# 120g African cichlid tank ++Lots of new pix of my fish pg 14,15++



## jbyoung00008

I am setting up my first African cichlid tank and man am I excited. I will post pictures as soon as I have some. I figured I would start a journal while I wait. I move in 10 days so I figure I should have the tank filled and all pumps going 2 days after move in date. The wife pretty much knows un packing is secondary to me LOL. I have tons of media stuck in a few different tanks so I am hoping to cycle the tank rather quickly. Also the substrate I bought claims to cycle a tank in days since it is full of bacteria. I have purchased around 30+ juvie africans some bigger but they are all together in a tank waiting for move in day. All I will be using is Seachem and Carib sea products made for African Cichlids. No home brews. Just brand names. If it turns out easeir to use DIY water additives than I will switch. The Caribsea substrate I bought also claims I wont need to add anything to the water as it will make it perfect for Africans on its own for the life of the tank. 

Here is what I have so far:

120g tank
Custom built stand. I wanted it to stand higer than most tanks. Bottom of tank will be just over 3ft tall.
Odyssea 3x 54w with moonlights. Not sure of what bulbs im using but I will be running a sunrise, sunset sequence
Fluval fx5
Rena xp3 with coralife 18w Uv sterilizer
Powerhead of some sort have a few to choose from
80lbs Carib sea African mix aragonite. 60lbs ivory coast, 20lbs small shells mix
122lbs of Mexican bowl rock for structure

I will also be trying to add live plants

A few different Anubias species in between the rock structure
Jungle Vals along the back corner of 1 side
Java fern here and there
Crypts and sword plant

Happy fish keeping!!!


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## onefishtwofish

good for you for being so excited. makes for a healthy happy tank. just one note make sure your rocks are placed so when the fish sift and excavate the sand for you that it doesn't shift your rocks. good luck.


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## Foxtail

Sounds awesome. My wife said I can have a big tank but im not sure what I want to do yet... I want to see the pics of your tank. 

P.S. I have some jewel fry that will be ready in a month or 2 if ya want some.

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## jbyoung00008

Foxtail said:


> Sounds awesome. My wife said I can have a big tank but im not sure what I want to do yet... I want to see the pics of your tank.
> 
> P.S. I have some jewel fry that will be ready in a month or 2 if ya want some.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T959D using Tapatalk 2


If the wife says its okay to get a big tank. Than get a really big tank. LOL. I wish I would of bought bigger than 125g but since I already had the tank and my buddy has built me this awesome stand it looks like the 125g is staying for awhile. So far I am enjoying watching all the africans swim around in the 20g I have them in. Since its just a temporary tank and was set up last minute. I have no gravel just a few big rocks and live plants in pots. All the fish seem happy. No aggression issues. Probably because their is so many of them They go crazy when I feed them and the wife really enjoys how social they are with us. Mainly because they want food. So far I am really glad I picked Africans to put in this tank. Its going to be a fun ride!

As for the jewel fry. I will let you know if I want any. Thanks


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## hp10BII

A big tank would be nice. So many Africans, not enough tanks! Sounds like a nice project you have going.


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## Foxtail

Ya, I was surprised at how social they are too. And smart. My jewels know the difference between me my wife and my daughter.... They follow me right up against the glass, my wife they will just come out and watch, and my daughter... Well they are terrified of her lol. She likes to jump out and scare them.

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## Sidius

Aggression issues might show up later once they're all sexually mature, if you have females in a tank, with that many different males.. Plus you will most definitely get cross-breeding and hybrids. From what I've learned, it's best to go all-male or go with about 4 or 5 species with a 1m/4f ratio.

I love cichlid tanks though, I'm looking forward to seeing some pics of it all!


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## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> Aggression issues might show up later once they're all sexually mature, if you have females in a tank, with that many different males.. Plus you will most definitely get cross-breeding and hybrids. From what I've learned, it's best to go all-male or go with about 4 or 5 species with a 1m/4f ratio.
> 
> I love cichlid tanks though, I'm looking forward to seeing some pics of it all!


Thanks for the pointer. I am most likely going all males. At this point I can only tell if a few are male or female fish. I do have a few bigger fish that are male for sure. I move on monday so hopefully my tank will be good to go by the end of the month. The last minute tank I just set up for my African was set up in about 20 minutes a week ago. I still havnt had a casualty and the tank is packed. I did toss in tons of new and old bio media. So skipping most of the cycling time shouldnt be a problem when I set up the big tank. All I have left to buy is mexican bowl rock so its just a matter of getting over to the landscape shop to buy it. I can hardly wait!!!!


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## MOLOTO

You can't stop at just one 125g tank!!


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## jbyoung00008

I went by NW Landscape this morning and purchased 122lbs of mexican bowl rock. Im not sure how much I need but I figured its better to have more rock than not enough. Im still not exactly sure how the layout will look but I have bought some nice plants to fit into some of the cracks of the rocks. All the plants are in the temporary tank with all the fish. So far the fish dont seem to bother them. I now have everything I need to set this tank up. I cant wait!!


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## Rastapus

I would still buffer the KH and GH, Carib seas claims are based on traditional city water, not BC water which is unique.


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## Sidius

Rastapus said:


> I would still buffer the KH and GH, Carib seas claims are based on traditional city water, not BC water which is unique.


I've heard that using crushed coral in a canister filter can help this... Can you confirm that Rasta? It acts as bio and a buffer, from what I read. I haven't actually tried it yet because I'm hesitant to swap out my Matrix media. I just use Seachem Cichlid Buffer and African lake salt.


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## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> I've heard that using crushed coral in a canister filter can help this... Can you confirm that Rasta? It acts as bio and a buffer, from what I read. I haven't actually tried it yet because I'm hesitant to swap out my Matrix media. I just use Seachem Cichlid Buffer and African lake salt.


I have asked this same question before. Can you add crushed coral to the filter? Some people say Yes while others like Rastapus will say No. I have asked him before. I currently have crushed coral in my little desktop tank at work and it keeps everything perfect for me I also have bio media in the filter as well. I have used this method on a few tanks and have seen its benefits. Stable Ph being one of them.

Im going to stick with the info I have read in books rather than peoples opinions. I would rather make the mistakes or find the benifits on my own. Thats how I learn. If all goes well I shouldnt need to dose anything anyways. Some things work great for people while other things dont. My move in day is TODAY so I will be setting up the tank in 4 days. I will start posting pictures as soon as I start setting the tank up. Oh man I cant wait!!!!


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## mdwflyer

Please don't take this as a rant, looking forward to seeing your tank in action!

There are thousands of ways to skin a cat. In my african tank, I have crushed coral sand, I have coral rocks in the tank, I have oyster shells in one of the canisters. It does not get the water to the consistent parameters that I need. Hence I use seachem products to bring it there.

The water out of the tap in Delta has a TDS so close to ZERO it's not even funny. I brought some fish back from Calgary a few days ago, nothing added to that water (other than some poop from 4 hours in the bag) TDS was over 400, KH was around 8 and GH was around 18, same ph as my african tank. It's all about consistency, if you keep your ph,kh,gh and nitrates at a consistent level all the time, you will have happy fish.


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## Vman

Sounds great. Gotta post pix.Really want to see it.


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## jbyoung00008

mdwflyer said:


> Please don't take this as a rant, looking forward to seeing your tank in action!
> 
> There are thousands of ways to skin a cat. In my african tank, I have crushed coral sand, I have coral rocks in the tank, I have oyster shells in one of the canisters. It does not get the water to the consistent parameters that I need. Hence I use seachem products to bring it there.
> 
> The water out of the tap in Delta has a TDS so close to ZERO it's not even funny. I brought some fish back from Calgary a few days ago, nothing added to that water (other than some poop from 4 hours in the bag) TDS was over 400, KH was around 8 and GH was around 18, same ph as my african tank. It's all about consistency, if you keep your ph,kh,gh and nitrates at a consistent level all the time, you will have happy fish.


I dont take that as a rant at all. The more info the better. Thanks. IMO Ph, Kh and Gh are all just numbers. They are important but too many people freak out when they arnt perfect. They start adding chemicals to lower these numbers or to change them. Consistency is key. I agree seachem buffers work. I have them ready incase the substrate doesnt do what its supposed to do.

Move update
Today we got possesion of the house. I spent this evening moving my 25g tall planted tank. I caught as many fish as I could but when you have as many fish as I do in a tank I knew I would only be able to catch so many. The cories vanished into the plants so they all stayed. I have around 20 japonica shrimp that stayed in the tank aswell. The wife and I carried the tank a good distance. I was nervous. So far tank looks okay. I will return to the new house tomorrow to check on it. African tank is soo close to getting setup. I can hardly wait!


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## mdwflyer

Looks like you have busy covered as well!

You are headed down the right path, curious to see how the setup comes all together, going to be very exciting.

Good luck with the moving process, we did that a year and a half ago and are still renovating :bigsmile:


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## 2wheelsx2

Rastapus said:


> I would still buffer the KH and GH, Carib seas claims are based on traditional city water, not BC water which is unique.


As I mentioned before, this is only true for Metro Vancouver water. Outside of the Metro Vancouver watershed, the water is as hard or harder than the prairies. The GH around Fraser Lake area, for instance is great than 10 degrees. So it's not BC, it's the Metro Vancouver watershed, which draw from meteoric and rain water rather than local aquifers. It's the same process as the Great Lakes in Ontario and Quebec.

Since this is BCAquaria, even though a large portion is from Metro Vancouver, I thought I should point this out, in case someone from Vernon starts adding in all kinds of buffers to their very hard water.


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## jbyoung00008

Hopefully this works. I finally got a picture of the almost complete stand. My buddy has been working hard. The stand will be a show piece on ots own. It should get stained tomorrow. It is made out of red oak veneered plywood and solid red oak for trim. It will be stained a dark color to match our dinning room table. I had the front doors made as big as possible. The Fx5 is huge so it had to fit plus I want the stand to be functional. No braking my back reaching in to grab something out of the back corner. Inside shelving and layout will be built later. I need to figure out what works and what doesnt plus im eager to get started on setup. I have the tank full of water checking for leaks since it hasnt had water in it for over a year. The countdown begins!!!


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## Sidius

Nice looking stand, like everyone else, I'm looking forward to seeing it all setup. Do you have to cycle it or do you have media from another tank to use?

I'm building a stand myself but I'm thinking of finishing it with some stonework my buddy had leftover from a fireplace reno he did (He's giving it to me for free) plus add some nice dark wood stained cabinet doors and some matching trim. I'll post some DIY pics once I get it all complete.


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## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> Nice looking stand, like everyone else, I'm looking forward to seeing it all setup. Do you have to cycle it or do you have media from another tank to use?
> 
> I'm building a stand myself but I'm thinking of finishing it with some stonework my buddy had leftover from a fireplace reno he did (He's giving it to me for free) plus add some nice dark wood stained cabinet doors and some matching trim. I'll post some DIY pics once I get it all complete.


I have media in a few other tanks. I will be putting it all in the Fx5. Im also using Seachem stability and and the substrate I bought is full of bacteria. I will do a big water change on my 25g maybe stir up the gravel a bit to steal more bacteria and use that water in my 125g to help get it all started. Im hoping the cycle time wont be long.

Good luck with building your own stand. Wood can be a little costly but the overall product is well worth it. Adding your own personal touch like rocks sounds nice. I am really happy so far with the look of mine. Usually stands are shorter with small doors. Mine is the opposite. My buddy is building the stand for free since Ive fixed his truck so many times for free.


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## jbyoung00008

mdwflyer said:


> Looks like you have busy covered as well!
> 
> You are headed down the right path, curious to see how the setup comes all together, going to be very exciting.
> 
> Good luck with the moving process, we did that a year and a half ago and are still renovating :bigsmile:


Thanks. Moving process went smooth. I have 1 last tank to move tonight. Its my temporary African tank so it shouldnt be to hard to move. BUSY is my middle name LOL. I will keep posting pictures for everyone to see. I will be painting the back glass tonight


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## jbyoung00008

*Stand update*

Here is a pic of the stand after staining. The inside is going to be left natural wood color and sprayed with a clear kote. Im hoping that will help keep it bright inside. The back will be boxed in aswell to help keep noise down from filters. The stand will be delivered tomorrow night and will need a day or two to off gas. Even the wife is getting excited to see this all come together!


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## Sidius

The stand looks awesome! Good choice on stain colour. Is he going to varnish it or use something to water-proof it? Might want to do that in case you get leaks or spillage.


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## Tiwaz

Your stand looks great.


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## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> The stand looks awesome! Good choice on stain colour. Is he going to varnish it or use something to water-proof it? Might want to do that in case you get leaks or spillage.


My buddy is a maticulous carpenter and makes amazing doors and entry units for a living. So he is incharge of the water proofing and the whole build. I cant remember what he said he is using I think a clearcoat to seal it all off. I will ask him again. All I have done is pick stain color and basic design. I am fortunate to get this made as a return favor. He also got his shops painter to come in and stain it on his own time. Man am I lucky! Doors will be hung today and hopefully a final picture will be sent to me.

So far the build has cost me $130. Wood was at cost and labor free. If you were to buy all this wood it would cost around $350 so Im one happy guy right now!


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## jbyoung00008

*Painting the back of the tank*

I recently spray painted the back of my tank with satin black spray paint. It took around 10 coats. I only used 1 1/2 cans so it was cheap to do. So far I really like the look. Only issue I had was on the bottom part of the tank must of been damp or had windex on it because the paint wouldnt stick in a few areas. I let it dry over night than re sprayed those spots in the morning. Problem solved


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## jbyoung00008

*Fish tank stand completion!*

Stand is finished and was delivered last night. So you know I was up all night setting this tank up. Im very happy with the stand it looks amazing. The color really shows better than it did in the shop. Its overall height is perfect.


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## jbyoung00008

*Tanks set up. Round #1*

I started setting up the tank last night. I have the Fx5 running. Its stuffed with media mostly new but also some out of my other tanks. Tonight I will set up the Rena Xp3. Fill it with more bio media out my other tanks and instal the Coralife 18w UV sterilizer. I added all 80lbs of African Cichlid substrate, 122lbs of mexican bowl rock. The wife thinks it needs a little more substrate so I guess Im going to buy more. Happy Wife = Lots of fish tanks. LOL. Currently I have an actinic light in the fixture. Im not a fan of the blue color so Im thinking I will change it for a Coralife colormax bulb instead. The tank looks huge in our new place. I put the rock work together really fast so im not sure if I will change it later or not. I have a bunch more plants in a tank so I will be adding them once the water gets warmer. Hopefully tonight.


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## Foxtail

Looks good so far.

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## Tiwaz

jbyoung00008 said:


> Happy Wife = Lots of fish tanks.


Truer words haven't been spoken


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## Foxtail

Maybe at your house lol

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## tony1928

Very nice setup! I would go with something like a 50/50 bulb for your lights. The blue from the actinic really makes most Africans pop given that blue is one of their principle colors. That bulb will be less harsh that your full actinic bulbs.


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## jbyoung00008

tony1928 said:


> Very nice setup! I would go with something like a 50/50 bulb for your lights. The blue from the actinic really makes most Africans pop given that blue is one of their principle colors. That bulb will be less harsh that your full actinic bulbs.


Thanks. I am happy with it so far. Im going to try out a few different bulbs. I will have a look at the 50/50 but last I checked they didnt have that in a t5ho bulb. I could be wrong. My unit is a 3 bulb fixture. So far I have a 6400k bulb, 10,000k bulb and whatever else I decide.


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## 2wheelsx2

This one is 60/40 Actinic/15000K: 54W Powerchrome T5 Fluorescent Bulb - AquaBlue + (48 Inch)


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## jbyoung00008

Im going to J&L today so I will have a look at them thanks. So far the wife hates the blue so I need to look at other options. Good thing bulbs are cheap. LOL


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## tony1928

LOL, depends how many you have to change. My 6 foot T5HO required 8 x 60" bulbs if you wanted to change them all. Thankfully I sold that before I had to change too many of them.



jbyoung00008 said:


> Im going to J&L today so I will have a look at them thanks. So far the wife hates the blue so I need to look at other options. Good thing bulbs are cheap. LOL


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## 2wheelsx2

Exactly, that's why I'm going to LED's on all tanks. At one point it was costing me several hundred for bulbs a year. That's ridiculous.


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## jbyoung00008

*Tank up and running fish added*

The tank has been up and running for a few days. I got excited and couldn't wait anymore to add my Africans so last night I started adding some of them. I bought 10 feeder fish to help get the nitrogen cycle going for a few days before I added the Africans. Today all the fish seem happy. Very hungry as usual. I now have both filters running. The UV sterilizer bulb burnt out as soon as I plugged it in. Im not sure why that happend. The unit is brand new so hopefully I will get a new bulb for free. Other than that the tank looks great. I planted more plants than I had planned for but Im happy with the look.


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## Foxtail

Looks great. Did you black the back of the tank?

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## jbyoung00008

Yes I painted the back black. It worked well


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## jbyoung00008

New Pictures of the tank. So far so good. Fish seem happy


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## jbyoung00008

I thought I would give a tank up date today since the tank has been up and running for 2 weeks now. I will try to take some pictures tonight. I will get a few close up images of some of the fish. I did an official fish count. Looks like I have 28 fish in the tank. I will probably get rid of most of my female fish eventually but for now all the fish are happy so I dont want to mess with them. The plants seem to be doing okay. Most of them are slow growing so Im not expecting to see to much of a change. I did place Seachem fertilizer tabs beside any plants that are in the substrate. I also went out and bought the Geisman Blue + T5 bulb. It looks a lot better than the Actinic. Fish colors still look good with new bulb.

I have been testing PH, KH, GH, Salinity, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia. I cant remember all the numbers off the top of my head. The Ph has been a little low 7.4 so I have been adding Seachem Ph buffer to help bring it up aswell as Seachem African Salt. I have been checking salinity for fun even though I have read their is no piont. I still think its good to know. Nitrites have been threw the roof but I expected that since I crambed all these fish in the tank so quickly. I have been adding Seachem Stability and doing water changes often. I unplugged my UV sterilizer as I read it can kill good bacteria during the cycling process.

So far I am glad I used Caribsea substrate for Africans. I still need atleast 1 more bag. The mix colors of the Ivory coast and the one bag of small shells really blended well together. Plus is goes well with the mexican bowl rock. On friday we had people over and not once did we turn on the TV. Everyones eyes were glued to the tank.


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## lar

jbyoung00008 said:


> I went by NW Landscape this morning and purchased 122lbs of mexican bowl rock. Im not sure how much I need but I figured its better to have more rock than not enough. Im still not exactly sure how the layout will look but I have bought some nice plants to fit into some of the cracks of the rocks. All the plants are in the temporary tank with all the fish. So far the fish dont seem to bother them. I now have everything I need to set this tank up. I cant wait!!


Hi, just wondering where did you get those mexican bowl rock? very nice!!

sorry, see it now!!


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## jbyoung00008

I was going to use texas holley rock or something similiar. I came across the bowl rock on a website. I really like the look of it. To me it looks more natural than bright white rock like holley rock. Its cheap @ .50 a pound and NW has large and small rocks.


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## jbyoung00008

Tank update : June 18 2012

I received some fish off Harrold at Fairdeals. So far I am happy with the 6 I bought. I purchased 2 male Buffalo Heads, 2 F2 aulonocara red top lwanda fry, 2 F1 trawavasae fry. That brings the total up for my tank to 34 fish. Their might be a few more than that. I will need to do another head count. I fed them some zucchini last night tied to a rock. My male Bushy Nose Pleco took over the zucchini and had no problems fighting off all the Africans. It was pretty fun to watch.

Ph has stabalized at 7.8. Nitrite and Nitrate have dropped alot to almost nothing. I have been testing the water every second day. I added 2 bags of Fluval Clearmax to an aquaclear and have had that running for 5 days now. It has helped bring down the nitrites and nitrates. Amonnia is still high. Im hoping it will drop off soon otherwise I will have to go buy something to help. Im doing water changes every 3rd day. Usually around 40%. All the fish still seem happy and I havnt noticed too much aggression. I have put a huge bio load on this tank and in a short time which I dont suggest doing. Both of my filters are packed with different trypes of bio media and I have added 1.5 bottles of Stability so far. I didnt plan on buying this many fish in the start but I knew it was going to happen so I was prepared. So far so good.


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## jbyoung00008

Tank day 22

Tank is fully cycled now. I added some more live plants and a few more fish. Im still not seeing any huge aggression problems. 
Ph 7.8
Gh 9 or 161 ppm
Kh 8 or 143 ppm


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## jbyoung00008




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## sakurachan1

nice, hey justin where r u getting most of ur fish from? especially that C moorii lol


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## monkE

love it! great looking tank, nice job on the rock formation


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## dssv

Great looking tank. I have been following the thread from the beginning.Now I wish I would have gone with African Cichlids in my 90 g


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## jbyoung00008

monkE said:


> love it! great looking tank, nice job on the rock formation


Thanks. The rock formation worked out great. It has 3 caves that all join somehow. My red frontosa has claimed all of it. The right side of the tank has a small single cave that my jewel calls home. Using large rocks rather a bunch of small ones worked alot better. I used smaller rocks on a salt water reef setup before and found too much debris builds up between the rocks. The big rocks just fell right into place. First try. Not much balancing and it felt sturdy.


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## jbyoung00008

dssv said:


> Great looking tank. I have been following the thread from the beginning.Now I wish I would have gone with African Cichlids in my 90 g


Thanks. Its been a fun journey. Well worth the effort. Lots of reading and researching. Now its time for all the trial and error. They have been a real show at our new place when people come over and visit. It looks like you have a few tanks most being planted. You should try out some Africans. So far all the plants are growing even though some people say you cant use live plants. Im dosing liquid fertz once a week. The tank should look really good once the plants grow in. Especially the sword plant.


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## fishcrazy

I have seen this tank in person its a great looking tank. Makes me want to setup an African planted tank now. Looks like you have done your research. Keep posting pictures. Im curious to see how all your plants turn out.


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## 2wheelsx2

jbyoung00008 said:


> So far all the plants are growing even though some people say you cant use live plants. Im dosing liquid fertz once a week. The tank should look really good once the plants grow in. Especially the sword plant.


You can grow plants of the right type in any tank. I've even had fully planted tanks with Oscars. I think what people are suggesting is that a lot of Africans eat the plants and also do a lot of digging. And plants also will naturally soften the water by uptaking the minerals so you're constantly having to work to balance it. It's totally possible to have a fully planted African tank, even with a full foreground planted. If you search for a member named travis on Aquatic Plant Central you'll see his beautifully planted, CO2 injected African tank. Is it naturally looking? Nope. Is it beautiful? Absolutely. Some people like biotope type tanks and other just want a nice looking tank. The choice is really yours, and how much work you want to put into it.

Having said that, growing Vals with African is extremely easy and provides good food for them too.


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## jbyoung00008

Tank update Day 36: I added a video

Everything is going great. So far no problems. I figure I have 50+ fish.

125G AFRICAN CICHLID FEEDING TIME - YouTube


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## sakurachan1

looks like i got the first look at them vids lolll


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## rich16

Really nice looking tank, you've done excellent work with that....wow...


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## jbyoung00008

rich16 said:


> Really nice looking tank, you've done excellent work with that....wow...


Thanks Rich. Some call it an obsession while others call it a passion. I like to think of it as PURE JOY!!! I hardly turn on the tv anymore. Setting up this tank has been a fun adventure. Without Bcaquaria this tank would of never turned out this nice. Ive met some really good people from this site and scored on some really nice fish for a decent price. Im also lucky to have a girlfriend who puts up with all my fish nonsense.


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## mdwflyer

Looking really good and healthy! Nice! :bigsmile:


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## Sidius

You have some gorgeous fish in there jb.... Is that peacock that you focused on at the end a Bi-Color?


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## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> You have some gorgeous fish in there jb.... Is that peacock that you focused on at the end a Bi-Color?


Thanks. Im sure I will be getting some more nice fish off Fairdeals on the next group order. I might have to part with some of them or not LOL. Im not sure if the peacock is a bi color. I just bought him off cichlid2010. He said its a red ruby peacock. Nicest fish in my tank. I have a couple other nice peacocks that were hard to see in the video.


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## jbyoung00008

Updated stock list:

So I finally got around to counting all my Africans. I have 50 fish LOL. I might of gone a little overboard but that was expected. Im sure once they all get big I will either need a bigger tank or I will part ways with some of them. 

2 x Bristle Nose Plecos (1M, 1F)
5 x Red Empress (1M, 4F)
1 x Fire Blue empress (M)
1 x Burtoni (F)
4 x Yellow Labs
2 x Giraffes (1M, 1F)
2 x OB Peacocks (2M)
2 x Sunshine Peacocks (M) 
2 x Red Shoulder Peacocks (M)
1 x Red Ruby Peacock (M)
2 x Aulonocara Red Top lwandas (2M)
1 x Albino Strawberry Peacock (M)
2 x Buffalo Heads (2M)
1 x Jewel Cichlid (M)
2 x Trawavasae (2M)
4 x Zebras
2 x Blue Dolphins (1M, 1F)
2 x Frontosas (1F, 1 unknown)
4 x Fuelleborni (2M, 2F)
1 x Livingstoni 
2 x Randoms (Wont know till they color up)
1 x Electric Blue Ali (M)
1 x Random hap

I cant remeber off the top of my head the 3 im missing.


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## Sidius

I might need to find a home for an adult male Venustus at some point. When I'm getting rid of him would you be interested? I don't want to get rid of him because he has awesome markings with a bright yellow blaze on his head, but he's probably going to outgrow my tank before I can upgrade. He's the big boy of my tank right now but pretty peaceful. He chases the odd fish for a second but I've never seen him do it much and he's never damaged any fins or anything. Basically nothing that any African wouldn't do once in a while. There's a pic of him in my tank journal thread, if you're curious.


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## jbyoung00008

Thanks but Ive been considering getting rid of my female also. My male does tend to chase her a lot. 1M to 2F is probably a better ratio and Im going to run out of room when they get bigger so adding 1 more female wont help me either. Thanks for the offer. 2 males would probably be a bad thing .


----------



## jbyoung00008

DAY 69 : NEW VIDEO ADDED

Not a whole lot has changed. The fsh are getting bigger and more colorfu. Most of the plants are doing fairly well. The sword plant is growing at a good rate. I have bought a few more fish since the last update and I have let a few go. I still have more I want to get rid of to make room for new some new stock. Hopefully I will be adding some Petricolas this week. I added 3 Hybrid Leopard Petricolas. They are fun to watch.

Not sure why the video is so slow. Its faster on the actual youtube site rather than the one posted below. Sorry Im such a terrible camera man. Trying to feed them and record a video at the same time is hard. Better video to come I will be practicing.


----------



## rich16

That looks really good. Where did you find the leopard petricolas?


----------



## jbyoung00008

rich16 said:


> That looks really good. Where did you find the leopard petricolas?


IPU Burnaby. $12.99. They caught my eye so I bought 3. I was worried they were a little small and would get eaten. They seem to be doing fine. Very active fish.


----------



## Sidius

How small were the petricolas when you added them? I've got a group of 5 coming in on FairDeal's group order and I'm curious if my adult African's will bother them.


----------



## jbyoung00008

I was considering ordering a few from fairdeals aswell. Mine are pretty small 1.5 inches 2 at max. I was nervous when adding them but none of the fish showed any interest in them. I turned off all the lights when I added them and fed all my fish first. I fugured that would be give them the best shot at not getting eaten right out of the bag. Seemed to work.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Anyone know what species of fish this is?


----------



## jbyoung00008

Some pictures of some of my fish. Its hard getting them to stay still. You inspired me Sidius to take some pictures. I cant wait for the rest of my african to color up. Im

1. Unknown 2. Strawberry Peacock 3. Fire Blue Empress 4. OB fuelleborni 5. Unknown Peacock 6. Red Empress

View attachment 11088


----------



## Vman

5 is a red shoulder peacock


----------



## jbyoung00008

Vman said:


> 5 is a red shoulder peacock


I have another Red shoulder Peacock and these 2 dont look the same. The fish in the picture actually has purple in his coloring.


----------



## Sidius

jbyoung00008 said:


> Anyone know what species of fish this is?
> 
> View attachment 11093


He looks like he could be a Placidochromis milomo from the first pic


----------



## Sidius

That Fire Blue Empress is a really nice fish... Where did you find him?


----------



## Sidius

jbyoung00008 said:


> I have another Red shoulder Peacock and these 2 dont look the same. The fish in the picture actually has purple in his coloring.


He seems to have a white blaze up his head and down the back/fin as well... or is that just the photo?


----------



## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> That Fire Blue Empress is a really nice fish... Where did you find him?


I bought him off a member on here. He bought him as a Juvie off another member on here named Slopster who was breeding them. Ive seen the Father. He was wicked looking. Mine is really starting to show some nice colors. I have 3 female Fire blue empresses in my tank. He has been dancing with 1 of them and has dug a hole in the back corner.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> He seems to have a white blaze up his head and down the back/fin as well... or is that just the photo?


You are right he has a white blaze down his head and fins. He is blue with purple. He is the boss of the tank. I will try to get a better picture.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> He looks like he could be a Placidochromis milomo from the first pic


Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus. Another member figured it out.

He will look like this. They grow to 12 Inches. Yikes!


----------



## Sidius

I would post some pics of the big boss on cichlid-forums. I've only seen the white blaze on the S. Fryeri's so it's possible he's a hybrid? Either way, he's a nice fish. Is he a good boss or a mean one? lol


----------



## Sidius

jbyoung00008 said:


> Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus. Another member figured it out.
> 
> He will look like this. They grow to 12 Inches. Yikes!
> 
> View attachment 11101


Wow now that's a nice fish.. Too big for my tank but a nice fish. Since you have a 6ft tank you should look into getting a Dimidiochromis compressiceps. I've seen one in person and they're impressive looking.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> Wow now that's a nice fish.. Too big for my tank but a nice fish. Since you have a 6ft tank you should look into getting a Dimidiochromis compressiceps. I've seen one in person and they're impressive looking.


My tank is only 4ft long. Its wider than most 125g @ 2ft wide rather than being 6ft long. Some might call it a 120g. Im pretty sure someone made it. I bought it off craiglist 4 or 5 years ago.

I had 2 Dimidiochromis Compressiceps and just got rid of them both a few weeks ago. LOL. Rogers has a large one in one of his display tanks. I will get rid of the Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus once he gets too big. Hopefully I dont have to wait for him to be 10" before he colors up.


----------



## dino

i have a female that looks like 1 sold just as yellow blaze not sure if that helps


----------



## jbyoung00008

dino said:


> i have a female that looks like 1 sold just as yellow blaze not sure if that helps


Thanks Dino. You might be right. It does look similiar to a Yellow Blaze. No yellow on him yet. So far he is white blazed but hopefully thats what he is and the white will turn to yellow. They are nice looking fish.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> I would post some pics of the big boss on cichlid-forums. I've only seen the white blaze on the S. Fryeri's so it's possible he's a hybrid? Either way, he's a nice fish. Is he a good boss or a mean one? lol


LOL. He is a mean boss. No one dares to challange him. He might be a bit of a control freak too.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Here are a few better pictures of the boss and a few other fish


----------



## Sidius

Great pics but still very hard to tell what he might be. I'm no expert by any means but he has very similar marking as my S. Fryeri (Iceberg) but he has a hint of red on his shoulder and doesn't really have the usual body shape as a Fryeri. It's possible he's a hybrid, I guess?

I still think your best bet is to post these new pics on View forum - Unidentified Cichlids • Cichlid-Forum. They seem to be able to ID almost all Africans and can usually ID hybrids as well.


----------



## jbyoung00008

A few more pictures of some of my fish. I figure I will keep trying to take pictures off all of them. I have a lot more to go


----------



## jbyoung00008

Took a new video of my tank the other day. Its been up and running for about 6 months. Things havnt changed to much. Jungle Vals have been growing like crazy. Had to rip it apart a few times to catch some catfish I wanted to get rid of. I had to get rid of the Fuellebornis because they were eating my Anubias. I got rid of some other fish aswell to make room for nicer ones.


----------



## dino

Looks like youve got a bunch of yellow labs since I seen your tank are those blue dolphins also I really liie them.


----------



## jbyoung00008

dino said:


> Looks like youve got a bunch of yellow labs since I seen your tank are those blue dolphins also I really liie them.


Ive had the yellow labs since day 1. Maybe when you saw my tank you didnt notice them. They are fun and keep to themselves. Gives a good color mix.

Yes those are blue dolphins. They seem to be a male and female. I probably had those when you came over aswell. Bought them for $8 from a backyard guy. They are fun to watch and keep together most of the time


----------



## Sidius

Looking awesome as usual Justin... When your blue dolphins breed let me know, my buddy would like a male and if I have room I can probably grow some out for you.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> Looking awesome as usual Justin... When your blue dolphins breed let me know, my buddy would like a male and if I have room I can probably grow some out for you.


I will let you know when they breed. Hopefully soon. Im not sure how big they have to be to breed but my male is around 6" female 5" . I noticed you had a nice male Dolphin aswell.


----------



## dino

i want a blue dolphin also so put me on the list lol


----------



## jbyoung00008

dino said:


> i want a blue dolphin also so put me on the list lol


Dino. IPU burnaby has some smaller ones for cheap $5.99 I think. Just saw them yesterday


----------



## Rastapus

jbyoung00008 said:


> Dino. IPU burnaby has some smaller ones for cheap $5.99 I think. Just saw them yesterday


Thanks for the plug Justin! We have a huge African shipment coming in tonight, lots of Peacocks to top you up! "shameless plug".


----------



## Sidius

Rastapus said:


> Thanks for the plug Justin! We have a huge African shipment coming in tonight, lots of Peacocks to top you up! "shameless plug".


Sounds like I'll be taking a trip over to your Richmond store on my lunch, tomorrow


----------



## jbyoung00008

Rastapus said:


> Thanks for the plug Justin! We have a huge African shipment coming in tonight, lots of Peacocks to top you up! "shameless plug".


Dont tell me that  Im already maxed out on fish but I guess I might have some room for a few more. Always hard to pass up a nice new African. I will be coming to check them out in a few days. Thanks for the heads up.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Well its been awhile since I updated my tank journal. No pictures or video for awhile now.

So Ive been trying all differfent plants to see what works and what doesnt. This tank has no Co2. If I did add Co2 the plants would take off but Im enjoying the simplicity of it and the low maintenance of it aswell. I had to get rid of some fish that I found were eating the plants. My fuellebornis were the culprites. Since I have removed them my Anubias is slowly growing back. They seemed to love eating the Anubias the most. Ive swapped out other fish aswell. Im constantly upgrading to nicer fish. I should of setup a bigger tank so I could house more fish but I am very happy with what I have. Its been a blast. Ive learned tons from other people on here. Sidius turned me into a fish snoob. I got him into planted African tanks. Its been a fun trade off.

Hope you like it. I will take a better video at night my sky lights give a lot of light and a big reflection.


----------



## Sidius

Your tank looks awesome Justin.. Your plants have really filled in nicely.


----------



## jbyoung00008

They say you cant have a planted African tank. Im going to disagree. lol. "Doing it"


----------



## Mferko

cool fish and tank dude, is that a buffalo head at 1 minute?

way easier to do plants in malawi hardness vs. tang thats for sure, prolly helps with your nitrates too.
still tryin to find some healthy amazon swords here in calgary


----------



## jbyoung00008

Mferko said:


> cool fish and tank dude, is that a buffalo head at 1 minute?
> 
> way easier to do plants in malawi hardness vs. tang thats for sure, prolly helps with your nitrates too.
> still tryin to find some healthy amazon swords here in calgary


Ya thats a Buffalo head. I have 2 males in the tank. They are neat and stay in the rocks. I got them from fairdeals 5 months ago. I have a amazon sword in there. I planted it to close the the jungle vals so you cant really see it. I had a hard time finding a real nice healthy one aswell. Best bet is to find one thats really big already. I have noticed the growth rate to be slow in alot of the plants I have. There are some that grow really good though.

What are you keeping your PH/KH/GH at?


----------



## Mferko

ya mine grew extremely slow a few years ago too but it stayed healthy looking and the fish left it alone so i'd like another
i like how the buffalo heads behave like gobies  Harold has a huuge male at his place its neat looking.

im in calgary now, i dont even bother checking my ph/gh/kh, tho i do use aragonite sand. here is an article comparing how close calgary and malawi water chemistry is Calgary Tap Water vs

i never tried any other plants beside the amazon sword and java fern, what are some of the ones you think do best in your tank?


----------



## jbyoung00008

Mferko said:


> ya mine grew extremely slow a few years ago too but it stayed healthy looking and the fish left it alone so i'd like another
> i like how the buffalo heads behave like gobies  Harold has a huuge male at his place its neat looking.
> 
> im in calgary now, i dont even bother checking my ph/gh/kh, tho i do use aragonite sand. here is an article comparing how close calgary and malawi water chemistry is Calgary Tap Water vs
> 
> I never tried any other plants beside the amazon sword and java fern, what are some of the ones you think do best in your tank?


So far the Jungle Val grows the best. It grows rather quickly and is spreading across the bottom. Ive removed a bunch of it already. Anubias grows pretty good although my Giant anubias hasnt done that well. Im trying a few different types of Hygrophila so far Hygrophila polysperma is doing good. Sidius is trying Hygrophila corymbosa so far its growing for him. Ive had problems with the Jave fern. Cant think of what else off the top of my head


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## jbyoung00008

11 month update. As usual I have removed some fish and added some nicer fish. My African collection is getting nicer and nicer as the months go on. Im still enjoying the tank as much as I did when I first set it up. Some of the plants get eaten but overall most don't or they grow fast enough to recover. Hope you enjoy it. I have a few fish coming from fairdeals next group order. Im slowly realizing my tank is too small and I should of gone bigger. Way too many nice Africans out there but Ill enjoy what I have for now.


----------



## Reckon

Cichlids are definitely growing on me. Darn you. I don't want another tank. really.


----------



## jbyoung00008

My dad just pointed out that I should of cleaned the glass and added cool African music. New video coming soon!!!

Reckon the best thing I did was setup an African tank. I thought some plants might work but it turns out there are lots that do. The mbunas seem to be the only ones eating the plants that Ive seen but I like having yellow fish so they get to stay for now. Your next tank should be an African planted tank, Co2 injected. Ill warn you this African addiction can get costly. Well worth it to me. Im patiently waiting for some of my smaller fish to fully color up. In another year or two Im hoping the tank will look even better.


----------



## rich16

Gorgeous setup. Still considering what plants to try since my cichlids went "all you can eat salad bar" on my vals..java ern and anubias doing well though. Your tank is inspiration!!!


----------



## jbyoung00008

rich16 said:


> Gorgeous setup. Still considering what plants to try since my cichlids went "all you can eat salad bar" on my vals..java ern and anubias doing well though. Your tank is inspiration!!!


Thanks Rich. Im glad to hear my tank inspires people. Ive either lucked out with the plants or all the experimenting has paid off. If you want the plants to work you almost need to grow them in another tank. I move plants over from my Co2 injected tank regularly. When they get big and healthy or out grow my planted tank its time for the move to the African tank. Ive had good luck with this method. Not having Co2 in the African tank does seem to shock the plant at first but they do bounce back eventually. The other way is to find older plants at LFS. Which can be hard to find. Most of the plants are fairly slow growing once they get in my African tank. Im keeping my Ph 7.7 KH 8 GH 8. This isnt perfect African water but I have to keep the plants happy. My amazon sword is finally getting bigger after 7 months. My ozelot sword is looking healthier as time goes by it was once in my Co2 injected tank. I need to go buy some more root tabs. They really helped last time. Slow and steady wins the race.


----------



## jbyoung00008

I added 10 more Petricolas last night. I now have 16. They are a lot more active now that I have a large group. I removed 3 synodontis hybrids from my tank last week. That also made a difference. I cant stop staring at the tank now. You can always see atleast 2 out in the open at all times. Thanks again Cypho for the nice fish. Im thinking I need a few more.


----------



## rich16

I have 6 petricolas in my tank, and sometimes I find myself watching them more than the cichlids!


----------



## jbyoung00008

rich16 said:


> I have 6 petricolas in my tank, and sometimes I find myself watching them more than the cichlids!


They are fun to watch. You should get a few more.  Message Cypho. He has tons and for a fair price. After seeing how many he had in his tanks and how active they were. I knew I needed more. My girlfriend kept looking over at me, staring at the tank with a huge smile on my face yesterday. She asked what I was so happy about. The petricolas I told her. Now everytime I see them out swimming around I say "The Petricolas are out" They are like the icing oin the cake for my tank.


----------



## JTang

Love your "planted" cichlid tank! You don't see too many out there! Any pics of the new fish from last group buy?


----------



## jbyoung00008

Thanks. Its been a fun journey. Lots of trying different plants. All the fish I got on the last group buy are Juvies. So none have any color yet. Im patiently waiting for them to color up a bit. I will try to post some pictures of some of my fish later. I lost 2 of my nicest fish a few weeks ago. 1 jumped out. The other one died. He was the tank boss the one that jumped had been fighting the tank boss for a few weeks. Ended losing both in the end. The price you pay in an all male tank sometimes. Never fun finding dead fish.


----------



## JTang

I had one jumper several days ago as well!


----------



## Vancitycam

Hey sorry to hear about the death and the jumper. And yes I have to agree, saw this thank in person and it is just a perfect setup. I love it.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Vancitycam said:


> Hey sorry to hear about the death and the jumper. And yes I have to agree, saw this thank in person and it is just a perfect setup. I love it.


Thanks. If it was a 6ft tank I would call it perfect too but Im stuck with a 4ft tank so its almost perfect LOL. I set this tank up keeping to what I think are the basics.

1. Over filter
2. Lots of water movement
3. UV sterilizer
4. Good Lighting on a timer 
5. Weekly water changes
6. Live Plants to help with water chemistry
7. Brand name instead of homebrew
8. No jimmy riggin. mickey mouse stuff.

All equals lots of happy, healthy fish


----------



## jbyoung00008

Pictures of some of my fish. I thought my tank was a Malawi tank but after taking all these pictures Ive clued in to the fact that I have numerous fish from Lake Tanganyika and 1 from Lake Victoria. So I have an all male mix African tank. They all seem to get a long good. Ive been selective with the fish I put in the tank. There is only a few left on my want list. Hope you like them!

Frontosa: Raised him since he was the size of a dime. 








Taiwan reef: Still waiting for him to color up fully








Burtoni: My girlfriends favorite fish.








Black Calvus: One of the coolest fish in the tank. 








Buffalo head: Not an African but he doesnt mind. He loves his cave and hes always fun to watch


----------



## jbyoung00008

Random Peacock: New Tank Boss









Deep water hap electra: Very peacefull fish









Red Empress:









Cop. Azureus: Nicest fins in the tank. Going to be a beauty









Fire Blue Empress: My oldest fish and 1 of my favorites.


----------



## Vman

Invalid files. Can't see the pix. Btw do you still want to go in on the food?Ive got another member commuted.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Vman said:


> Invalid files. Can't see the pix. Btw do you still want to go in on the food?Ive got another member commuted.


The pictures work on my phone and work computer. I made them smaller so it should work fine now

Yes Im interested in the food still. Any idea on the price? Id only want a bag maybe 2


----------



## jbyoung00008

New video. YouTube

Tanks has been up and running for 1.5 years now. Plants are growing good.

The video is shaky at the start. Ill upload a new one tonight


----------



## jhj0112

very nice!!!! your tank is the first *planted *African tank that I have seen (I'm no expert on African tank though ^^.. I really wish I can buy another tank for African cichlids


----------



## jbyoung00008

jhj0112 said:


> very nice!!!! your tank is the first *planted *African tank that I have seen (I'm no expert on African tank though ^^.. I really wish I can buy another tank for African cichlids


Thanks. I havnt seen very many planted African tanks either. Its been a lot of fun. They are my favorite fish now. Ive gone a little overboard with them  but its well worth it


----------



## Fish rookie

It says video is "private."


----------



## jbyoung00008

Fish rookie said:


> It says video is "private."


Should work now


----------



## AKAmikeross

awesome fish, especially love your fire blue empress, man he's nice. Where did you acquire him from?


----------



## Vancitycam

Tank is amazing example of a planted African aquaruim. Even more stunning in person


----------



## Fish rookie

Your fish are much bigger now, their color really pop! Great job! 
Do they not eat or dig up plants?


----------



## jbyoung00008

Fish rookie said:


> Your fish are much bigger now, their color really pop! Great job!
> Do they not eat or dig up plants?


Thanks. I accidently killed 13 fish a few months ago. Bleech got into the tank from a bucket I assume. I came home from work to find them dead. I did a quick water change and added prime. I was able to save the rest of them. So I have some smaller juvies that are growing out. I also have a bunch of fish coming from Daves.

As for the plants. They do munch on them a little. I found the Mbunas to be the worst for it. So I got rid of them all. I try to feed Zuchinni once a week. I find that helps keep them off the plants. They never eat the jungle val or the crypt. Mostly the anubias gets munched


----------



## jbyoung00008

mikeross said:


> awesome fish, especially love your fire blue empress, man he's nice. Where did you acquire him from?


I got him from Waterboy a member on here a year and a half ago. He was breeding them. He's a beauty


----------



## JTang

Wow tank looks awesome! Great job man! Your plants look great! 

I just bought one plant of anubias last week at IPU. It got nipped several times but they have left it alone since. Guess it doesn't taste too good. Lol


----------



## jbyoung00008

JTang said:


> Wow tank looks awesome! Great job man! Your plants look great!
> 
> I just bought one plant of anubias last week at IPU. It got nipped several times but they have left it alone since. Guess it doesn't taste too good. Lol


Anubias seems to be the plant they pick at the most in my tank, especially when a brand new leaf pops up thats bright green. Those little buggers nibble it. Its the Yellow Lab for sure. Ive seen him.

As for my Plant growth. Its been really cool looking back at my tank journal and youtube videos to see all the growth. My Plants are really coming along. Im very happy with them. Ive increased my Fertz and trying to keep to more of a schedule with them. Ive been dosing Flourish comprehensive supplement the whole time. Im now back to adding Flourish trace aswell. Im trying to keep the setup simple. So far the plants seem to be happy with what Im doing.

As for my stock. I have a bunch of fish coming on this order from Daves. It will be the last order of fish for me for awhile. My tank will be full and I now have most of the fish I want. Some are Juvies but once they grow out the tank will be packed. If all the fish get along than I will finally be content with my tank. Ultimately I want a 6ft tank most likely a 180g or 220g. It will happen eventually but for now. Im going to sit back and watch my tank grow.

Africans have been the most rewarding, active little pigs Ive ever owned. I may come home grumpy from work and all it takes is for me is to walk by my tank. I get a greeting from them. Sometimes its a splash of water in the face other times its 30+ fish migrating to the top in hopes to be fed. They always seem to put a smile on my face.


----------



## Sidius

I popped in for a visit over the weekend and this tank is looking more impressive than ever... Seriously, pictures don't do it justice. Looks like I'm going to be putting my 180g tank in, with Justin's help in the new year, and hopefully I can get it looking as good as yours, my friend.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> I popped in for a visit over the weekend and this tank is looking more impressive than ever... Seriously, pictures don't do it justice. Looks like I'm going to be putting my 180g tank in, with Justin's help in the new year, and hopefully I can get it looking as good as yours, my friend.


Thanks Jamie. Hopefully I get a few more nice males out of the group order from Daves. My tank is looking a little thin on fish. I got a few beauties I hope. The W/C trewavasae is looking good. He was a little thin and unsure for the first day. Now hes eating lots and starting to fill out. He was worth the order alone.

Your 180g will look great. Im excited to brace your floors. Get down and dirty under the house  Sounds like fun to me. Its about time you get that tank up and running.


----------



## jbyoung00008

Ive decided to start taking pictures of all the fish I have in my tank and Ill post pictures of fish I have growing out.

Protomelas Taeniolatus "Fire Blue" (Bcaquaria member)








OB Peacock (Petsuperstore)








Random Possibly a Peacock (fish & critters)








Placidochromis phenochilus (Wetspot Portland)








Placidochromis Electra "Deep Water Hap" (Calgary LFS)


----------



## jbyoung00008

more fish

Sciaenochromis Fryeri "Electric Blue Ahli" 








Aulonocara Stuartgranti ''Bicolor500'' (Fairdeals)








Otopharynx Lithobates ''Yellow Blaze'' (Calgary LFS)








Leleupi






(IPU Burnaby)

16 x Synodontis Petricola (Fairdeals & Bcaquaria member)


----------



## AKAmikeross

Sidius said:


> I popped in for a visit over the weekend and this tank is looking more impressive than ever... Seriously, pictures don't do it justice.


Saw his tank today... very nice. His fire blue is one of the nicest africans I have ever seen in person... all his fish are nice but this one really stands out IMO.


----------



## JTang

The last 2 are beautiful as well! I need to get more yellow color ones. Too much blue in my tank! Lol


----------



## jbyoung00008

mikeross said:


> Saw his tank today... very nice. His fire blue is one of the nicest africans I have ever seen in person... all his fish are nice but this one really stands out IMO.


Thanks Mike

Nice to re meet you 15 years later. Small world.

My fire Blue is my baby. He's my oldest fish and I agree nicest. The best part about him is he's not aggressive. He doesn't try to rule the tank but no one messes with him not even the tank boss. He also loves to dig. Just keep checking this site. Members are selling fish all the time just sometimes they come in Waves.

Your need to post some pictures of your tank.

Cheers


----------



## jbyoung00008

JTang said:


> The last 2 are beautiful as well! I need to get more yellow color ones. Too much blue in my tank! Lol


I started noticing the same in my tank. Too much blue. That's one of the reasons why I got rid of my Blue Dolphins. Its hard to find other colors than Blue. I always have my eyes out for something a little different. The Bicolor 500 that I have looks awesome with the yellow and blue mix.


----------



## jbyoung00008

More of my fish 

Altolamprologus calvus "Ink Fin" (Calgary LFS)








Nimbochromis Venustus "Giraffe Cichlid" (bcaquaria member)








And my favorite animal at home. My 11 month old Pup.

My fishing Partner. Brittnay Spaniel. "Draco"


----------



## jbyoung00008

Other fish I have growing out. This is what they will look like

Aulonocara kandeense "Blue Orchid" (Calgary LFS)








Copadichromis sp. Nkanda ''Virginalis Gold'' (Dave's)








Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan "Taiwan Reef" (Dave's)








Pseudotropheus elegans Ngara ''White Tail Acei'' (Petland POCO)








Lethrinops sp. ''Red Cap'' Chirwa (Dave's)


----------



## jhj0112

very nice justin!! nice fish and dog!! I better not show this picture to my daughter(Chantal) lol she has been asking for a dog for a while  . I love dogs but can't see myself having one any time soon. lol


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## JTang

Wow they are all nice! Can't wait to see them colored up. Let me know if u have extra males to spare!

I'm planning a trip to Portland to check out that fish store. What's the name of the store again?


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## jhj0112

Jtang, 

If you go down to Oregon, Check out Wetspot tropical fish.. They are well known in aquabid. not an African expert but they do have some..


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## jbyoung00008

More fish Im growing out

Aulonocara stuartgranti (Ngara) 
View attachment 36793


Aulonocara maylandi "Sulphurhead"
View attachment 36801


Draco again with Santa


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## jbyoung00008

JTang said:


> Wow they are all nice! Can't wait to see them colored up. Let me know if u have extra males to spare!
> 
> I'm planning a trip to Portland to check out that fish store. What's the name of the store again?


The wet spot. I want to go there. It sounds awesome


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## jhj0112

yeah I have been told that their fishes are awesome.. Man.. you all guys have nice African.. I know what will be the next in 90G tank if my Apisto fever goes away... Africans are really tempting..


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## Steve

Nice fish Justin! Can't wait to see the tank in a year!


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## jbyoung00008

jhj0112 said:


> yeah I have been told that their fishes are awesome.. Man.. you all guys have nice African.. I know what will be the next in 90G tank if my Apisto fever goes away... Africans are really tempting..


If you want a high action fish tank. Africans are the way to go. The fun part is that they always want to be fed. So when you walk by the tank they all stop chasing each other and become friends for a minute or 2. They all make their way to the top. Usually they splash and say "Feed me"

Most fresh water fish shy away when you get close to the tank. Not these guys

Best advice for you if you decide to go the African route is do your research. A 6ft tank is best for haps and peacocks. Mbunas can tolerate smaller but most of the succesfull tanks Ive seen are 6ft. Mine unfortunately is 4ft so one day Im going to make the switch. Which means more Africans


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## Vancitycam

Lookin good cant see the ngara attachment


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## jbyoung00008

Vancitycam said:


> Lookin good cant see the ngara attachment


Its not of my actual Ngara. He's not showing much color. Im hoping his color will come back with time. He's only 3". I might have to setup a 20g grow out tank for a month or so. Maybe I can put some of my larger juvies in there and see if that helps them color up. Than Ill try to introduce them again.


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## jbyoung00008

A few more of my fish

Yellow Lab (Fairdeals)








Frontosa (Mr.Pets)








Buffalo head (Fairdeals)


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## jbyoung00008

I updated all my fish pictures. They all now say where I got them from  I cant believe I can remember where I got each one from but some how I do.


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## jhj0112

very nice justin! quick question! have you tried to breed them?? Just wondering how afrcians breed comparing to SA dwarf


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## jbyoung00008

jhj0112 said:


> very nice justin! quick question! have you tried to breed them?? Just wondering how afrcians breed comparing to SA dwarf


Ive breed them but not on purpose. My tank is all male but Ive had a few juvies turn out to be female. They got pregnant. I raised the young. African are mouth breeders. Its pretty damn cool to see.

They are easy to breed. Very easy but you need a bunch of tanks to raise the juvies and for breeding. Some species can breed with others so getting hybrids can happen easily. Hybrids are frown apon by some,embraced by others. Its best to stick a few different groups in a tank that wont cross breed. This keeps the numbers high to spread aggression and also ensures no cross breeding.

Africans do better is groups or colonies. SA cichlids tend to pair up. Pairs with Africans doesn't usually work so a ratio of 1 male to 3 or more females is better. That way the male isn't attacking 1 female all day.


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## AWW

I love your Buffalo head! you don't see them to often. Is he shy?


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## jbyoung00008

AWW said:


> I love your Buffalo head! you don't see them to often. Is he shy?


Not sure if shy is the right word but ya kind of. He has claimed a cave. He rarely ventures out of it unless Im feeding. Otherwise he hangs out in his cave with his head hanging out almost like an eel or goby. He chases off any fish that try to enter his cave. He prefers to sit on rocks rather than swim around. He can hold his own in an African tank even though he's not a true African. Ive had him over a year. I had 2 before but with limited caves I thought it would better to have just 1. Petland Poco had Buffalo heads awhile back  I havent seen them at a LFS since


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## AWW

jbyoung00008 said:


> Not sure if shy is the right word but ya kind of. He has claimed a cave. He rarely ventures out of it unless Im feeding. Otherwise he hangs out in his cave with his head hanging out almost like an eel or goby. He chases off any fish that try to enter his cave. Ive had him over a year. I had 2 before but with limited caves I thought it would better to have just 1. Petland Poco had Buffalo heads awhile back  I havent seen them at a LFS since


Thats awesome! I find Africans usually lack personality, but I think these little guys are full of it. If I ever get back into Africans, they are first on my list :bigsmile:


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## Reckon

I started liking your posts with fish pics then I realized there is a lot of liking to do...
My favorite is the blue orchid. Great contrast on the fins.


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## jbyoung00008

I decided to make an updated video last night. My tank has been up and running for 22 months. The plants are growing great, still some better than others. Ive probably had over 70 species in the past 2 years. I had 1 mess up that cost me 13 fish, bleech was in a bucket when I added water to the tank. Other than that I rarely have any die. Im always looking to up grade my stock with nicer species. Its been a blast!!!! Keep to the basics and a nice fish tank is easy


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## jhj0112

very nice!! is tank upgrade coming soon?


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## Steve

Sweet tank! Your plants seem to be doing super well! Do you find your mbuna get along well with the peacocks/haps?


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## Sidius

Looks awesome, Justin... Seriously. Your plants do so well in that tank. I hope I can get mine planted and established like that over the next year or two.


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## jbyoung00008

Steve said:


> Sweet tank! Your plants seem to be doing super well! Do you find your mbuna get along well with the peacocks/haps?


Since I only have a couple Mbunas I haven't seen any issues. They all act the same except the mbunas spend a little more time in the rocks


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## jbyoung00008

Sidius said:


> Looks awesome, Justin... Seriously. Your plants do so well in that tank. I hope I can get mine planted and established like that over the next year or two.


Thanks Jamie. It pretty neat being able to look at my tank videos and see all the plant growth. Im sure you will be able to get your plants to grow. It just takes time


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## jbyoung00008

jhj0112 said:


> very nice!! is tank upgrade coming soon?


Not soon enough  I have to wait until my friend has time to build me a stand. Im hoping within by the end of the year I will have a bigger tank. My fish would love it. Its all for them LOL


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## Vancitycam

jbyoung00008 said:


> My fish would love it. *Its all for them LOL*


*
*

I'm sure lol you're just an innocent along for the ride?:bigsmile: I can't wait to see what you have planned for a scape in a bigger tank. I'm so jealous of you now and my friend who bought all my males for his six foot it's just wicked the space for layout.


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## jbyoung00008

Vancitycam said:


> [/U][/B]
> 
> I'm sure lol you're just an innocent along for the ride?:bigsmile: I can't wait to see what you have planned for a scape in a bigger tank. I'm so jealous of you now and my friend who bought all my males for his six foot it's just wicked the space for layout.


The plan for the bigger tank is keep the layout the same. Just add more space between everything. Reposition a few of the plants but for the most part keep it the same.


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