Setting up Cichlid tank for the first time.

[Griff88]

Hi,

So I have had a massive change of plan and decided to go for a African Cichlid tank instead of planted tank.

I have never set up a Cichlid tank before so I'm looking for some advice.

Tank is a 240L 121x40
Filter FX6

Tank is currently empty but planning on putting coral sand as a substrate and some rocks to create caves etc.

I have read I can put around 20 cichlids in here.
Would I be able to put all 20 in at once or am I better off doing 10 and then another 10 after a few months.

Is there anything else I need to know before I start?

Thanks

[Martinspuddle]

Smaller filter for a start.

Egg crate - to support the weight of the stones on the aquarium base.

Over the years, I've come across many who've said the glass base cracked due to heavy stones causing pressure points on the bare glass.

I'd very weary about adding all twenty fish at once. I'd start with the least aggressive species first and add slowly from there.

What species of Mbuna or Tanganyikans are you thinking about?

[Griff88]

I was going to go for a smaller filter but I was told to overfilter and have atleast 10x the volume of the tank filtered per hour.
I was also told that the movement of the water helps with the aggression.

Only what I was told by somone at a local maidenhead, who was possibly trying to sell me the more expensive filter so could be wrong.

Haven't really thought about the individual fish yet but was also told to stick with peacocks as they are less aggressive than Mbunas.

Egg crates are on order from Ebay. Should be arriving this week. Can't decide on the rocks to use either lol
I like the look of the Seiryu rocks though.

Thanks

[FishBubs]

Hi there,

If you want to research and find out more about cichlid husbandry, kaveman aquatics is your man to start with. You gain good insight to keeping these beauties.


Personally i would stick with the fx6 on your 240L just because of the type of fish you are looking to keep. I look forward to seeing the cichlids you end up with.

Cichlids are quite hierarchical so as Martin suggests, introduce a couple at a time so you can monitor your parameters and your fish keeping things stable.

[Martinspuddle]

I was going to go for a smaller filter but I was told to overfilter and have atleast 10x the volume of the tank filtered per hour.
I was also told that the movement of the water helps with the aggression.

Only what I was told by somone at a local maidenhead, who was possibly trying to sell me the more expensive filter so could be wrong.

Personally i would stick with the fx6 on your 240L just because of the type of fish you are looking to keep.

Fluval FX6 has a hourly turnover of 3500 litres per hour. Ten times your total water volume (this just the empty glass aquarium) is 2400 LPH.

With hardscape and sand your 240 litre aquarium will probably be more like 200 litre, maybe less depending the amount of hardscape you decide to go with. If we go with 200 litres of water, filtered by an Fluval FX6 at an LPH rate of 3500, that means your aquarium will have an hour water volume turn over 17.5 times an hour. Even with the filter running slower with media inside, will be more than 10 times per hour turn over. That's a minimum turn over I'd expect to use for marine fish only setup ...hope these Cichlids can swim fast!

Think (as usual) the store is trying to pull a fast one with your wallet, either that or the staff are pretty useless at arithmetic.

You'd be better off with a Fluval FX2 or a much larger aquarium.

Link: Fluval FX filters

[plankton]

Important question - how hard is your tap water?