4ft/122cm 55gallon/210litre Mbuna African Cichlid Tank Build

Hello everybody,

I have been gifted an old fish tank from my science teacher at school who can't keep it anymore, it had a snakehead gudgeon in it before.

The tank is 4ft/122cm long, 14inches/35.5cm wide, 19 inches/49cm heigh = 210 litres/55gallons.

The tank has a little leak at the front so i will have to re-silicone the whole thing, i can get my fingernail under the silicone seams and i know that isnt good...

I filled to the very top and after about 5 minutes it had leaked around 5cm/2 inches of water... i think that means it loses 30 litres/8gallon of water per 5 minutes.

I plant to run a canister filter possibly a fluval FX4 or a aqua one Nautilus 1100 or 1400.

I will have a white/yellow sand substrate possibly some coral sand, lots of sandstone for rock structure in the tank, and maybe some anubias, java fern and java moss.

I want to have mbuna african cichlid probably 2-3 species with a few of each not sure about the ideal stocking for this tank...

Im currently in the middle of a school term so i cant setup tank for around a month or so.... i will resilicone tank and possibly build a stand or buy one...

please give me your thoughts, ideas, and any advice...

Here are some photos as im doing a water test, the tank filled to the top without exploding! but it does have a leak at the middle of the front, i there there was a large airbubble when the previous owner sealed the tank...


Thanks for your help and i hope you enjoy this build!

PeterFishkeepin

 

I want to have mbuna african cichlid probably 2-3 species with a few of each not sure about the ideal stocking for this tank...

I'll be honest with you: No. Malawi cichlids in a tank under 350 liter are a no-go. And if you see it somewhere, the owners haven't done their research or have been talked into it.
Recommendations for this usually only come from people that live from selling fish or are 20 years behind things.

Look into Lake Tanganyika cichlids instead, there are some species that would work in that tank size.

 

I'll be honest with you: No. Malawi cichlids in a tank under 350 liter are a no-go. And if you see it somewhere, the owners haven't done their research or have been talked into it.
Recommendations for this usually only come from people that live from selling fish or are 20 years behind things.

Hi MacZ,

Im not here to cause drama or argue but ive seen so many long time aquarium keepers including cichlid only type keepers use tanks like 55gal, 75gal with africans, 350litres is 90gals i mean 55gal, 75gal and 125gal i think are the most popular tank sizes for africans and there must be hundreds of thousands if not millions of tanks worldwide which successfully keep africans in a 55/75gal tank.. there are many that keep africans in this size tank on fishlore too.

My LFS's here in Austalia ofter very little variety in africans apart from malawi.. sometimes frontosa and some other species but that is it. i would do rainbow fish but here in aus they can be quit expensive and im not interested in a community tank (tetras.etc.).

Peter

 

Im not here to cause drama or argue but ive seen so many long time aquarium keepers including cichlid only type keepers use tanks like 55gal, 75gal with africans, 350litres is 90gals i mean 55gal, 75gal and 125gal i think are the most popular tank sizes for africans and there must be hundreds of thousands if not millions of tanks worldwide which successfully keep africans in a 55/75gal tank.. there are many that keep africans in this size tank on fishlore too.

I'm also not gonna argue and just give you something to think:
Is POPULAR always RIGHT?
Successful is also a very subjective term.

Many that come here to Fishlore with a malawi tank that size have the tank ready and stocked, asking for advice because they underestimated the fishes aggression levels.
In such cases I advise for rehoming and only if that's not an option I help minimizing the damage.

I can't stop you from trying. I won't stop you from trying.
If it fails and you lose fish (75% you will within the first year of the tank running), it's on you, then.

Good luck.

 

I'm also not gonna argue and just give you something to think:
Is POPULAR always RIGHT?
Successful is also a very subjective term.

Many that come here to Fishlore with a malawi tank that size have the tank ready and stocked, asking for advice because they underestimated the fishes aggression levels.
In such cases I advise for rehoming and only if that's not an option I help minimizing the damage.

I can't stop you from trying. I won't stop you from trying.
If it fails and you lose fish (75% you will within the first year of the tank running), it's on you, then.

Good luck.

I understand your perspective, ill look into other options but i may still give it a go...

 

I've kept Lake Malawi Cichlids for quite a few years. Most varieties are very active & beautifully colored. Unfortunately they are hyper territorial, especially Mbuna.

To help maintain a "relative" peaceful Mbuna community a rather substantial rock hardscape is required. The hardscape & substrate will displace a significant amount of water. Your 55 gal. tank might actually be holding 25 gallons of water after adding decor.
A simple reality about Mbuna is that if not given enough space they will kill each other.
Keeping Mbuna is a good way to develope one's fishkeeping skills, but it can be very frustrating & costly. Consider the potential shortfalls of keeping Mbuna before jumping in.