Lake Malawi Species • Planned new tank

[cumbrianewbie]

Hi there, I’m just looking for opinions on the new tank I have planned.

My old tank has a water damaged cabinet (due to a leaking canister caused by a split O ring) so I am planning on replacing it with a large solid oak sideboard. Now I could just put the old (100 cm long) tank onto the new cabinet, but that wouldn’t be much fun! The sturdy new sideboard is 160cm long, so it’s a great excuse to get a new tank that will fill the top of it nicely.

My plan is to get a 60x24x18” tank that holds around 80 gallons.

After that, I plan to move away from my current mbuna stocking and go onto Haps. My plan is to start with:
Placidochromis Milomo white lips (x10?)
Protomelas Taiwan reef (x4?)

Obviously looking for more females than males to ensure some harmony.

Any thoughts on that? Would those two fish types work together ok? Is that enough fish for a tank that size, or maybe room for more?

[willyg1631]

Hello. Congrates on the new tank. I'm new here but know something about furniture and i have a concern about your stand.
With those dimensions you're looking at about 425 liters which would be about 500 kg with tank etc and that is a huge amount of weight on a piece not designed for a tank; Your sideboard probably has no centre support down to the floor thus could be subject to bowing towards the floor in the middle. This would put a lot of stress on the glass and could be a disaster.

I know its good English oak but even heavy oak will flex. Bill

[DJRansome]

Agree furniture would need a frame built inside that basically has posts under each corner of the tank. Do not depend on the top to hold any of the weight.

The white lips is placidochromis phenochilus mdoka. Which are you stocking, milomo or white lips? Difference in appearance and aggression.

Those are some large fish but you might be OK with that many fish . But one male per species. Or you could try 3m:12f mdoka and skip the Taiwan reef.

[cumbrianewbie]

Many thanks for the replies gents.

I must admit that looking at the thick frame this sideboard is manufactured with, I wasn’t especially worried, but if needs be I will strengthen it in the middle too. I was thinking of adding extra feet under the frame anyway in the middle to help with the loading. The main frame is however made of 8cm thick oak, so definitely a step up on the cheap chipboard currently supporting my 100cm long tank.

I obviously made a mistake (somehow, despite having the book in front of me!) with the naming of the white lips. Meant to write Placidochromis Phenochilus Mdoka white lips. They really are one of my favourite fish, so I’m determined to get a group for my first really big tank.

I have been toying with the idea of going down to a 50” long tank instead, but looks like it wouldn’t be quite long enough for those white lips

[DJRansome]

If anything I would go to 72"...these are 10" fish.

A MDF leg immediately under the corner of the tank frame beats an oak leg that is not immediately under the tank frame. Look at videos of famous hobbyists fish rooms and see how the racks are constructed. You can put a 2x4 under the tank frame as long as the joinery is appropriate for supporting the weight.

You can put the equivalent of "the rack" inside the sideboard, but unless the sideboard just happens to be built like a tank stand and unless the supports just happen to hit the corners of the tank, and the joinery is not meant for the weight, it may not be ideal.

[cumbrianewbie]

Oh yeah, don’t worry, if I did go down to 50” tank then the white lips would not be in the mix for inclusion.

It’s obviously hard to explain here, but the two ends (and thus the corners) of a 60” tank would be directly over the top of that 8cm thick oak frame. The tank is 160 cm long and the tank is 152.5cm long. That should mean that the tank is covering 5cm (ish) of each end frame piece, with only 3cm ish at each end of the frame not covered by the tank.