alexbeal1117
Next summer I am planning on making a African style 75 Gallon aquarium. I've done research but I'd like second opinions and help to refine it so it turns out the best.
It'll be more of a Central or West African design. Since the East African designs are more commonly seen opposed to the other two. There would be plenty of hiding places, hardy plants from Africa, fish from Africa, but more so from the west, and a slight current and subdued light in some areas. I am open to ideas even if they don't match up to the area.
TANK SETTING:
77-81 Degrees
6-7.5 pH
10-15 dh
STOCKING:
•1 Retropinnis Bichir
•1 Ropefish also known as Reed Fish
•2 Buffalo Head Cichlids.
•1 Leopard Ctenopoma
•1 Synodomtis Ocellifer or Angelicus
•10-12 Congo Tetras
•1 Elephant Nose Fish
•1 African Butterfly Fish
•3 Vampire Shrimp
•6 Bamboo Shrimp
•7 Giant SulawesI Snails or Pagoda Snails
•12 Amano Shrimp
I am worried the Congo Tetras would become food. So if anyone had opinions on other schooling Fish I'd appreciate it. Other fish that I was interested in were the banded Ctenopoma. They are quite smaller, about 3.5 inches. Another fish was the Mormyrid Cornfish Jack. Very similar to the Elephant Nose Fish but 14 inches as max length. They are not as aggressive though. But because of their size they'd for sure would eat the Congo Tetras. Most these fish I've seen kept together and have it go good. Only the rare disagreement.
For the inverts I wanted Shrimp. But the safest ones to put in would be Vampire Shrimp. Bamboo shrimp would be safe while the fish are all juveniles but eventually could become food. I could move them though at that point. Amano Shrimp I believe would be safe as well at first. But eventually could become a food source. But there would hopefully be enough hiding places for them to survive.
PLANTS:
(Long list)
•Java Fern
•Anubias Coffeefiolia
•Anubias Barteri
•Anubias Nana
•Anubias Petite
•Anubias Congensis
•Anubias Lanceolata
•Anubias Minima
•Anubias Heterophylla
•Nymphaea Tiger Lotus
•Ammania Senegalensis
•Pista Stratiotes/Water Lettuce
•Echinodorus Big Ear
•Echinodorus Fancy Twist
•Echinodorus HadI Red Pearl
•Echinodorus Marble Queen
Plants wished I wanted more native plants that were hardy. I'd use varying amounts of every plant. Any recommendations would be appreciated. I have SeaChem plant supplement which I'll use.
HARDSCAPE
•10-20lbs of Elephant Skin Rock
•Some Spider Wood
•1 Large Congo Wood Piece
•Few medium Congo Wood pieces
The rock would be used to help tie down plants, and keep wood in place. But due to the Cichlids they have to be sitting on the bottom of the tank because the Cichlids tend to dig holes. Should I just make holes myself with Pleco tunnels? I'd like to make a few hiding places for the other fish.
SUBSTRATE
•ADA Aqua-Soil Africana
•ADA Power Sand Special Small
•SeaChem Flourite Black Sand/ regular or dark version
•Flourish Plant Tabs
I'd use in total about 300-375 lbs of substrate. Gonna be a lot of money though but I'd have a deep enough substrate layer. I'd use a Inch or 2 of Africana then half a inch of power sand then a inch of Flourite. In the Africana layer I'd put the flourish tabs.
FILTRATION
•Aquatop FORZA FZ7 UV Canister Filter
Or
Aquatop CF400-UV Canister Filter
The forza filter does 295 gph but that'll almost cycle the water 4 times a hour. But has one more media compartment than the CF400. But the CF400 does 370 gph. The forza is $160 but I can get the CF400 for $100. The forza is supposedly newer than the CF400. If they don't create a strong enough current I could always use a Too Fin Internal Filter 20. Which will also filter water good. I have personal experience with that filter. Both filters come with supplies if there isn't enough my LFS carries some stuff and I can go to Home Depot
The media I'd use would be SeaChem Matrix (biological), SeaChem Purigen (Chemical), Fluval Polishing Pads (Mechanical), and SeaChem SeaGel (Chemical). In with the polishing pad would be some course foam. I will keep CupriSorb on hand and would run that for a day once a week to remove any copper from the water for the Inverts.
AERATION
•Aqueon QuietFlow Air Pump 100
•Fluval MinI Pressurized CO2 Kit
The Aqueon air pump is rated for 100 gallons. So the water will have enough oxygen in it. I'll run it to a few different air stones. I'd like to use CO2 for the plants but I don't want to risk using too much so the minI kit would be good. Comes with everything I'll need. But has the benefit of using minI CO2 canisters which are easy to change out.
LIGHTS
• Aqueon OptiBright Light
I am planning on using a glass cover. And these are recommended to be used with the glass covers.
HEATING
•Aqueon 200 Watt Pro Heater
This is supposedly enough to heat the tank.
OTHER INFO
I would buy all of these supplies over the course of a few months. I will for sure not stock this at the same time. But any opinions on how I should stock it? I'll let it cycle for a month with cycle media to get it started. Then first stock set would be in there a month before anything else is also introduced. I'd preferably do it by size/sensitivity/aggression.
It'll be more of a Central or West African design. Since the East African designs are more commonly seen opposed to the other two. There would be plenty of hiding places, hardy plants from Africa, fish from Africa, but more so from the west, and a slight current and subdued light in some areas. I am open to ideas even if they don't match up to the area.
TANK SETTING:
77-81 Degrees
6-7.5 pH
10-15 dh
STOCKING:
•1 Retropinnis Bichir
•1 Ropefish also known as Reed Fish
•2 Buffalo Head Cichlids.
•1 Leopard Ctenopoma
•1 Synodomtis Ocellifer or Angelicus
•10-12 Congo Tetras
•1 Elephant Nose Fish
•1 African Butterfly Fish
•3 Vampire Shrimp
•6 Bamboo Shrimp
•7 Giant SulawesI Snails or Pagoda Snails
•12 Amano Shrimp
I am worried the Congo Tetras would become food. So if anyone had opinions on other schooling Fish I'd appreciate it. Other fish that I was interested in were the banded Ctenopoma. They are quite smaller, about 3.5 inches. Another fish was the Mormyrid Cornfish Jack. Very similar to the Elephant Nose Fish but 14 inches as max length. They are not as aggressive though. But because of their size they'd for sure would eat the Congo Tetras. Most these fish I've seen kept together and have it go good. Only the rare disagreement.
For the inverts I wanted Shrimp. But the safest ones to put in would be Vampire Shrimp. Bamboo shrimp would be safe while the fish are all juveniles but eventually could become food. I could move them though at that point. Amano Shrimp I believe would be safe as well at first. But eventually could become a food source. But there would hopefully be enough hiding places for them to survive.
PLANTS:
(Long list)
•Java Fern
•Anubias Coffeefiolia
•Anubias Barteri
•Anubias Nana
•Anubias Petite
•Anubias Congensis
•Anubias Lanceolata
•Anubias Minima
•Anubias Heterophylla
•Nymphaea Tiger Lotus
•Ammania Senegalensis
•Pista Stratiotes/Water Lettuce
•Echinodorus Big Ear
•Echinodorus Fancy Twist
•Echinodorus HadI Red Pearl
•Echinodorus Marble Queen
Plants wished I wanted more native plants that were hardy. I'd use varying amounts of every plant. Any recommendations would be appreciated. I have SeaChem plant supplement which I'll use.
HARDSCAPE
•10-20lbs of Elephant Skin Rock
•Some Spider Wood
•1 Large Congo Wood Piece
•Few medium Congo Wood pieces
The rock would be used to help tie down plants, and keep wood in place. But due to the Cichlids they have to be sitting on the bottom of the tank because the Cichlids tend to dig holes. Should I just make holes myself with Pleco tunnels? I'd like to make a few hiding places for the other fish.
SUBSTRATE
•ADA Aqua-Soil Africana
•ADA Power Sand Special Small
•SeaChem Flourite Black Sand/ regular or dark version
•Flourish Plant Tabs
I'd use in total about 300-375 lbs of substrate. Gonna be a lot of money though but I'd have a deep enough substrate layer. I'd use a Inch or 2 of Africana then half a inch of power sand then a inch of Flourite. In the Africana layer I'd put the flourish tabs.
FILTRATION
•Aquatop FORZA FZ7 UV Canister Filter
Or
Aquatop CF400-UV Canister Filter
The forza filter does 295 gph but that'll almost cycle the water 4 times a hour. But has one more media compartment than the CF400. But the CF400 does 370 gph. The forza is $160 but I can get the CF400 for $100. The forza is supposedly newer than the CF400. If they don't create a strong enough current I could always use a Too Fin Internal Filter 20. Which will also filter water good. I have personal experience with that filter. Both filters come with supplies if there isn't enough my LFS carries some stuff and I can go to Home Depot
The media I'd use would be SeaChem Matrix (biological), SeaChem Purigen (Chemical), Fluval Polishing Pads (Mechanical), and SeaChem SeaGel (Chemical). In with the polishing pad would be some course foam. I will keep CupriSorb on hand and would run that for a day once a week to remove any copper from the water for the Inverts.
AERATION
•Aqueon QuietFlow Air Pump 100
•Fluval MinI Pressurized CO2 Kit
The Aqueon air pump is rated for 100 gallons. So the water will have enough oxygen in it. I'll run it to a few different air stones. I'd like to use CO2 for the plants but I don't want to risk using too much so the minI kit would be good. Comes with everything I'll need. But has the benefit of using minI CO2 canisters which are easy to change out.
LIGHTS
• Aqueon OptiBright Light
I am planning on using a glass cover. And these are recommended to be used with the glass covers.
HEATING
•Aqueon 200 Watt Pro Heater
This is supposedly enough to heat the tank.
OTHER INFO
I would buy all of these supplies over the course of a few months. I will for sure not stock this at the same time. But any opinions on how I should stock it? I'll let it cycle for a month with cycle media to get it started. Then first stock set would be in there a month before anything else is also introduced. I'd preferably do it by size/sensitivity/aggression.
