Mike19

Hi Everyone,

dose anyone know how many gallons this tank is its dimensions are

180 w x 76 h x 50 d cm


Mike

EDIT: Its 143Gallons my question will be now would the tank above be better then a corner tank which holds 180gallons stocking fish (cichlids).

Also if i buy cichlids i would like to keep around 10-15 mbuna would this work in a 143G.

Mike19

Can someone rate this tank here are some specs

- 540L/143G
POWER HEAD - 2000L/Hr - 5 X WOOL PADS + 5 SPONGE PADS + CERAMIC NOODLES + CARBON
LIGHTING - 3 X 36INCH 30W

FL CommunityFans

eh? 10-15 mbuna in a 143 gallon tank? incredibly understocked, imo. 10-15 in a 55gallon is the normal because of the aggression mbuna have. I have about 20 msobos currently in a 55gallon, with a 4 syno multis and 8 afra I'm likely getting rid of soon. I'd be looking at close to 40-50 fish in a 140ish gallon tank... depending on the footprint. I didn't completely understand what the foorprint was though?

180 w x 76 h x 50 d cm
=
180length x 76Height x 50width? O assume length = w and depth = width in your conversion?

I get 180gallons for a tank of that size btw..not 143.. where do you get the calculation from? the most important thing with mbuna is footprint so you're looking at a tank in US measurements that is almost 71" long and 20" wide (or deep) that's easily accomodate 40-50 fish... even more if it was a 180 gallon tank.

If you decided against mbuna and went with something like haps instead it'd definitely be fewer fish but their sizes are pretty neat and make up for it. From what I have read, they don't need the overstocking that mbuna often require.

Mike19

thanks, i didn't know how to calculate it as the D and W took me off, but on the site said it was 540L so i converted it into Gal, if 10-15 mbuna is understocked then ill have to get more lol im still new to the cichclid world and not sure how many are needed but thanks for pointing that out, its always good to hear when your understocked rather then overstocked

Mike

FL CommunityFans

if they say 540L but give those measurements, I'd certainly be questioning them. Literally, I'd phone or email them and see which is correct ;p

Mike19

whats wrong with the measurements?, 540L to big or small for those measurements

the d is for diameter not width unless there one in the same the fishlore tool gave me a completely different measurement

FL CommunityFans

diameter? bah. I have never heard of diameter being used to measure a tank. I'd have to relook at it then.

cerianthus

Is this cylindrical or oval shape tank?

FL CommunityFans

all the aquagrande 180's I saw were rectangular.

Mike19

its a 6ft rectangular tank

dmm28

180 centimeters works out to less than 6 feet by about 2 inches, 76 centimeters is almost 2 and half feet,and then 50 centimeters is 1foot 7 inches.

By the looks of your dimensions you have either a 110 gallon or a 120 gallon long IMO.

FL CommunityFans

huh?

Ok what measurements are we working with here?

180cm = 70.87inches
76cm = 29.92inches
50cm = 19.69 inches


this plugs into a aquarium calculator as 180.74US gallons or 684liters or 150.5UK gallons

Sourced here.

Either I'm really really missing something or someones math is funny. Someone please help me out here lol!

Mike19

well the manufactures site said its 540L 182cm = 6 feet im sure the missing two cm is on the bench or a rounded figure when being sold.

http://www.aquaone.co.uk/AquaGrande_aquarium.php (click on 180 image for more specs)

agabr123

that seems strange to me, the "width" i think is actually the length, and the d (which i'm assuming means depth, not diameter), could be called width or depth interchangeably.

it would make sense if the 180, 150, 120 meant the number of gallons.....

Mike19

yeah depth, my bad got it mixed up lol

Drew 43920

EDIT: Its 143Gallons my question will be now would the tank above be better then a corner tank which holds 180gallons stocking fish (cichlids).

Also if i buy cichlids i would like to keep around 10-15 mbuna would this work in a 143G.
***********************************************

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/mbuna1.htm

SIZE: Generally, mbunas are about 4-5" (10-13 cm), and do not grow larger than 6" (15 cm).
TANK: Mbunas, as a general rule, should not be kept in tanks smaller than 32" (81 cm) or 30 gallons (114 L). These cichlids prefer a coral sand bottom to help keep the water alkaline. Keep mbunas in a tank with little or no water current. Provide lots of retreats and rock structures, such as caves. These fish will eat plants, so if plants are desired, use plastic ones. Encourage algae growth, for the cichlids will eat it.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/haps_vs_mbuna.php

Drew 43920

I do not understand this. I thought mbunas get to be 4 or 5 inches . Also if a fish is aggressive doesn't it need more room ?

Nick G

No. mbunas need to be in large numbers, otherwise they're aggressive.

Mike19

i think the point of over stocking it is so that there is less chances of forming long term territories.

Drew 43920

Doesn't "large numbers" equate to more room ?

Mike19

what do you mean?

FL CommunityFans

No. The trick with handling mbuna aggression is giving the bully LOTS of targets. This way if he singles one fish out, it can a)swim to a hiding place or B) get lost in the crowd and the bully goes after someone else and eventually gets bored.

Do this setup with half the number of mbuna and you often end up with 1 fish systematically taking out every fish until he's the last one standing.

Perfect example? demasoni. put 6 of these guys in there and 1 will eventually be left. Put 14-15 in and they will live much happier as the bully can't kill them since they can hide amongst everyone else. He will get bored or tired and be happy to swim with the crowd after that.

You can't apply all the same rules to fish. Some fish require different approaches when keeping them. One of the things with keeping mbuna is having much heavier filtration then you would normally have on a regular tank. This is to deal with the increased bioload you'll have to deal with.

FL CommunityFans

I factored in all size measurements for each of those tanks listed and the US gallons are different from the liters that they should be, according to the size measurements. So either liters is measured differently by them, or they have conflicting information on the site. Common sense would tell me that the tanks are a 180g, 150g, and a 120g. I'd definitely call to get a 100% answer on it as that is entirely confusing and I can't figure out why they would have it like that at all. I'm no math wiz but I'm pretty sure that's right as far as the calculations are concerned.

Mike19

the 180 means 180 length, 150 length 120 length i think, off topic question if you need to overstock mbuna tanks how would you stock them when putting them in for the first time :s putting 20 fish at once is not logical even for the biological filter.

Drew 43920

I got my wires crossed, my bad, never mind................

FL CommunityFans

if you're doing a fishless cycle, then dose the ammonia higher than normal. It sometimes results in a longer cycle time, but you will have TONS of abcteria ready for a huge load of fish. if you get them as juvies, which most do, then it'd be a non issue for ya. The other possibility is using biostart/safestart to jump start it for ya. Buy fish. Buy Safestart - Put in fish- put in safestart and you're ready to go. I went the biostart way when I originally added my mbuna to my 55gallon.


Regarding your tank size, that must be an aussie thing with the measurements as in the states if you have a number after the tank it -generally- means the gallon size of the tank, which is why I made that statement. It could very well be length, but that still doesn't make sense as that measurements do not add up to the liter's it states.