# 135G African setup



## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

Hello all, Figured I would share my excitement with a new tank build after a 7 year hiatus from the hobby. I use to post under 2klude about 10 years back and have bought my first african cichlids from many of the members on local sites like this one. I don't recognize any of the usernames on the forums anymore lol, but am sure have cross paths back in the day.

Anyways, back on topic. So I have been without a tank for about 7 years but over those years I have been collecting small amounts of texas holey rock as well as dead corals in hopes to setup a huge african tank with a marine look to it. Over the years I probably have collected close to 300lbs of holey rock and various pieces of dead coral. All my previous tanks had a marine look which I know many don`t care for but I love it. Just need to find some white colored PFS which I was told a shop in langley sells.

I bought a used 135gal from Moloto, It was drilled and in decent shape, the price was to good to pass up. It came with a metal stand which I sold on craigslist. With the proceeds from the metal stand sale I ended up buying the 135gal for 150 bucks. The tank was drilled and I was never planning to run a sump or wanted to deal with plumping in my canister filter so I patched the hole with glass and aquarium safe silicon provided by Moloto. The main reason I plugged the holes is because of my plan to run a "fake" overflow cover... Will explain the idea later on in the journal;If everything works out how my brain imagines it to work it should look pretty slick.

I have been very busy the last few weeks so the tank has been sitting in the garage. I did manage to plug the holes, clean it up and fill it up... no leaks. I do plan to clean up the black silicone to make it look like new again. The silicone is peeling in some places...Should be an easy fix. Last weekend I worked on the stand and canopy and got a lot done. I bought all the moldings and scored an awesome deal on doors for the stand. Ended up buying 3 pairs of doors. 2 of the pairs for a future 300gal project I hope.

Anyways, Here are some poor quality pics. Excuse the mess, I originally took the pics for myself, didn't plan to post them online or make a journal.

The framing of the stand and canopy,














I taped off a 18"x72" on a piece of MDF, the foot print of my tank, and started playing with my rocks and corals, this is what I came up with. Now I have to figure out how to get this in my tank lol. The biggest piece of dead coral I have is the purple/pink, bottom/center of the scape. I bought that at this years VAHS auction for $6 bucks. Two of my biggest holey rock pieces were purchase last week from kacairns for $15... wicked deals.


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

Heres the left over holey rock plus the 3 liters of unopened eheim bio media I bought for $10 and 1.5 liters of what looks like unopened biomax rings I got for $1 at the monster auction. Picked up the 300W ebo jager for I believe $10. 








another shot of the rock and coral








This is the inspiration for the stand








The inspiration for running no background


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

I wanted to get some opinions on my current stock list for a 135gal. I know its quite the mix but I was hoping to get a discussion going regarding possible problems that may occur.

The 135gal will house these fish until I can start my next project which is a 300+ gal setup. It will probably be finished within the year. Ideally I would love a 96x36x30 tank, if I can track down a used one; but its most likely going to be a 96x24x30 which is an easier tank size to locate used. So within the year or so I will be moving all these fish into their final home which will be at least a 300gal.

8 saulosi 2m/6f... Found locally 2.5-3"
3 yellow tail acei... found locally 3.5"
3 blue dolphin 1m/2f... found locally 6-8"
3 clown loach... found locally 3"
3 Moba frontosa 1m/2f... found locally 6-9"
1 Nimbochromis venustus male... found locally 9", will persuade to sell:bigsmile:
1 Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus male... found locally, know its large, will persuade to sell:bigsmile:
1 buccochromis Nototaenia male... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Placidochromis sp.Phenochilus Tanzania male... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Placidochromis Phenochilis mdoka male... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Protomelas sp.Spilonotus Tanzania male... no luck yet but I know MOLOTO has one he wants to sell:bigsmile:
1 Protomelas taeniolatus male... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Chilotilapia rhoadesii male... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Exochromis anagenys male... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Aulonocara sp.Lwanda... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Aulonocara Baenschi... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online
1 Aulonocara Stuartgranti flametail... no luck locally, have located small confirmed males online


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Hey I have seen that tank at Patrick's! I bought my 135g set from him as well back in July. Nice collection of rocks n corals. Very colorful but I prefer a more natural setting. 

Btw, are there couple of Koi in that African tank!? Or is it just my imagination? Lol


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

I'm a little rusty so I won't comment on the list of breeds, although you can get away with a lot in a 6ft tank. I've always found posting a stocklist over on cichlid-forums to be really helpful.

If you're having troubles finding certain breeds, check out The Wet Spot Tropical fish in Portland, OR. It's not a short drive but considering what you'll likely find it's worth it (about 4.5 hrs from Van depending on the border line). They are the most impressive Cichlid store I've ever seen in person. I drive to Portland a few times a year to visit family and I've never had a problem bringing fish back. A few funny looks, but no problems lol.


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## Eros168 (Dec 25, 2011)

JTang said:


> Hey I have seen that tank at Patrick's! I bought my 135g set from him as well back in July. Nice collection of rocks n corals. Very colorful but I prefer a more natural setting.
> 
> Btw, are there couple of Koi in that African tank!? Or is it just my imagination? Lol


that's what i noticed,, lol. 
Nice build, keep us posted.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Very modern and cool!


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

So I have made a lot of progress with the stand/canopy but sad to say its been sitting in my garage for the last 2 months like this. I was side tracked with another tank build. I am hoping to putty up all the screws, sand, prime and caulk the stand this weekend.

I have decided to try out magnets to hold the doors in place. Actually cheaper to install magnets then actually hinges. Plus I can take the doors completely off for maintenance. With the ease of access I plan to place my quarantine tank within the stand.

Will update with more pics when I get some decent progress on on the build.

Please ignore the messy garage


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Magnetic door. Cool. Can I see the hardware for those?


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

I don't have the hardware yet. I was going to put a small 1x1x12" piece of wood on the back bottom of the door. It will rest on the door opening on the stand and the top of the door will have a magnet. I assume it will hold it in place no problem. Now I just need to find a magnet that can be mounted with a couple screws. I know a lot of reef guys use them just unsure how they are mounted.

I will pm you with my findings.


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

Took literally seconds to find lol...









I'm sure you can find them for cheaper, but heres the first link that popped up in my search


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