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Oceanic BioCube 29 Converted for Brichardi Cichlid

10K views 80 replies 10 participants last post by  Aussieman57 
#1 ·
Hi all,
First post.
I got a used 29 gallon Oceanic BioCube from my niece at Christmas.
I decided to turn it into a Neolamprologus brichardi cichlid tank.

First thing I did was to grab a pair of pliers and break out the rear plastic filter area and open up the tank.
The Cube is 10 years old so Next I re-sealed the Cube with GE SCS 1203 Black Silicone.
The Cube survived full of water for 48 hours.

Next I built a Stand for the Cube with 2x4's and Birch Plywood.
Much stronger than it needs to be but it looks great with a door and shelf inside.

The hood lights no longer worked so I removed them and mounted a LED Programmable Light
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FSQHV56/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I attached it inside the hood by drilling a hole on each side of it and use a Plastic tie to hold it.
For the digital display I used my dremel to cut out a square hole in the hood for access.

I found a Coral like rock on a sandy shore of the Intracoastal Waterway and I boiled it in Bleach & Water..
Rinsed it off well and let it sit outside for a few days.

Finally with the Cube ready to go.... on Super Bowl Sunday I added 40 pounds of CaribSea "Sahara Sand", Water treated with SeaChem Prime and Cichlid Lake Salt.
Along with Rocks, Heater and Sponge Filter.

I let it cycle until Thursday Feb. 11th and then I started to aid the Cycling process by adding FritzZyme TurboStart 700 Concentrated Live Nitrifying Bacteria
I added a Capful every other day and yesterday added the rest of the 1oz bottle.

Today I finally added 1 Brichardi to the Cube making sure that all goes well and then I will add 5 more.
The Brichardi acclimated well to the Cube..Swam around for awhile and then found a cave in the Rock I found.
Went inside for awhile came back out looked around and went back in.
He has now been inside the cave ever since.

Do I have a Bashful Brichardi?

I would like to add pictures but I am not sure how to do that.
 
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#77 ·
While the Angelfish Cichlid, Pterophyllum scalare, might be considered a Cliche' by some..... :roll:
That fish species is definitely considered to be a New World Cichlid by just about everyone else.
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Oh, and if cliché's aren't your thing... I believe a trio of Red Shouldered Severum Cichlids, Heros sp. efasciatus 'Rotkeil' could look pretty nice stocked in a taller shaped, corner tank instead. 8)
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#79 ·
Thanks for the responses Auballagh and suggestions.

I checked out the Red Shouldered Severum Cichlids
From the attached video they do like large tanks, will eat Live Plants and get up to 10" so they can become large fish.
I do like Anubias but I also do like the look of the fish..
I will check them out at my LFS and I may add a couple to the tank.
I like the Gold as well.

 
#80 ·
Hi all,
Just thought I'd put out an update.
I've been busy bringing my car back to life and not spending a lot of time with my Bio-Cube.
But now that my car projects are "Hopefully" LOL at an end I am going to spend some more time on my Cube.
I had Algae under control and then it came back.so I need to get that back under control.
The fact that I have not checked the water specifics in months probably adds to that.

A couple of weeks back I did a 50% water change and cleaned the sponge filter in the siphoned out water.
After squeezing it out in 2 buckets of water nothing else came out....I was expecting more but OK.

The fish have also evened out from a lot of Fry to now about 10 fish..not sure where the others went.
Also after that first bundle of Fry births there have not been any others Hmmm.

I'll add Pics and Videos in further updates..
 
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