Lake Tanganyika Species • Is this tank setup good enough?

[Blakers123]

Hi all,

As some of you may know, I am going to get some Multies as my first ever cichlids. I've had this tank since the beginning of the year and had water in it since February/March. Well cycled now and below are some pics that I took of it. Could you let me know if this is suitable for Multies or if I need anything else to make it better. I plan to get them soon so quick responses are much appreciated.
Stay safe,

Blakers

[sir_keith]

You could add 2-3x as many shells, but otherwise you look good to go. Be prepared for the Multi's to rearrange the substrate. Have fun!

[Blakers123]

thanks for your quick reply keith! I've got 24 shells at the moment, so would you say another 24 would be ok? I am planning on getting 6 Multies.

[DJRansome]

Did you cycle the tank with ammonia? What are your test results for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Multi's like a big pile...some people do 100 shells.

[Blakers123]

Yeah I've got the water test kit and still testing the water daily. Everything's good, no ammonia, no nitrite, no nitrate, pH is between 8.4 and 8.8. I'm just focused right now on making the tank look like Lake Tanganyika as much as possible!

[Deeda]

You should have nitrate in a cycled tank so how did you cycle it?

I see you have some Tanganyika buffer in your pic so did you use it? Have you also tested your tap water?

[Blakers123]

Yeah I had to use the buffer a lot as the tap water around me is more acidic than alkaline. I've had to cycle the tank twice, once before lock down and now after it as I couldn't get fish from anywhere at the time. The majority of the water that is in the tank right now has been there for months with the filter running constantly as well.

[DJRansome]

If you don't have nitrate, you may not be cycled. Did you cycle it with ammonia? If you don't add ammonia for months, the beneficial organisms may die.

The beneficial organisms need ammonia to live, and the waste they produce is nitrate. Having the nitrate is proof the beneficial organisms are healthy and ready.

I would add ammonia now as a test to verify you get nitrate in a couple of days.