# 29g African Cichlid Grow-out tank **New pics **



## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

I've been looking for some Placidochromis phenochilus tanzania for a while (really hard to find in Canada) and discovered some at The Wet Spot Tropical Fish in Portland, OR. Since I head down to Portland on a regular basis to visit family, I thought I would pick some up and bring them back. I'm also a fan of Placidochromis electra as well and also don't usually see those available here in Canada so I grabbed a group of 6 of each. They're only 1" - 1.5" in size though and my adults in the 90g would most likely turn them into a snack. Thus the hunt for a grow-out tank began before my trip. Thanks to a couple very nice folks here on BCA, I was able to pick up a 29g tank and some used equipment. I literally painted the back of the tank (5-6 thin coats) and built that stand all the night before I left for the long weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing them grow up. The idea is to put a male of each into my 90g once they hit around 2.5" in size. The rest I will put up for sale here on BCA or possibly start a breeding tank for one of them with the 75g I have laying around (needs new silicone first).

Here are some pics of it, just taken today, after bringing home the fish from Portland, OR last night.




























Placidochromis phenochilus tanzania









Placidochromis electra


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

For those that are curious... Here's what they will look like as adults.

Placidochromis phenochilus tanzania









Placidochromis electra


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

They look awesome. Going to turn out to be some nice fish. Looks like Im going to Portland some day soon. Now that you have a grow out tank I might need you to grow some out for me. LOL. I will be stoping by your house on the way home from The Wet Spot. Theres just too many nice Africans out there. I want them all!!


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Hahaha the grow out tank could get a little full once these 12 fish hit 2.5"+ but sure I wouldn't mind. As long as you sign a disclaimer that I'm not responsible for any deaths! LOL

I actually have a 25g tank that needs a re-seal and I could set up another fry/growout tank.

The stand is easy to build. It took 4 2x4's and some screws. It's probably the most structurally sound stand/plan I've ever come across too. I'm using the same frame for a custom stone cabinet/stand for my 90g if I ever get around to finishing it.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

So ever since I got home I've been trying to count them all and was only counting 5 tanzania's. They're fast and like to hide when I get too close so I kept checking in case I was missing one.. Just now I decide to check the bucket I emptied the bags into after I thought I had dropped all the fish into the tank and sure enough, there was a little guy swimming around inside. No heater or filter for over 24 hours and the water was pretty cold. He seems fine so far but I'll be keeping a close watch.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

The tank looks a little boring right now... I'm planning on adding some PFS substrate and I am also thinking of adding some low light plants that do well with African water like Anubias, Java Fern and Vallisneria


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## dalans (Aug 11, 2012)

I like the stand - any tips on how you built it? Did you use plans at all?


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

I did when I built the stand for my 90 and this one was just from memory. It's pretty easy to do. 2x4's are overkill but they're the cheapest and it never hurts to have extra support.

In terms of hardware/equipment. I borrowed a chop saw and a power drill from a friend and it took 4 2x4's and a box of screws from home depot. I bought extra lumber just in case I made any mistakes, but they weren't needed. Make sure you look for the straightest 2x4's you can in the pile.

I could probably draw one up for you if you have the dimensions. I can also take/post pics from all angles of the frame/stand I built for the 90, so you can see how it all went together.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice find, i cant wait to c them when they are bigger


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Thanks Claudia! This is my first grow-out tank so I'm looking forward to seeing them grow up. If it's successful I'd like to start a breeding tank for one of them (I'm leaning towards the Placidochromis phenochilus tanzania just to see the male showing his full mating colours) and use the 29g for the fry.


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## cichlid (Jul 30, 2010)

Those are gorgious! What is the adult temperment of them?


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Sidius said:


> Thanks Claudia! This is my first grow-out tank so I'm looking forward to seeing them grow up. If it's successful I'd like to start a breeding tank for one of them (I'm leaning towards the Placidochromis phenochilus tanzania just to see the male showing his full mating colours) and use the 29g for the fry.


Thats cool, i am setting up a 50g breeder myself  lol


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

cichlid said:


> Those are gorgious! What is the adult temperment of them?


They are both supposed to have pretty peaceful temperaments but you never know with cichlids lol


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## sakurachan1 (Mar 12, 2012)

Haha nice! Although it's prolli gonna take AWHILE for the phenochilus to get to that coloration, but still, totally worth the wait


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Ya I have no idea how long but probably a couple years at least (maybe longer). They don't start getting the spots until they're around 4-5" I heard and even then it's a slow process to get to the point of the one in the picture.


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## bingerz (Mar 3, 2011)

nice tank and fish!! lol...i did a search to see what they looked like as adults...and kicked myself afterwards when i scrolled down and saw you already posted it. =) heheh! anyways...beautiful fish man!! i like the tanzania ones...reminds me of the OB splotches, but in blue. myself, i feel im starting to move away from mbunas. i've been into them since i started keeping fish and i feel bad admitting this, but I've kind of started to get bored with them. i never really wanted to go into the haps and peacock route, but after picking two up (still juveniles)....im really excited and looking forward to seeing them start colouring up. maybe it'll be my new thing? but i love my fuellebornis and i dunno if i could ever let them go. anyways, can't wait to see more pics of your fish!! they're beauties!!


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

bingerz said:


> nice tank and fish!! lol...i did a search to see what they looked like as adults...and kicked myself afterwards when i scrolled down and saw you already posted it. =) heheh! anyways...beautiful fish man!! i like the tanzania ones...reminds me of the OB splotches, but in blue. myself, i feel im starting to move away from mbunas. i've been into them since i started keeping fish and i feel bad admitting this, but I've kind of started to get bored with them. i never really wanted to go into the haps and peacock route, but after picking two up (still juveniles)....im really excited and looking forward to seeing them start colouring up. maybe it'll be my new thing? but i love my fuellebornis and i dunno if i could ever let them go. anyways, can't wait to see more pics of your fish!! they're beauties!!


Dont feel bad about being tired of a paticular species. We have all been there. Thats the beauty of Africans. The more the marrier. Keep the fuellebornis. I have 4 in my African tank and they do just fine with peacocks and haps. Nothing wrong with mixing them. They are not aggresive like most mbunas. They seem to chase each other more than anything


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## bingerz (Mar 3, 2011)

hey justin, it's me bingerz. i got rid of my males fuels. i had two large greys and 5 fry males. i traded it with noodles and got 4 OBs and 2 blue empress juvies. i re-vented all of them and it's true that male OBs are rare. All the ones I have are female. I have 10 orange morph fuels also that are still young. they look female, but there are a few that are questionable. i gotta give it more time. That would be cool though to have a male orange morph. But my female OBs are getting aggressive with each other. I've tried taking out all the rocks with that whole thing about, "taking out the rocks, takes away the territories", but there's one female that's really punkin everyone. i think it's cuz she's in "heat" cuz her junk down there is swelling up. she was picking on some other female who's ripe too. i guess if you have a whole crapload of females in a room....they're gonna start getting catty with each other. made me start second guessing myself about trading my males, but i have that set of hybrids from when my male fuell was gettin it on with my red zebra, that i dunno what to do with. one of these days, im gonna put my rocks back in - when i get some time.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

bingerz said:


> nice tank and fish!! lol...i did a search to see what they looked like as adults...and kicked myself afterwards when i scrolled down and saw you already posted it. =) heheh! anyways...beautiful fish man!! i like the tanzania ones...reminds me of the OB splotches, but in blue. myself, i feel im starting to move away from mbunas. i've been into them since i started keeping fish and i feel bad admitting this, but I've kind of started to get bored with them. i never really wanted to go into the haps and peacock route, but after picking two up (still juveniles)....im really excited and looking forward to seeing them start colouring up. maybe it'll be my new thing? but i love my fuellebornis and i dunno if i could ever let them go. anyways, can't wait to see more pics of your fish!! they're beauties!!


Thanks! I'm pretty excited to watch them grow up and picking one of each for my main tank. I'm pretty sure I'll setup a breeding tank for the Tanzania's but we'll see. I have a 75g tank not doing anything (it needs a re-seal) but the trick will be finding space for another 4ft tank.

My main tank is my first African tank and so far I love the Peacocks/Haps. Lots of character and they're really active and use the entire tank.

How big is your tank? If you have the 2 Blue Empress (Protomelas taeniolatus) in a 33g tank you'll need a bigger tank for sure, they get 9" long.


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## bingerz (Mar 3, 2011)

yeah, right now all i have is a 33g, wish i had a bigger tank. 9" is crazy! are they fast growers? mine are still juvies...maybe an inch or so.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

If you plan on getting a bigger tank down the road, then a 33g is fine for now. I've heard they can grow pretty fast but it depends on a lot of things. If they're an inch, my guess is, you probably have about a year at the most before you'll need a bigger tank or have to re-home them. That's just a guess though.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Just a bit of an update... the fish are all growing and a couple are almost 2" long now. I've added some PFS substrate and a Beamswork 400 LED that I picked up from Patrick at Canadian Aquatics. I'll post some pics tonight.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Pic with no flash to see the new lighting (You can also see the new PFS substrate)


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Looking good. They are growing fast. No pics of the other fish?


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

I'm working on getting some new pics of my 90g, I've just been hit with an intense cold all last week.


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

Any updates on the Placidochromis phenochilus? What size did you buy them at and how much have they grown? They are going to be amazing looking fish when they start to color up.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

mikeross said:


> Any updates on the Placidochromis phenochilus? What size did you buy them at and how much have they grown? They are going to be amazing looking fish when they start to color up.


I bought 1 of the Placidochromis phenochilus off of Sidius. Mines doing good. About 5" now. He still looks nothing like what he will look like later on. Im pretty sure the 1 Sidius grew out died and he sold the rest . I should post a pic of what he looks like now.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

So after a recent trip to Portland, I dusted off this grow-out tank and filled it up with some new babies. I added the following with the hopes of getting 1 male from each and moving them into my 180 gallon tank...

Aulonocara stuartgranti "Chilumba" F2 1.5" x 3
Lethrinops sp. "Mbasi" 1.5" x 3
Otopharynx lithobates "Yellow Blaze" 1" x 3 (one died last night)
Protomelas taeniolatus "Red Empress" F1 1" x 3
Altolamprologus calvus "Black" 1.25" x 2 (both of these will go into the 180 regardless of sex)


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Here are some updated pictures of this tank, with the new juvies picked up from The Wet Spot. A couple males are starting to colour up!



Male Taiwan Reef showing some amazing colour for his size


Male Lethrinops sp. "Mbasi" starting to show himself


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

some nice pick ups... my taiwan reef is 1.5" bigger and is barely showing any color.

How big is yours? By your pics mine looks to be a dud.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

AKAmikeross said:


> some nice pick ups... my taiwan reef is 1.5" bigger and is barely showing any color.
> 
> How big is yours? By your pics mine looks to be a dud.


He's maybe 2" at the most. These guys are F2 I believe. The Wet Spot has high quality fish for sure. They breed a lot of them themselves in a holding facility using WC or F1 parents.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

I added some Lwanda fry to a breeders net in this tank, last week. They're pretty small but eating lots and seem pretty healthy.


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Good to hear they are doing good. How many left??


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Vancitycam said:


> Good to hear they are doing good. How many left??


There's only 2 left but they're doing good and eating lots


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