My future setup

R

RedRocket

New member
Hey y'all, I am looking into setting up a 125 gal cichlid tank before the end of the year(currently out of country working). This will be the largest tank setup i have personally ever had, my last was a 75 gal that had a leak and had to be taken down. Herein lies the concerns that I am having: will this offer me enough room for "territoriality" as I am looking to have some Tropheus moorii Chimba Red( if readily available) and some suitable tank mates, as well as, the sort of filtration I will need for a setup this big.
I wanted to get away form the hang on the back filters and was thinking of going with either a couple canister filters or maybe even an overflow setup. I was also considering having "open top" aquarium but not sure if that wise( I understand its mostly personal preference). Last thing is substrate material. What would be the "ideal" substrate to use? I know depending on the fish that I will have, the ph range will either be "high or mid range" but should I use gravel with coral and then some drift wood to balance it out?
One last thing, here is a list of the fish that I have thought about putting in this setup and looking forward to hearing the pros,cons or suggestions for other types of fish that I have not considered.

Demasoni Cichlid Red Top Lwanda Peacock Eretmodus cyanostictus "blue spotted"
Tropheus moorii Chimba Red Julidochromic Dickfeldi
Cynotilapia Afra "Jalo Reef" Lampologus Calvus
Lemon Jake Peacock Eretmodus cyanostictus "Msalaba"

I am looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts, opinions, and constructive criticism.

Thanks in advance.
 
A 125 gallon tank should be big enough for what you want to do just give the fish lots of hiding places. My biggest aquarium is 125 gallon and I have it over loaded with 30+ African Cichlids. I use a Fluval FX6 and Magnum 350 canister filters along with 2 XL sponge filters but the FX6 would handle filtration on its own really. My FX6 has been running for close to 3 months now and I haven't cleaned it yet. My water parameters are good with 5-10 gallon water changes every 2-3 days. I believe I could go as long as once a week with a 10-15 gallon water change weekly.

I'm not using any substrate in any of my tanks but if I did I would go back to using course sand. As far as ph goes do you know what your is out of the tap? My tap water is 7.5-7.8 and it stays there even with no substrate.

Most of my African Cichlids are OB Peacocks and they seem to do well with any fish that are close to the same size as long as I keep females out of the aquarium. :LOL:
 
So you have a bare glass bottom? Interesting, never really gave that much thought. I am not sure what it is out of the tap, will check that first thing when I get back home. How often do you recommend cleaning the filters for the canisters?
Also, do you have any algae eaters in with your cichlids?
 
Yes the bottom of my aquariums are bare but I have a lot of caves and fake tree roots, stumps etc. that you can't really notice. In the 125 gallon aquarium I'm using a Aqueon Pro 250 watt heater and keep the water temperature at 82 degrees.
How often you'll need to clean the canister filter depends on which filter you use, how many fish you have in the tank and how much you feed them. It's been about 3 months since I've cleaned my FX6 or Magnum 350. Before I had the Fluval FX6 I was using 2 Magnum 350 filters and had to clean them every 30-45 days.

I have 3 or 4 Bristlenose Pleco's in the 125 gallon aquarium for algae and they do fine with the Cichlids. The Bristlenose get 4-6 inches so they are pretty close size wise to the OB Peacocks.
 
No updates on the new aquarium at the moment. I am currently still working in Australia and will not be back in the states until around the 7th of August. Should have updates towards the end of August.
 
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