Pics of Our New Tanks and Some Fish

[Deleted User]

I wanted to share with you our new tanks. The 38g is one we set up about a month ago (blue... may change) and the 75g is one we set up this past weekend.

Eventually, the 38g will be for an angelfish and some larger tetras and corys. The 75g already contains mbunas (yellow labs, albino zebras, cobalt zebras) and the ones in the 38g (red zebras) will go in it as well.

Here is the 38g with and without the flash. It's in my living room above a fake fireplace (hate that thing):


http://www.whinny4me.com/Fish/Fish---111809---002.jpg

http://www.whinny4me.com/Fish/Fish---111809---005.jpg



And here is the 75g containing the mbunas that arrived today. Had a couple doa's (yellow labs), but those are actually easy to get here, so I will get some more locally. This tank is in a hallway in the back of our house that is sort of square and about the size of a small bedroom. With and without the flash (note my bff "Watson" peering from a corner):


http://www.whinny4me.com/Fish/75g---Fish---111809---051.jpg

http://www.whinny4me.com/Fish/75g---Fish---111809---024.jpg


And a couple fish pictures to follow..................

[Deleted User]

And just a couple fish pictures. You can see, nothing fantastic -- I'm just delighted that a couple fish pictures turned out slightly better than a blur.

Some of the Mbunas that arrived today:


http://www.whinny4me.com/Fish/Mbuna---Fish---111809---082.jpg



One of the blood parrots and one of the rainbow cichlid babies. The picture is a little deceptive as the rainbow cichlid is not nearly as big as it looks compared to the parrot fish, who really does usually look like he's smiling:


http://www.whinny4me.com/Fish/Rainbow-and-Parrots---Fish---111809---076.jpg



Thanks for looking :1luvu:

[hybridguy]

great looking pics jill!!thumbs2:

[Sharon]

Nice, Jill!thumbs2: You're going to need some rockwork in the Mbuna tank, though...

[rich311k]

Looks great! Nice setup.

[Rue]

They look great! Tanks don't have to be 'fancy' to look good!

[Deleted User]

Thanks guys!!!


Nice, Jill!thumbs2: You're going to need some rockwork in the Mbuna tank, though...
I thought the flower pots were okay instead of rocks?

[Lab_Rat]

Looks good, the natural gravel is nice. That rainbow cichlid is starting to color up nicely!

I agree with Sharon about needing rockwork for the mbuna.

[Deleted User]

Well, shoot. I read that clay pots can serve as they hiding places for mbunas and substitute for rockwork. I am not actually crazy about rockwork (I know, I'm odd).

[lahlumdi]

Thank you so much for sharing! Great looking tanks and I'm so glad most of the fish you got arrived in fine shape. How fun! Keep letting us know how it's going. Glad your family buys into the fish habit too! It kind of takes over, doesn't it?

[Northernguy]

Nice work Jill!
The tanks look great!
I hope you get the rest of your fish soon!

[Deleted User]

Thanks, Ray http://www.getsmile.com/emoticons/smileys-91853/aiw/smile.gif

[Neon]

beautiful tanks , thank you for sharingthumbs2: :19:

[Mith]

Way to go Jill!!!


What kind of substrate are you using? IF I'm not mistaken, Mbunas like a higher PH (I hope I'm right about that! My cichlid tank has "Cichlid Substrate" in it which has LOTS of crushed shells in it.

As for the hiding places...from the cichlid tanks I've seen, they almost always use a lot of rocks. My cichlids LOVE to hide away and move the gravel around while in all the nooks and crannies formed by the rocks. I too would suggest that you populate the tanks with rocks and YES, rocks are a pain because to effectively clean the tank, once in a while you have to pull out all the rocks LOL

But either way, great fish ans pics, thanks for posting them!

[Deleted User]

Hi, Mith --

Well that's for sure one area I have covered. Our well is really deep, drilled into the rock. The pH is naturally high so that works well (well's working well) for the cichlids.

Urgh, I don't like the way rock layers look... I love the flower pots though. I think we are going to add more of them and drill bigger holes into them and see if that will work (?).

The substate is just plain aquarium gravel. I chickend out on the sand :scry:

Jill

[Lab_Rat]

The problem with the flower pots is they're too open. Like Mith said, mbuna love to get into nooks and crannies and those flower pots aren't very cave like, way too open. Maybe if you get some smaller ones and silicone them together, drill some holes for passageways, and maybe use some PVC pipe for tunnels.

[Deleted User]

Thank you!

I think we'll try some different pots added in and maybe some slate. Not sure. They're all small now. Hoping we find something both the fish and I like.

[Mith]

Jill, when I started my Mbuna tank, I was stacking my rocks up against the back of the tank. This was nice until I lost a very expensive peacock that got wedged between the glass and the rocks LOL.....dumb ass. What I ended up doing was just spread the rocks out maybe 2 high. This actually ended up greating a lot more nooks and crannies for them to hide in. I've left it that way ever since. Down side....its a HUGE PITA to effectively vac the gravel LOL. But it does look nice.

I think I'll get a few more yellow labs......I lost a couple of them initially!

Anywho.....great looking tanks and I DO expect more pictures as your community grows!!!!!

[Deleted User]

Thanks, Mith!!! I'm gonna try to run out this weekend or next and get the yellow labs (and maybe a few acei?). These fish are too much fun!

[Mith]

Thanks, Mith!!! I'm gonna try to run out this weekend or next and get the yellow labs (and maybe a few acei?). These fish are too much fun!

Yes they are fun, but DAAAAYUM those little spits are aggressive! I remember when I first came here O(heh, that wasn't too long ago) someone was telling that everything may seem peaceful in the beginning, but as they mature the spit will hit the fan!

I just released one of my male bumble bees back into the tank. JEEZ.....poor guys netting picked on something fierce! Prior to removing hime from the tank he was fine. I tell ya what, it's almost easier to treat the whole tank than it is to put a fish in quarantine and then try and re-aquaint them back into the tank!