how many mbuna for 75g

[cichlid22c]

i am upgrading from my 30g to a new 75g .i have about 15 2-2.5" mbuna in the 30g now. i am planning a 3d foam background and lots rock for hiding.for filtration 2 emperor 400 and maybe a canister. weekly water change. so how many mbuna can i get in there . i know its better to overstock but when is overstocked Overstocked know what i mean

[cichlid22c]

hello...........any body there lol

[~Erik3.8.07~]

what types of mbunas are they? Cant really say how many you can have till we know how big the ones you have now will get

[cocoa_pleco]

i would wait for fishguy to give a answer but i think 25-30 is fine

[Pr0eve]

I try not to put any more then 2 Cichlids per 5 gal of water, they like there space.

Mbuna are blue Johanni.

[cocoa_pleco]

mbuna can be alot of things, auratus, snow white socoloffi, etc.

[Pr0eve]

to add to that, I would not add any more. just move them to the 75 and call it good.

[Pr0eve]

yes, true, but they all get to be about the same size. between 4 to 6 in.

[Pr0eve]

I mean when I had my last 55gal Cichlids tank to seemed pack with only 10 Cichlids in there.

[zackish]

i would wait for fishguy to give a answer but i think 25-30 is fine
I would agree with that...someone told me for my 65 I can put like 15-20 mbunas in it and the 65 is 36 inch vs. the 75 being 48 inch.

[cichlid22c]

hey guys the75g tank is 48x18x20 i just counted my fish here they are
1 chipota
2 red zebra
1 powered blue
1 small 1" yellow lab
2 ice blues
2 kenya
1 cobalt blue
1 afra (i think)
1 johanni
2 unknown(hybrid?)

[cichlid22c]

still waiting for fishguy to reply i would like to know what he has to say

[cichlid22c]

i was also wondeing what type of substrate to go with. i know i want an african cichld mix but dont know if i want sand or gavel yet. im planning a 3d background w/ foam and cement and thought about coating w/ the sand for the top coat to give it texture and color and then using then gravel for substrate.then getting some moon rock(calcium carbonate) from a catalog for making rock work and caves

[cocoa_pleco]

aragonite would make a nice substrate

[cichlid22c]

i was wanting to go w/ something darker

[Fishguy2727]

I would go with Estes Marine Sand. It is clean and comes in an assortment of colors. I would do a black and white mix. This lets you make it as dark or as light as you want, while still having that natural mixed look. Gravel and crushed coral will trap debris and are not as natural nor look as good (but looks are a perosnal preference).

For now stock with more than you want. In all likelihood you will have to remove a few that get too aggressive and a few that get beaten up. So if you want to end up with 20, get 30. I think that is a good way to go, 25-30 for now.

What are you feeding? I highly recommend you look into New Life Spectrum. It gives the best colors, growth, health, breeding, and is digestible for them with their specialized digestive systems.

For filtration you definitely want a canister. If you can I would actually go with the Fluval FX5. In general it is more than a 75 would need, but they will like the extra flow and you will need much more filtration than a usual 75. If you get an FX5 I would actually you not use the cartridges for the Emperors. They are expensive, not very good, not re-usable, and include carbon. I would not recommend carbon because it has been shown to cause problems because it removes vital trace elements and micronutrients. In some species this can cause HLLE, in others I believe it causes internal problems that we don't see, so when the fish dies we blame it on old age or some minor change in the tank from recently. I would keep the Emperors on there for their BioWheels, the best biological media you can get.

Are you planning on using the special cichlid lake salts? I would. They don't NEED them, but they do better with them. For pH control I would not recommend a substrate but rather a buffer. I used Proper pH 8.2 and it worked very well for me.

[cichlid22c]

hey thanx! sorry for tracking you down like that fishguy. i use both the seachem cichlid salts and 8.2 but i was going to try to gat away from the 8.2 by using the arfican cichlid mix to help w/ the ph. the magazine i have that i was going to order everthing from says the emperor has a refilable media contaner so i probally can take carbon out and put something else in. i think ill go w/ 30 fish plus acouple of snydonis cats if i get an agressive fish or beat up one i have other tanks to put them in. i was planning on oreding some nls too

[cichlid22c]

is the sand hard to vacum does it cloud the water up when you vacum it i never used sand i just thought it might suck to work with

[Lady Hobbs]

Sand is great. The stuff lays on top and you just hold the vac up from the sand a bit and all the stuff gets sucked up instead of the sand.

[cichlid22c]

ok thanx dont sound as bad i thought. so you dont vacum it down through the sand it dont get dirty underneath?

[squirt_12]

no you don;t vacum into the sand as the sand is so thick that it doesn't allow food to get down to the bottom like the gravel does. So just hold the vacum a little ways above the sand and the debris will get sucked up into the vacum.

I recommend sand.

[cichlid22c]

thanx sounds like it will cut vacuming time in half if no more

[squirt_12]

yeah it is really simple.

[Fishguy2727]

The main cartridges are different from the refillabel media cartridge. Without almost destroying the main cartridges you can't get the carbon out. Some people do it but I think it is a waste when there are other filters that are much better. Ideal HOB is an AquaClear with a DIY BioWheel built in.

[cichlid22c]

is there a thread on diy bio-wheel for aquaclear

[cichlid22c]

does the refillable media cart come w/ the E 400

[Fishguy2727]

Not that I have seen. I have seen a pic posted, basically just a stainless steel rod/wire holding in place at the output. Just work with what you have or can find.

[cichlid22c]

what about magnum 350 it has bio wheels w/ a canister

[Fishguy2727]

I am not a fan of the Magnums at all. The internal arrangement is very inefficient and not very customizable. There is a reason it is the only one I know without trays. It would not be a bad idea if you know you already have enough or almost enough filtration, but I would not give them much of the filtration responsibility.

[cichlid22c]

maybe a combo of mag bio wheels w/ a good canister

[cichlid22c]

does the refillable media cart come w/ the E 400
i dont know i never saw one out of the box yes i just answered my own ?
just trying to get it out thier again since no response on it yet

[Fishguy2727]

I don't think so, I think you have to buy them separately.

[cichlid22c]

ok thanx for all the info

[Coler]

in a 75 you could easily get 30 mbuna in, so long as you over-filter and are religious in your water change & gravel vac regime.

as regards species, in the correct male female ration you have all the options in the world (i.e. don't put 10 male demasoni in there). That said I would tend to avoid melanochromis auratus - unpredictably nasty even in a large tank, and unattractive anyway at adult size.