Didn't catch your name, but soaked up all the valuable info. I'm about 2 months into my first go at African Cichlids. Thanks for taking the time. Top-notch presentation.
Some of the soundest practice and advice I've seen when it comes to Mbuna tanks. Personally I would say that maybe taking out the rocks that often is a bit of an overkill, but then again, the tank sand and rocks look amazingly clean so... the results are obviously showing! Keep up the good work!
Rob, I think your maintenance is right on. I do weekly 50% water changes and feed my fish every other day and only have 2 hang on the back filters and I have noticed my water to be clearer than before. I have a mixed American and African tank at work and a Mbuna tank at home. I like Mbunas, but I going to more of a Peacock and American tank at my office.
I've been researching cichlids all week while thinking of starting my first 55 or 75gallon tank and this is the best most straight forward video I have found yet. Thanks very much, I have subbed. Cheers
Nice vid, beautiful tank and fish. I also have a 75 gallon tank with two Eheim filters. A 2213 bought in 88 and a 2215 bought in 94. These things are bullet proof and last forever. Well worth the money.
Great video, full of useful info. I've kept fish for a long time but I'm just venturing into Malawi cichlids now and this video has been brilliant for me. Love the egg crate idea. Thank you very much, sir.
Bro, your tank looks beautiful! I have lava rock and dragon stone in my tank. Just be careful not to let it hit your glass. It will scratch it. I like all the different colors of cichlids. Nice job.
Nice video...I purchased this tank last year right around xmas....Was on sale online for $160....reg price was $499....Couldn't pass it up...Bought a Fluval 110......
Rob I enjoyed the vidio. I have 2 canesters that I have never used because of fear of getting water on the floor. Can I put the sunsun in buckets under the desk oak desk was free aquariums are on them 2-55 gallon upstairs tanks one on cast iorn stand in basement. Putting wheels on storage container great idea.
I'm new at the cichlid thing, and this is, by far, the most useful video I've seen thus far. No need to thank me for watching! Thank you for taking the time! Post more on the aesthetics! I dig your style
Thanks for the video, very informative. I am considering changing my 80 gallon show tank into salt water because my cichlids fight so much. After watching your video I may reconsider. Thanks again. Traci
Thanks for the kind words! Yes I'm still very much in the hobby, in fact things couldn't be better right now! I may have to get working on an update soon. Thanks for the support!
I use black plasti dip in a spray can for my backgrounds. Spray about 6 thin coats on allows you to peel it off if you want to down the road. Say for a teardown and you want to switch to a blue background.
Excellent video...I am going to file this under "lots of good info on the net!" I haven't checked your other videos yet, so apologize if you have done one, but I would love to see you build the rock wall! It's just stunning. Many good ideas from this: painting the background, the tote for the supplies, the grating under the substrate..Thank you SO much for sharing your tanks. Can't wait to see some more videos. I will also apologize now if I burn up your videos with comments as I get caught up :0)~
Beautiful tank, and lots of good information. I would like to try canister filters on my next tank, I currently use back packs on my 30 and 40 gallon tanks. Have you ever used a mirror background on a 75 gallon tank, I would mount it on the outside with silicone caulking. I also like the Idea of plastic crating on the bottom to support and distribute the weight of the rock.
Very nice tank man. I have a 75 gallon and I like how you got yours set up. I'm in the process of trying 2 pick out more fish. MBUNA are the best!!! I have a bumblebee that is supper aggressive
Beautiful tank and a great video, starting a 65 Gallon Mbuna tank myself. Any possibility of listing the names of your fish and totals, want to use this as a guideline.
Your very first step should be to get rid of that wooden stand and get yourself a nice wrought iron or steel stand. Wooden standsz especially the ones that are made of compressed wood particles or "particle board" will crumble and buckle over time and collapse. Also the water dripping on it will cause rot which will also contribute to a premature collapse. I don't know about you, but no can do without 75 gallons of water suddenly spilling in my home.
Thanks for the video. You did a great job of answering questions, specifically regarding filtration. I have been doing some research and am very interested in setting up a Mbuna tank. Very helpful.
I wish now I would've thought to put in the plastic grate in my 55. I'm getting it ready to add mbuna to it. Half has sand and the other side river rock. I will be putting large river rock over the sand. Separating the two I have a 2 inch T of PVC pipe underneath for a cave. I don't understand why you want to pull the rocks out. You don't want to keep in beneficial bacteria? I'm new to Fish keeping. My other 55 is a FF type tank with lots of plants.
Nice tank, although i disagree with sand --- I use river rock and give my tank a wate change once a month at most and my water is crystal clear to drink .... not me though !!! and I run a 30, 40, and 55 ----- Nice work on your tank !!!!!!
Bert Ramsay just usual winey ass types who think keeping fish in small tanks is cruel...or feel the unjustified need to be an authority in the fish keeping hobby.
I'm assuming when he said you only have to clean your canister filter when the flow rate decreases or every 6 to 8 months. I honestly don't know what he meant by this comment, there is no way the foam and such inside the canister would be fine for that long, unless he meant cleaning out the whole inside of the canister but I don't know he never specified 🤷🏼♂️.
Great video and your tank looks amazing!!!! Love the way you say about (a boot) haha, but I'm from Texas so I'm sure I would say a lot of things that sound funny to you haha. Thanks for the great video!! Just bought a 75g for my mbuna, can't wait to set it up!!
I know this is an old video but it is super super helpful! I'm not new to the hobby, (I've kept freshwater fish for over 12 years) but I'm currently in the process of setting up my first EVER African Cichlid tank... and Yes it will be Mbunas! I have everything ready to start setting up, but this will be my first time keeping fish that require a PH above 6 lol. And I never have really learned the science/equipment/process of keeping a consistent high PH. I need to because the water in my era stays right around 5.5 to 6. So in my inexperience, jumping all to way to needing 8 to 9 ph lvl sound like a lot! And since you didn't talk about it much in the video... I was wondering if you have any advice on how you've done it with your Mbunas. Would really appreciate it if you happen to see this comment, and help a fellow fish keeping enthusiast out💯 Thx
@@jakedow4641 Thanks for the suggestion... I actually figured out my PH problem and I'm ready for the Mbunas. I've got the tank all set up... just giving it 3 weeks with the system running before I get my fish. But yesterday my canister filter had a leak so I had to stop everything and figure that out lol. But yea now I'm onto the case of trying to finish getting the tank ready. One of the things I was to do is find a good wacemaker and attachments for my filter to create good surface agitation so I don't have to get a sponge filter to help with getting oxygen into the tank.
I've watched hours of cichlid setup video's. Then I found yours. Thank you for your no nonsense approach I'm just starting out When you spoke about your pool sand substrate.is that the same as silica sand? Thanks again for your no bull approach.
I dont change my water more than once a month. Will that be a problem? Because I do not see any problem except a few algea might grow but very easy to clean. Once a week seems to me too iften for such a big aquarium. Maybe you can share more of your knowledge about what could happen if I didnt change the water that often?
Nice piece of advice Daniel, while this is true, the fish seem to figure that out relatively easily, I have not had any problems using lava rock in my tanks, and it is recommended by many others as a good rock to use in a Mbuna setup.Thank you for the comment.
Congrats, really nice tank! I’m from Brazil, I was wonder if I can find this type of rock over here. Can you tell me about it? The name? Is it a see rock? Thanks!
Thiago Krause Hello, the rock is called lava rock, I'm surprised you don't have it in Brazil, fairly easy to get around here and works well in the Mbuna tanks. Thanks for watching:)
I am thinking of redoing my 125 to a mbuna cichlids, right now I only have 4 catfish in it(I will have to find new homes for them). It looks like I would have to change the substrate and add a lot more rock(it was originally setup for large cichlids(my 16 year old Tilapia buttikoferi pass away). The only thing is that my tank has built in overflows and I have a Clarity Plus wet/dry filter with a Rainbow Lifeguard 25w UV sterilizer, so therefore I would not need to add anymore filtration. My wife likes Labidochromis caeruleus and I know that I want Metriaclima estherae, but what others would be good to mix it with these? Also, how many fish total would you recommend?
Awesome 👍 I’ll be starting my 55 Gallon Mbuna cichlid hopefully very soon, are they mix male & female in your tank? I just need to gather more info about cichlid & get rid of my koi fish in my 55 Gallon right now.
I have the same Marineland 75 gallon. Do you think I would be safe placing 300 lbs of rock into it? I'll have light diffuser plastic egg crate under it as well
ive had my eheim cannister filter for 10 years now, stuffs super well built
Didn't catch your name, but soaked up all the valuable info. I'm about 2 months into my first go at African Cichlids. Thanks for taking the time. Top-notch presentation.
Appreciate the comment Steve, thanks for watching and good luck!
Some of the soundest practice and advice I've seen when it comes to Mbuna tanks. Personally I would say that maybe taking out the rocks that often is a bit of an overkill, but then again, the tank sand and rocks look amazingly clean so... the results are obviously showing!
Keep up the good work!
Rob, I think your maintenance is right on. I do weekly 50% water changes and feed my fish every other day and only have 2 hang on the back filters and I have noticed my water to be clearer than before. I have a mixed American and African tank at work and a Mbuna tank at home. I like Mbunas, but I going to more of a Peacock and American tank at my office.
Thank you! appreciate the comment.
I've been researching cichlids all week while thinking of starting my first 55 or 75gallon tank and this is the best most straight forward video I have found yet. Thanks very much, I have subbed. Cheers
So glad I could help, thank you and good luck with your project!
I like the black background.... Makes your rocks and fish stand out more.
Nice tank. Very informative video. I'm a newbie with cichlids and I'm setting up a 75 gal tank
That's great! good luck with your tank, thanks for the comment.
i agree nice vid, im new as well and your video helped me so thanks
I acquired a Universal Rocks 48-Inch by 20-Inch Ledge Flexible Aquarium Background and it works great for Mbuna Chiclids.
Nice vid, beautiful tank and fish. I also have a 75 gallon tank with two Eheim filters. A 2213 bought in 88 and a 2215 bought in 94. These things are bullet proof and last forever. Well worth the money.
I agree, the Eheims are great. Thanks for the comment!
Very informative video. i like the look of your main tank, after watching this I will definitely be painting the back of my tank.
Great video, full of useful info. I've kept fish for a long time but I'm just venturing into Malawi cichlids now and this video has been brilliant for me. Love the egg crate idea. Thank you very much, sir.
Bro, your tank looks beautiful! I have lava rock and dragon stone in my tank. Just be careful not to let it hit your glass. It will scratch it. I like all the different colors of cichlids. Nice job.
Looks like im the first comment in 6 years sogreat video !, great looking fish, thanks so much for sharing, I deal with Big Al's also
Thanks for watching, glad the video is still in circulation.
Nice video...I purchased this tank last year right around xmas....Was on sale online for $160....reg price was $499....Couldn't pass it up...Bought a Fluval 110......
Great video! Very straight to the point with lots of good info and no long side mission rants. This has been very helpful to me.
Rob I enjoyed the vidio. I have 2 canesters that I have never used because of fear of getting water on the floor. Can I put the sunsun in buckets under the desk oak desk was free aquariums are on them 2-55 gallon upstairs tanks one on cast iorn stand in basement. Putting wheels on storage container great idea.
I'm new at the cichlid thing, and this is, by far, the most useful video I've seen thus far. No need to thank me for watching! Thank you for taking the time! Post more on the aesthetics! I dig your style
Thanks for the comment Duane, appreciate it!
SeaView did the same thing to us, looked amazing at first then just started to bubble up in the background and was useless.
Beautiful tanks!
Spray paint working great also
Good tip about the seaview. i just use Mineral oil. Works fantastic. Have had my background stick for over a year so far. No issues. Great Video.
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the video, very informative. I am considering changing my 80 gallon show tank into salt water because my cichlids fight so much. After watching your video I may reconsider. Thanks again. Traci
Thanks Traci, I hope you stick with it, and good luck!
nice tank sir im new to the ciclid world so i follow people like you to get my knowledge. I subscribe to you and please look at my videos
Are you still in the hobby? Your mbuna tanks are amazing and ones that I emulate. Your knowledge of these fishes and how to mix them is also superb!
Thanks for the kind words! Yes I'm still very much in the hobby, in fact things couldn't be better right now! I may have to get working on an update soon. Thanks for the support!
I use black plasti dip in a spray can for my backgrounds. Spray about 6 thin coats on allows you to peel it off if you want to down the road. Say for a teardown and you want to switch to a blue background.
Nice tip, thanks for watching.
Ahhhh! True. Still have a can left from doing my rims. Going to try this on the back side of my tank.
Mo
Excellent placement for the filter outflow , I am going to be changing mine on maintenance day . Great video
Cool, thanks!
Excellent video...I am going to file this under "lots of good info on the net!" I haven't checked your other videos yet, so apologize if you have done one, but I would love to see you build the rock wall! It's just stunning. Many good ideas from this: painting the background, the tote for the supplies, the grating under the substrate..Thank you SO much for sharing your tanks. Can't wait to see some more videos. I will also apologize now if I burn up your videos with comments as I get caught up :0)~
Thanks for the support! I enjoy reading all the comments, good luck with your project!
Still relevant. This is a very helpful video. Thanks for the information!
Thanks for the comment! I'm glad this video was helpful. Appreciate you watching:)
Beautiful tank, and lots of good information. I would like to try canister filters on my next tank, I currently use back packs on my 30 and 40 gallon tanks. Have you ever used a mirror background on a 75 gallon tank, I would mount it on the outside with silicone caulking. I also like the Idea of plastic crating on the bottom to support and distribute the weight of the rock.
wow, cleaning the rocks once every 3 weeks takes be by surprise....I am planning a 125g for cichlids....great video, thanks a lot from Montreal.
Thanks Mario, appreciate it!
Enjoyed your 75 Gal guide. Thinking of starting my own set up. Thanks for the helpful tips...
Your welcome, good luck!
Very nice tank man. I have a 75 gallon and I like how you got yours set up. I'm in the process of trying 2 pick out more fish. MBUNA are the best!!! I have a bumblebee that is supper aggressive
+Joshua Smith Thanks Joshua, I agree, Mbuna's are the Boss!!! So many to choose from, It's so hard sometimes lol. Thanks for watching!
Great informative video. I am about to set up a 75 gallon tank. This covers everything and is so helpful. Thanks!
Hi, nice tank ! Great detailed video. Look forward to more updates on your 75 gallon . Cheers 😊
I painted the background like you i think thats the best way to to do do it You have a nice looking tank
Cool, I agree!
Very nice simple straight forward video man... one of the best starter tip videos out there.... Really Enjoyed watching it.
Awesome. Nice set up man, I got the same exact tank not too long ago, cycled it, and just started adding my cichlids into it this week.
Cool bro, thanks for the comment, good luck with the tank!
Fantastic video. planning a 75 gallon Cichlid tank of my own soon. You answered many of the questions I had!
Beautiful tank and a great video, starting a 65 Gallon Mbuna tank myself. Any possibility of listing the names of your fish and totals, want to use this as a guideline.
Great video. Very informative without getting too technical. Thanks.
Your very first step should be to get rid of that wooden stand and get yourself a nice wrought iron or steel stand. Wooden standsz especially the ones that are made of compressed wood particles or "particle board" will crumble and buckle over time and collapse. Also the water dripping on it will cause rot which will also contribute to a premature collapse. I don't know about you, but no can do without 75 gallons of water suddenly spilling in my home.
Do you think you can list the species and quantity of your tank. I would appreciate it very much
Right on Rob ,Great idea with the rolling tote
Damion Markham It sure is handy! Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the video. You did a great job of answering questions, specifically regarding filtration. I have been doing some research and am very interested in setting up a Mbuna tank. Very helpful.
Rocks out!! That's dedication.
I wish now I would've thought to put in the plastic grate in my 55. I'm getting it ready to add mbuna to it. Half has sand and the other side river rock. I will be putting large river rock over the sand. Separating the two I have a 2 inch T of PVC pipe underneath for a cave.
I don't understand why you want to pull the rocks out. You don't want to keep in beneficial bacteria?
I'm new to Fish keeping. My other 55 is a FF type tank with lots of plants.
Incredible tank
Cool video mate . Thanks for the information. Keep up the good work 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧👍🏻✅
Thanks for stopping by Ben!
Nice tank, although i disagree with sand --- I use river rock and give my tank a wate change once a month at most and my water is crystal clear to drink .... not me though !!! and I run a 30, 40, and 55 ----- Nice work on your tank !!!!!!
really enjoyed your video. your a good teacher. keep those videos coming. thank you
This is a well thought out video. Good job and thanks for posting it.
Your welcome, thanks for the comment.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this informational video. I learned a lot from it plus your tank is amazing.
Thank you Luis, appreciate the kind words, glad you liked the vid!
really good set up who put thumbs down and why
Bert Ramsay just usual winey ass types who think keeping fish in small tanks is cruel...or feel the unjustified need to be an authority in the fish keeping hobby.
I'm assuming when he said you only have to clean your canister filter when the flow rate decreases or every 6 to 8 months. I honestly don't know what he meant by this comment, there is no way the foam and such inside the canister would be fine for that long, unless he meant cleaning out the whole inside of the canister but I don't know he never specified 🤷🏼♂️.
What fish you got in there? What stocking recommendations do you have for a 75 gallon Mbuna tank?
Look very calm and out and about. Great job
How about ‘live rock’ as an option? It helps biofiltration.
Great video! What kinds on cichlids do you have? Absolutely beautiful.
Good video. Very informative
Awesome Tank. One question, "why didn't you list the equipment in the description?". It would help us novices look things up. :)
Great video, very informative. I am gathering research for a mbuna tank, so I appreciate all the information. :)
Your very welcome, good luck!
Very nice aquarium!
very cool video! Ty for sharing!
Nice tank dude. And how did you managed to put a melanochromis with those tiny other cichlids
awesome love the laid back style very informative good job thx
Great video and your tank looks amazing!!!! Love the way you say about (a boot) haha, but I'm from Texas so I'm sure I would say a lot of things that sound funny to you haha. Thanks for the great video!! Just bought a 75g for my mbuna, can't wait to set it up!!
Thanks for watching, good luck with the new tank!
I love the the atomic rooster's music at the beginning! ;)
Great video. This is exactly what I've been looking for.
Beautiful Cichlid Tank!
Jesse Montelongo Thanks Jesse, appreciate the comment.
Where did you get your lava rocks? I find only the small ones at the local hardware store.
I know this is an old video but it is super super helpful!
I'm not new to the hobby, (I've kept freshwater fish for over 12 years) but I'm currently in the process of setting up my first EVER African Cichlid tank... and Yes it will be Mbunas!
I have everything ready to start setting up, but this will be my first time keeping fish that require a PH above 6 lol. And I never have really learned the science/equipment/process of keeping a consistent high PH. I need to because the water in my era stays right around 5.5 to 6. So in my inexperience, jumping all to way to needing 8 to 9 ph lvl sound like a lot! And since you didn't talk about it much in the video... I was wondering if you have any advice on how you've done it with your Mbunas.
Would really appreciate it if you happen to see this comment, and help a fellow fish keeping enthusiast out💯 Thx
Golden Domer you can use crushed coral or aragonite substrate. That will help raise pH
@@jakedow4641 Thanks for the suggestion... I actually figured out my PH problem and I'm ready for the Mbunas. I've got the tank all set up... just giving it 3 weeks with the system running before I get my fish. But yesterday my canister filter had a leak so I had to stop everything and figure that out lol. But yea now I'm onto the case of trying to finish getting the tank ready. One of the things I was to do is find a good wacemaker and attachments for my filter to create good surface agitation so I don't have to get a sponge filter to help with getting oxygen into the tank.
I've watched hours of cichlid setup video's. Then I found yours. Thank you for your no nonsense approach I'm just starting out When you spoke about your pool sand substrate.is that the same as silica sand? Thanks again for your no bull approach.
Hi Dave, thank you for the kind words and yes, they are the same. Good luck with your tank and thanks for watching.
robOzwrld hey, u think substrate is needed in a cichlid tank? can I go bare bottom?
Thanks for the video, your tank looks great
Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge.
I dont change my water more than once a month. Will that be a problem? Because I do not see any problem except a few algea might grow but very easy to clean.
Once a week seems to me too iften for such a big aquarium. Maybe you can share more of your knowledge about what could happen if I didnt change the water that often?
Beautiful tank and thanks for all the great info.
Thanks for watching Eric!
Beware of using lava stone as I have learned that it can give the fish some ugly wounds when they rub up against them.
Nice piece of advice Daniel, while this is true, the fish seem to figure that out relatively easily, I have not had any problems using lava rock in my tanks, and it is recommended by many others as a good rock to use in a Mbuna setup.Thank you for the comment.
What type of bulb are you using in your strip light? Nice tank, good info, a fun video to watch for sure! Thanks!
The bulb is a Marineland T10 natural daylight.
Thanks! You do a great job on your videos, look forward to watching more of them in the future!
Thanks a lot, really appreciate you watching my vids!
How do you keep your tank so crystal clear. It is awsom.
Thank you! I have 2 eheim cannisters running on the tank, never have cloudy water!
thanks for the reply....It helps
awesome tutorial. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Brian!
Love the photos.
Very informative, just changing back to cichlids. You’re fish swim around quite calmly. Did you start out with mature fish or juveniles?
Good video
Really enjoyed the tour and info from your video :)
Thank you so much, I really appreciate the comment!
I switched from lava rock to ceramic cichlids stones.
Votre aquarium est simple et très beau .
Merci!
Congrats, really nice tank! I’m from Brazil, I was wonder if I can find this type of rock over here. Can you tell me about it? The name? Is it a see rock? Thanks!
Thiago Krause Hello, the rock is called lava rock, I'm surprised you don't have it in Brazil, fairly easy to get around here and works well in the Mbuna tanks. Thanks for watching:)
Awesome tank tour! I subbed.
luvmyhondafit Appriciated, thank you sir!
Great video thank you
is that cichlid of second picture aggresive which is in yellow color
the snow white cichlid at 6:14 is so fucking bright lol
Do you know were i can get one of supper green cichlids
I am thinking of redoing my 125 to a mbuna cichlids, right now I only have 4 catfish in it(I will have to find new homes for them). It looks like I would have to change the substrate and add a lot more rock(it was originally setup for large cichlids(my 16 year old Tilapia buttikoferi pass away). The only thing is that my tank has built in overflows and I have a Clarity Plus wet/dry filter with a Rainbow Lifeguard 25w UV sterilizer, so therefore I would not need to add anymore filtration. My wife likes Labidochromis caeruleus and I know that I want Metriaclima estherae, but what others would be good to mix it with these? Also, how many fish total would you recommend?
Great video....Thanks
Awesome 👍 I’ll be starting my 55 Gallon Mbuna cichlid hopefully very soon, are they mix male & female in your tank? I just need to gather more info about cichlid & get rid of my koi fish in my 55 Gallon right now.
Thanks for all the information!
Your welcome, thanks for the comment!
nice tank enjoyed your video
Can you paint the glass while it’s already set up with fish in it?
I don't see why not as long as you have enough space to get the roller or brush back there:)
"Mbuna are semi-aggressive"... you got a crocodile tank on your backyard?
Samuel Nelson piranha aren’t aggressive😕
Sinned ya great informational video. God job
Awesome, thank you!!
Thank you for the info
Great Video !! Thanks for doing this video. By the way Beautiful tank.
+Rodney Laurence Thanks bro, appreciate it!
I have the same Marineland 75 gallon. Do you think I would be safe placing 300 lbs of rock into it? I'll have light diffuser plastic egg crate under it as well
Beautiful!
Alright alright alright nice very nice 👍