• Mossberg Owners is in the process of upgrading the software. Please bear with us while we transition to the new look and new upgraded software.

African Cichlids Anyone?

You guys are bringing back memories. I haven't had an aquarium since the 1970's. I worked my way up to a 55 fresh, with African Cichlids....even had babies born in my tank. It was cool to watch them all run into their mothers mouth to hide. Then I went to a 30 salt. I really enjoyed it, and brought back some fish from
Bimini that I caught with a slurp gun....(another story). I had lovely green algae in the salt tank, and it was perfect until I added the Bimini critters. Then the tank crashed and I was heart broken. The things I added from the Bahamas were a pencil sea urchin, banded coral shrimp and a Picasso Trigger fish. ( I did not do my homework ) The trigger fish was beautiful, but overnight he ate my sea urchin, and shrimp and the tank took a major dump. I never got back into it after that. I am enjoying the success y'all are having and will continue to lurk on this thread.
 
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that I have things under control yet. Only the smallest of my tanks has cycled properly.

I'm going to be doing many partial water changes on the other ones until things come under control.

My tanks seeding experiments did not all go nearly as well as I had planned and I'm going to blame the preset 78-degree thermometers that came with these aquariums.

I always run at 80 to 82 degrees.

My theory is that tropical fish can take a little extra warmth but if you let them get cold they get sick easily.

Also your biology is going to go a lot faster at 82 then 78.

Then I guess parasites maybe grow faster as well?
 
Last edited:
I went to Harbor Freight yesterday and bought that $19 pump because the one on my skimmer in the 55 is old and well used and it's getting noisy.

The one thing I don't like about this outdoor pond pump is that they have three wire grounded plugs and the cords are heavily insulated so rather fat and also 12 feet long.

You also need a filter box to put this pump in or it needs to be in a sump or behind a divider wall with a filter.

You can also wrap it with coarse filter foam, until it looks like a big hunk of black lava. I did this with the baby HF pump and stuck it in the 55 for extra circulation, with a big output diffuser.
 
Last edited:
Scoop, I am just a born tinkerer, & it doesn't matter if it's fish tank pumps or shotguns or motorcycles.

It's the thrill of the experiment that drives me on. This way the end goals can be nebulous and fungible.

I have a difficult time with projects that have definite and well-defined goals. You end up missing those side excursions on the way to the end of the line
 
I'm going to put it right on those "stones" that you see. I don't use the fireplace ever and so my original plan was to put a large tank here anyway.

About twice this large actually.

I'm not going to build a stand but I am going to build a hood, and I'm going to put the filters in the hood: Sump, Heaters, lights air pumps . . . everything.

In order to set the tank on that lumpy masonry I have to put down some grout. I'm going to put down some black plastic first, and then I will level the tank on shims and dry pack it.

I know the cats are going to jump on top of this tank and and walk on it and lay on it so it has to have a substantial hood.

This will allow me to separate my Oscar from my big plecostomus, who (between the two of them) are polluting a single tank terribly.
20171124_232937.jpg
Morton the Pleco has not grown so much since this photo was taken last month but the Felix the Oscar has grown a lot.
1517544517593.jpg

I had to make a fortress for the pleco to hide in, and he's so scared he's barely eating.
 
I have been seriously neglecting my 125g freshwater tank but this thread gives me motivation to work on it again.
 
That happened to me for a couple of years right before I retired, and I feel very guilty about letting things slide.

I lost some old fish that might still be with us today.
 
Well I did build another stand--that is to say I'm currently building it--but it's not going to be for the 55.

I finished re-sealing my old 30 tall, and this stand is going to be for it, as my new 30 tall is sitting on the stand from the old one.

Here it's upside down and the top is not yet attached. I'm actually gluing the base to the cabinet, and I weighted it down with the top + 300 lb of lead.
20180227_195731_resized.jpg

Here it is right side up. You can see the oak base (which is now attached) and I am gluing the lid on, again weighted down with 300 pounds of lead.

20180227_223014_resized.jpg

I have to finish-sand the top and the exposed parts of the base, and then I can start putting on the polyurethane.

This is a 24"×12" cabinet, 30" high, similar to the ones I used to build my 55 gallon stand. I got it from Lowe's for $82, and I spent about $12 on the oak for the base. The top is a scrap from the last top that I made, and I still have a piece left over that will be suitable to make a nice shelf.

I bought myself a Kreg pocket screw jig and I used pocket screws for the very first time, to build the base. Once you get the hang of it they work pretty neat. I guess it's not quite as classy as using dowels or biscuits, but it's fast and easy and it really works.
 
Back
Top