually supplying them to a local pet store before the owner decided to retire and lock the doors. just make sure you keep an eye out for the ph and salt content, rem your partial water changes as well then all will be happy and well.

 

Ive had SW reef and marine tanks in the past. What you got going rvca

 

i just started up a SW in a 20L. got 2 yellow tail damsels, a bi-color pseudo, and a turbo snail. ive about about 12ish pound of rock(half live - half not).

basically wondering whats next. i think i am having the algae spike right now...my tank is getting really brown on the sand and walls, i think its diatoms, should i suck this stuff out and wipe it off or just leave it? i got the snail to eat some of it.

 

here was my 20L freshwater


i had a pair of apistogramma, 4 corys, 2 pleccos, 1 marble angel, and a bunch of schooling fish.

then i changed it to a saltwater

 

vaccum out and wipe off as much as you can and do a water change. Decrease the amount of time your lights are on. and also decrease your feeding.

The most determental things that new aquariumist do is over feed and leave the lights on too long, which results in poor water quality and algae bursts.

btw nice tank RVCA

 

Hey RVCA looking at your tank closer I see you running some fairly intense lighting. Thats cool try picking up some saltwater plants, caulerpa. That will help to keep the algae in check and make your tank look awesome

 

ya the lighting looks really blue in that pic. that hood holds 2 22" T5 bulbs, ive got 1 actinic and the other is a "super daylight". but yeah i cut down my days to around 8hrs and ive been feedin them just a bit of frozen brine shrimp every other day.

 

Ok so here is my tank to date.. added four more africans to total eight.. also added more rock for better hiding..

One question I still do have is with feeding.. there usual food is flake food.. fed three times daily.. 830 am 2-4 pm then again aroun 745 pm.. is this acceptible?? They attack the food at every feeding so they are def hungry..
also I bought some frozen brine shrimp but they don't eat it.. is there anything else I can feed them to give a diversified diet instead of just flakes??

 

^^^i used to feed mine frozen worms moring and night only, my frontosa's would not eat flakes. You can try pellets and they will keep your tank clean as they float. You can try guppy feeders and watch you fish attack. You can feed your fish 10 times a day and they will eat like they haven't ate in days.

 

here is the latest pic



thanks.. so i should stop the three times daily?? the bellies of some of the fish seem a little xtra large.. maybe a sign of overfeeding??

 

^^looks good and try feeding twice a day

 

Some of my ole fish!

 

The biggest mistake of a new fish owner, overfeeding. Sure they will eat it, but it's not the norm for them, need to be grazing/looking for food. The very best rule of thumb: a hungry fish is a healthy fish... I'll post some pics of my 55 gal. tub reef, when I have some time.

 

Looks good, glad to see some fish interest on here. Watch Ph and temps for the africans and you will be fine. Feed them guppies, minnows and goldfish when you're bored with flake food and they are big enogh. BTW, I'm a Facilities Manager for a public aquarium

 

I just bought a 10gal from a garage sale, expect to see me here!

 

fish are opportunistic feeders, so they are going to eat whenever you put food in the tank. i like to defrost a block and brine shrimp in the morning, then i usually just scoop a bit out every once and a while throughout the day. i would rather feed them a little throughout the day then a bunch once or twice a day.

i use a pair of chopsticks in order to feed the brine shrimp in...my fish will swim up to the chopsticks and eat it out there.

i usually judge how hungry they are by the amount of crap i can see on the bottom of the tank.

 

also micky you should get some live plants...all the ones in your tank look like plastic ones.