# 75g African Cichlid Mbuna



## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

I started this tank just over 2 weeks ago. The water is finally starting to clear up more and more every day. I do a 50% water change once a week. I feed them twice a day, in the morning Aqueon cichlid pellets and omega one cichlid flakes. Then at dinner time i feed half a cube of frozen bloodworms mixed in water and a few omega one veggie rounds. I plan on adding weekly 6 or 7 Mbuna africans and/or Accei, Red Zebra, maybe Tropheus. I plan on having 30 in total with a good mix of 1 male to 6 female if possible. I plan on getting more Goby rock as well to make more caves and hiding spaces. I am not sure if i will need a second eheim 2075 to filter as i have read that i should have a gallons per hour of 8 times the size of the tank. Currently the 1 eheim is rated for 330gph and a second would bring me to 660gph, just over 8 times my 75g size.
My current water conditions are
ph 7.6
alk 90ppm
ammonia 0
KH 6
GH 6
Here are a few pics so far.



This next pic is to demonstrate my Zetlight Freshwater model ZA2420 at full brightness

And This is half brightness.

Frank from AQ LED was able to help me out with the LED Lights.
I look forward to hearing any feedback as i am new to African Cichlids.


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

awsome tank jamie... once it's fully cycled stack it up with colorful ones... red fish and more red fish :bigsmile:


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

update 06/20/2013. I added another Eheim 2075 and 2 koralia power heads for better circulation so hopefully the waste will get picked up easier. I also added a few more cichlids as well.





ph 8.0
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 40ppm
kh 12
gh 22
temp 78
doing the epsom salt, instant ocean and baking soda mixture. weekly 50% water changes.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Your tank looks good. I like the rock structure. Africans are addictive and very fun fish. The more the merrier!! Good idea on the extra filter. They are messy fish and love to eat.


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## rich16 (Mar 25, 2011)

Nice looking tank, love how you've arranged the rock, looks great!


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Thanks Rich and JB. 
next up is to look for 3-5 showpiece peacocks.


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

awesome Jamie! where's my red fishes :lol:


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Crimper I am waiting for the jewel cichlids to color up x2 of them. Also waiting for the red zebras x4 to color up as well as the 3 fireblood peacocks to color up. There should be a lot of red when they mature.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

jrock said:


> Thanks Rich and JB.
> next up is to look for 3-5 showpiece peacocks.


Be careful mixing Mbunas with Peacocks. Mbunas are more aggressive and can be overbearing with their chasing. Peacocks seem to chase for a few seconds than back off. Ive read countless times people saying you shouldnt keep the 2 together. With that being said. I do have a trio of yellow labs in my all male Peacock/Hap tank. You just need to be carefull which Mbunas you keep. I even have a few Tang's and one Victorian in my tank and live plants and most people say you cant do that either. So Im not saying dont mix just keep an eye on them. When the lights go out. The picking on each other really begins.


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Tank looks great man! Excellent rock work for the mbunas!


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## bingerz (Mar 3, 2011)

looks good! *thumbs up* i read somewhere that it's not good to feed mbunas bloodworms.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

@bingerz ya i heard there is not much nutritional value with blood worms. I will finish off the pack i bought. I have moved on to some better food: New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula, Dainichi xl pro with krill and spirulina and frozen Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp, they love that the most.


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

looking good... but where are the red stuffs? :bigsmile:


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Looking for a little help or some advice on my tank. Tonight i did a complete water test using my API kit and here are my results:
PH 8.0
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 80ppm
kh 161.1 or 11 (9 drops)
gh over 400ppm or over 22 (19 drops)
My concern is the Nitrate level as it should be under 40ppm. Is it ok to be at 80ppm or what should i do to lower it? how are my other test results looking?
I do weekly 50% water changes using the epsom salt 1tablespoon per 10gal, instant ocean 1tablespoon per 10gal , baking soda 1teaspoon per 10gal. I am using 2 eheim ultra g 160 model 2078 rated for 330gph per each unit and 2 koralia 1100gph powerheads. I have not taken out all the goby rock for a month so it is possible there is crap hiding around the rocks that i cant reach with the siphon


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Update I took some advice from a member telling me that i could have too much substrate in my tank. I had like 3-4" of substrate. I was told it should be like .5-1" of substrate in order to prevent a lot of organic materials to get stuck in the aragonite. So i removed about 2-3" of substrate during a water change 2weeks ago leaving me about 1" of aragonite. I also squeezed both of my eheim canister filters into my newly set up 92g troph tank. I should have just squeezed them into the new filter of the tank rather than dunking them into the tank and squeezing. So its possible i depleted a majority of my healthy bacteria from both my substrate and my cannister filters. well that left me with a cloudy tank due to the scooping of the aragonite out of the tank. the white cloudiness cleared up after a week or so and then i was left with a different kind of haze for the next week. I have been told it could be a bacteria bloom.

Water test results
Jul 24 Jul 29 Aug 1
ph 8.2 8.2 8.0
amm 0 .25 .25
nitrite 0 0 0
nitrate 20ppm 10ppm 40ppm
kh 11dkh 9dkh
gh over 22dkh over 22


I just finished a 50% water change.

If this is a bacteria bloom what is the best way to attack it. Or do i just wait it out.


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## Dylan (May 6, 2013)

Wow beautiful looking tank! Great setup, I love the rock work, looks great.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

update Aug 6 2013 nitrates are starting to come down and water is starting to clear from the bacteria bloom. I am trying this product to reduce nitrates:
 i didnt really follow the instructions too closely and i will be adding more to my cannister so i follow the proper amount to bring down nitrates even further.
Current pic of tank

i took out all rocks and objects and sucked up any organic matter.
PH 8.0
Amm 0
NO2 0
NO3 20ppm
kh 11dkh
gh over 22dkh


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Looking much better now! I think you are on the right track! How many fish are there in this 75G? I dont think the list in your signature is updated. I love the yellow ones! My tank doesnt have much yellow in it...


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I like the Jungle Vals. They do well in African water and will look awesome when they fill in.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

I have 2 jewels, 6 yellow labs, 5 cobalt blues, 2 ice blue zebras, 4 red zebra, 3 red empress, 4 petricolas, 2 bn plecos, 1 auratus, 2 kenyi 2 rusty blotched? 3 fireblood peacocks, 1 accei. thats it not gonna add anymore.


JTang said:


> Looking much better now! I think you are on the right track! How many fish are there in this 75G? I dont think the list in your signature is updated. I love the yellow ones! My tank doesnt have much yellow in it...


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Awesome Jamie... no red fish there still??? :lol:


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

here is a short video taken on my Galaxy note. This tank is fully stocked and i dont plan on adding any more fish.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Another short video. The red empress is holding eggs and the male is super vibrant blue with red on the fins. He is the boss of the tank. I also have a fireblood spitting babies in a seperate tank. You can see the male is vibrant orange and big as well.


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

I just started buffering my water for the first time. I am aiming for a kh/gh of 10/10. Is it ok for your GH to be that high? I am using the same buffer recipe as you and have not noticed such a difference between the KH and GH in my tank. Mind you I am slowly bringing it up and only added a 1/3rd of the recipe per gallon but I went up to gh3 kh5 so far and plan to add another 2/3rds of the recipe so maybe we will end up with similar numbers.

Just wondering if its ok to have your GH that high? I assume I might end up with similar figures considering I live pretty close to you and using the same recipe.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Some people have their kH and gH well over 50 in their african tanks. It just keeps the water really stable and doesn't seem to harm african cichlid eggs like it does to other fish


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

selling this tank and livestock if anyone is interested check out the freshwater livestock classified section.


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