# 30 gallon dwarf cichlid tank



## javamoss (Feb 3, 2013)

I got back in the aquarium hobby last fall after a loooong hiatus. My last aquarium was from my childhood - a 10 gallon overstocked with 5 fancy goldfish that lived surprisingly long. I've always had the urge to start the tank up again, but only now do I feel settled down enough to take proper care of one. That 10 gallon is now well planted with an apisto macmasteri, some pencilfish, and some pygmy cories. I thought one tank would satisfy my aquarium desire, but a few month after starting the 10 gallon, I found a deal on craigslist for a 5 gallon, and now have a dwarf puffer in that.

But of course, it doesn't stop there. I thought that my apisto and his fish friends could use a bigger tank (plus I want to add more dwarf cichlids!) so scoured the forums and craigslist the last few weeks for the equipment I wanted. Here's what I have so far:

30G tank - thoroughly cleaned and resealed
Eheim 2217 canister w/ media - just needs suction cups for the intake and outtake tubes
Beamswork Tri 90 - looks way better than the CFLs on my 10 gallon
Pool filter sand
Driftwood

This evening I finally found time to rinse the sand.









Then to my favourite part: arranging the driftwood.









Next steps:

Buy a heater
Buy suction cups for filter
Cycle tank
Move fish and plants from 10 gallon


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Welcome to BCA!

love that driftwood, looking forward to seeing the apistos in there. Gave me some ideas for my own 30gal i'm setting up.


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## javamoss (Feb 3, 2013)

Today I bought a 150 watt heater and some suction cups from Home Depot because I couldn't find any at the LFS. The suction cups got attached to the filter intake tube using zip-ties; seems to work pretty well. I couldn't resist rearranging the driftwood one last time, then setup the heater and filter, with some established media from my other filters.









Added some ammonia, and now I just have to wait!

Next steps:

Wait
Test water
Repeat


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Very nice. I love your driftwood.

Are you going to add plants? A few anubias would look great in there.


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## javamoss (Feb 3, 2013)

crazy72 said:


> Very nice. I love your driftwood.
> 
> Are you going to add plants? A few anubias would look great in there.


Thank! I'll be shutting down my 10 gallon planted, and moving over most of the plants: jungle vals, java ferns, rotala indica, and anubias.


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Excellent! It'll be beautiful.


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

This should be cool to see I love small planted tanks good luck, keep us posted.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

I do carry suction cups. Next time, just msg me


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## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

The driftwood looks awesome in there


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## javamoss (Feb 3, 2013)

charles said:


> I do carry suction cups. Next time, just msg me


Good to know, thanks. I'll definitely contact you when I'm ready to add fish.

I'm impatient and can't stand a nearly bare tank, so decided to move most of the plants to the new tank. And I figure it might help speed up the cycling process. 








I want to get something big and bushy in the left back corner, and something small on the right side in front of the rotala - any suggestions for low light plants?


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## javamoss (Feb 3, 2013)

Well it's been a while since I updated this. Once the tank finished cycling I moved over the pencilfish from the 10 gallon. I can't tell how they feel, but I'm sure they're enjoying the bigger tank.









Then a few days after that, I got a Bolivian ram and an apisto cacautoides, and added them to the tank along with my apisto macmasteri from the 10 gallon. No good pics of the ram, sorry.

Apisto cacautoides seconds into the new tank








Apisto macmasteri








I was hoping they would all play nice, and they did for the first few hours. But the next day it was clear that the macmasteri was a real bully. I moved him (her?) back to the 10 gallon for the time being until I get more plants and do some rearranging. The ram and cacautoides seem to tolerate each other, until the ram ventures too close to the cacautoides' corner, then it gets chased away.


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## javamoss (Feb 3, 2013)

Since the last update, I bought a whole bunch of plants and 15 little corydoras habrosus. They are adorable little fish. Unfortunately 3 died in the first 2 days, but the rest seem to be going strong.

Corydoras habrosus








The apisto macmasteri got reintroduced to the now heavier planted 30 gallon and is doing well. He seems calmer now, not constantly chasing the ram and apisto cacautoides like before. The 10 gallon is now completely shutdown; the filter and heater got added to the 30 gallon, I rinsed the flourite black sand which is now drying on my patio, but I still need to give the tank itself a good cleaning. Not sure what I'll do with it - a 10 gallon saltwater FOWLR is very tempting...

Ram and macmasteri








Full tank shot








I'm very pleased with how this tank turned out. The only thing left I want to do is move out the 10 pencilfish and add in maybe 20 cardinal tetras. Maybe add one angelfish too.


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Very nice!

Is it only one Bolivian ram that you have there? If so, another way to add to your stock would be to get a few more. They interact a lot with each other. Really interesting to watch. And typically low levels of aggression compared to other dwarf cichilds (esp. Apistos).


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## javamoss (Feb 3, 2013)

crazy72 said:


> Very nice!
> 
> Is it only one Bolivian ram that you have there? If so, another way to add to your stock would be to get a few more. They interact a lot with each other. Really interesting to watch. And typically low levels of aggression compared to other dwarf cichilds (esp. Apistos).


Yup, just one ram. I have thought about getting more in hopes that a pair forms, but I read that a spawning pair can get very aggressive. Breeding either rams or apistos might be a future project though; I'd love to watch their interaction.


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## Fltengalan (Feb 21, 2012)

Nice job on the tank


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