Correct. Bacteria struggles to process ammonium. It will but will do it much slower. The bacteria shouldn't actually die off but could go dormant. Should you have to do a
water change it might be a good idea to add another dose of your fritz bacteria.
You probably know more about how to handle your fritz-zyme better than I do. Is there any chance it will lose its potency once opened? If so it might be better to just use all of it now instead of waiting unless it is a huge bottle of it. I don't think we can overdose on bottled bacteria.
I really don't think stability is needed. It won't hurt to add it but I don't think it will help at all. The bacteria in the fritz-zyme is the same bacteria we normally grow in our tanks. The bacteria in the stability isn't. It is basically a band aid that should help protect fish while the proper bacteria grows.
From what I can tell, the Fritz TurboStart is fine after it's been opened. It just needs to be refrigerated from the time it's manufactured until it's either expired or you're done with it. I'll hold off on the Stability. Thanks!
You're on the right track with your 75g. You're beat decision was joining the fishlore community. I wish I had done that sooner when i first got into the hobby. Tons of awesome forum members here. Lot of good resources for every niche in the hobby, especially with your future Mbuna stocking. Your scaping of the 75g looks great, the Mbuna will like it tremendously. I wish i had half of that rock in our 55g African tank!
-As for your FritzZyme, cycling with bacteria boosters can be hit or miss. Fritz is a good company and I have been using their "Complete"
dechlorinator lately. You never know if the bottle of bacteria is old stock or could have been mishandled and stored in a hot warehouse in the summer killing off most of the bacteria. That could be the reason when some people report that "it didn't work", though I think many times it's due to unrealistic expectations.
Some people report better results with some brands than others, but there are so many variables with our hobby, it's hard to say what works and what doesnt.
I've used
Tetra Safe Start, ammonina, plus some cycled media to help jump start the cycle of our 75g and it seemed to work. It wasnt an instant cycle, but i believe it definitely helpee jump start the process.
Since you have no fish, consider bumping the temp up to 85-86f. It may cycle a little faster with a higher temp. I did that when I cycled our 75g.
-What is your stocking plan? You mentioned possibly buying online. That is how I first stocked our 55g African tank with Mbuna. It's always had male Mbuna with a couple of Peacocks as well. My original Mbuna came from Live Fish Direct out of Utah during a 4th of July 25% off sale. Otherwise their fish can be pricey. My friend and I have both ordered fish after that from Imperial Tropicals outof Florida. Everytime our fish arrived as advertised and all healthy. They have a lot of YouTube video content, and other fish hobby channels have done video tours of their facility that you can check out. Imperial Tropiclas is a family owned large scale commercial breeder that luckily has a online retail side to service our hobby. Another website that you might consider is Quinn's Fins. They breed what they sell and they seem to have very good prices on their medium 2"-3" and large 3"-3" Mbuna. If I ever upgraded to a larger tank for my African cichlids, I would probably buy my next batch from Quinn's.
If you dont want to deal with the fish breeding, then conisder getting an all male tank, with only 1 of each type Mbuna you choose and overstock. Or select 1-3 types of Mbuna and get something like a 1/3 ratio of males/females for example. Problem is trying to find a type of Mbuna where the female has color since most do not.
If you want your Mbuna to breed, check out the Saulosi Mbuna, the females have a different vibrant color than the male. Female Rusty's have good color as well as the Red Zebras, and Yellow Tail Acei.
Wow, I really appreciate the plethora of information!! I was already aware of some of it, but the little things like potentially bumping up the temperature I had no idea about!!
As far as buffering the water, I had a long conversation with the Cichlid guy at my LFS. Reason being, my Ph is 7.6 but I have
Kh of 6 degrees and a Gh of 10 degrees. According to him, this is basically what everyone has in our area. Their water has the EXACT same parameters with no additional buffer. The pH stays constant and the Cichlids actually THRIVE there. Basically he told me to stop trying so hard lol.
With stocking, I don't want to do a Male only tank. I plan on setting up groups (not to necessarily breed intentionally, but for more natural interactions between fish).
However, in the event that fry survive: I'd like to be cautious and not deliberately have hybrids. Obviously, things happen but in the event that I have to re-home a few, I don't think it's right to distribute hybrids and ruin the "true" lineage of a species.
Right now, the fish I have on my short list are:
Melanochromis Maingano- (Black and blue, horizontal banding. Similar looking and often confused with Johanni. Monomorphic females and less aggressive)
Cynotilapia Afra White Top- White with black vertical striping. Note- I also like the Jalo Reef.
Metriaclima sp. Zebra Chilumba (Luwino Reef)- (Blue with black vertical striping)
Pseudotropheus Saulosi- (Blue w/ black vertical striping males, yellow females and juveniles)
Socolofi (I'm good with either white or blue, depending on the colors of the other species in the tank)
I do like the look of Demasoni, but I've heard they can be as temperamental as the Auratus if they aren't in large groups so I may avoid them.
One of either of the below Labs, I don't want to stock both to reduce the chance of accidental hybrids. I'm not intentionally breeding, but things happen .
Labeotropheus Caeruleus (Yellow Lab)- From what I can tell they get along with pretty much anything.
Labeotropheus Trewavasae Ochre Chilumba- I stumbled across this Trewavasae variant that is shockingly vibrant red and honestly I haven't seen any other TRUELY red Mbuna (not orange like a zebra) and think it looks stunning!!
I am definitely still open to other ideas. I do not plan on stocking all of these species and I'd like to curb excessive conspecific aggression. Some aggression is ok. And I love their personalities...as long as they can let it go, establish their hierarchy and not have one of them turn into a midnight assassin and wipe out the tank! (The reasons I'm avoiding Bumblebee, Auratus, etc...)
People may think I'm attempting to script an episode of Aquatic C.S.I, but if possible I'd like to add one Malawi Peacock or Hap. I haven't heard of one that can hold their own against rowdy Mbuna tank mates, yet also not snap and eat them. So this may end up being a pipe dream haha. There was someone I was talking to that suggested a Livingstonii or an OB Peacock may work out well, but you never really know until they all hit maturity!!
I can agree with you on the quality of this community for sure. I'm very impressed and I find myself lurking around other areas of the site. Maybe one day before too long I'll actually be able to help answer some of the questions I see.
I appreciate the compliment on the rock scape!! We'll find out how much of a pain it will be when the Mbuna get around to redecorating . I can say it's definitely stable and I'm not concerned with an accident occurring. The
coral to the left was REALLY large pieces and when I was breaking it up with a hammer (for more
caves) I was able to form interlocking notches so it won't fall over. The dragon stone on the right LOOKS nice, but it's really brittle and I have been picking little pieces out of the
sand just because it bugs me. Once there are fish in the tank, I doubt I'll care so much because they'll have my attention.
Also, can you send pics of your tank? I'd love to check it out!!!
