Aquarium

April 7:

Fish have been in the tank for about 5 days now.   Very colorful and active tank.  The species are:

Metriaclima estherae (8)

Labidochromis caeruleus (8)

Pseudotropheus socolofi ‘albino’ (8)

Pseudotropheus demasoni (4)

Hemichromis lifalili (4)

Synodontis sp.  (1)

The P. socolofi ‘albino’ are getting pretty beat up.  Lots of aggression towards them from the Hemichromis and the Metriaclima.  Extensive caudal fin damage.  Expected to see some casualties, but all are still surviving.

March 29:

Check out the graph of the water conditions!

March 13:

The votes are (almost all) in! My middle school students have selected the following fish:

Pseudotropheus saulosi
Pseudotropheus sosolofi
Maylandia callainos
Labidochromis caeruleus
(more to come)

March 10: (Day 3)
- Added 50 W heater
- Added bioballs from fish store (pre-colonized, I hope!) to canister filter.

March 9 (Day 2)
- Installed large canister filter, media: ceramic rings, crushed coral, filter sponge, old filter sponge/floss from pre-existing aquarium.
- Temporarily installed 2 powerheads for aeration. Very vigorous currents in the tank.
- About 80 degrees F
-Added another 25 drops of ammonia

March 8 (Day 1):

- Tank dimensions: 120 cm X 30 cm tall X 28 cm wide
- Volume: ~ 100 Liters (~25 gallons)
- 1.5 cm styrofoam padding on the bottom of the tank.
- Aragonite sand (~25 kilograms)., mixed with 1 kg crushed coral and 1 kg of mixed gravel from pre-existing aquarium
- Local rocks (cleaned with plain water and a rag)
- Added ~ 25 drops of concentred (27%) ammonia (after almost choking myself with it’s fumes!)
- Small sponge filter (airstone driven)
-

Very excited about the tank!
The tank seems larger than 25 gallons to me. I have checked my math several times to be sure. I believe the tank is quite long for how short and narrow it is, so it appears larger than it really is. Hopefully a tank of this proportion will provide a lot of ‘usable’ space (versus a tall tank). This is my first time keeping African Cichlids, and I hope they have enough space to spread out their territories!