Juwel Rio 300, 75 imperial gallon set up

1085 Views 9 Replies 3 Participants Last post by iwade4fish, Jan 18, 2011

bangit

Discussion Starter · Jan 16, 2011

Thought i would start a thread about this setup! I will need advice along the way!

This is my first venture into cichlids, having previously kept standard trops for years and a marine tank for a little while.

Managed to pick up a Juwel rio 300 off ebay for a good price, although the lights were broken and the filter! (appeared a dog had bitten through power cables and broken everything - the joys of ebay!)

Managed to fix the lights thanks to my electrician father but the filter was gone. The unit is standard t8, today i purchased a Juwel daylight and nature bulb, maybe looking for some led moonlight fixture in the near future. Also bought an Eheim 2217, which i am very impressed with (apart from appalling setup instructions)

Tank spec:

Approx 75 Imp Gallons, 90 US
120cm length, 62 high, 51 wide
Filter: Ehiem 2217 + Powerheads (not yet purchased)
Fish: ?
Substrate: Play sand

Pics:

Old tank

New tank in place

Background painted black, sand / rock in place, filters on + cycling! (still a little cloudy after sand etc...)

In terms of fish, been to LFS today and had a good look (Wharf Aquatics - for those in the Uk), some serious choice lol!

I'd like a Mbuna set up really, about 4 species of varying strong colours. Any suggestions?

Yellow Labs as standard of course!

The Mrs likes Demosoni but [/img]i liked the look of Elongatus Mpanga, P.s Powder Blue / P.s Saolusi etc...

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DJRansome

· #2 · Jan 16, 2011

Among these choices (Demosoni, Elongatus Mpanga, P.s Saolusi) you would want to choose one as they are all blue barred species. Demasoni for more blue, saulosi for more yellow. If you already have the yellow labs, you may not want more yellow.

P.s Powder Blue not sure what this is...maybe Socolofi? This is a good mix with any of the above.

Or do Metriaclima callainos for the solid pale blue and Pseudotropheus socolofi albino for a white option?

Pseudotropheus acei?

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bangit

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 16, 2011

I like the look of Saolusi for some Yellow and Blue in the tank, would they be ok with Yellow labs? (don't have any fish as of yet, but always thought i'd have some yellow labs as a base fish!)

Like the look of the acei.

Also like the look of the cyno hara as another blue option ( in your 75g i see!). I assume this would have to replace the saolusi...

I'd really like a strong blue fish, a yellow, red / orange etc... a nice mix in addtion to a few catfish.

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DJRansome

· #4 · Jan 16, 2011

The fish closest to red is Metriaclima estherae and it's orange. There are not many other options with the same color. But they crossbreed with yellow labs. Always a dilemma.

I keep both but only proven females (held eggs) of the estherae and I don't save fry from the estherae.

Can't get a much stronger blue than the demasoni. The problem with Saulosi is to get the right male female ratio (one male, four females) you don't get much blue.

Saulosi females are not a big contrast with yellow labs in color. Have not heard that they crossbreed, but it would be too much yellow for me.

If you must have the Saulosi then you could do Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano) to get more strong blue. Cynotilapia sp. hara will be OK with Saulosi. They are more ice-blue where the Saulosi are dark blue. And they have a small number of narrow black bars where the Saulosi have a larger number of wide black bars.

The perfect catfish IMO would be 5-6 Synodontis multipunctatus. Very cool fish and they will help control any estherae survivor fry you might have.

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bangit

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 16, 2011

Thanks for the comments,

The fish in you sig - Demasoni, Labs, Cyno sp hara, Red Zebras, Syno Multipunctatus sound a good, colourful combo to me.

What about the Rusty cichlid? maybe in place of the red zebras, or with?

In terms of numbers what do you think?

Clearly demasoni as many as poss from what i've read.

Thanks

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DJRansome

· #6 · Jan 16, 2011

I like my combo...I have had some variation for over 5 years. From 36" tank to 72" tank to 48" tank. Demasoni and labs have been constant. In the 72" tank I added estherae, socolofi and acei.

In the current 75G tank for the past two years has been stocked like this:
20 Demasoni
5 Labs
5 Estherae
5 Cynotilapia sp. hara
7 Synodontis multipunctatus

I would not do five species in a 48" tank. Rusties would be fine in place of the estherae.

I am actually going to move the labs to my hap tank in a month or so. I'm looking for a group of Victorians, Pundamilia nyererei Python Island to replace them in the mbuna tank.

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iwade4fish

· #7 · Jan 17, 2011

Saulosi females can be tramps, and my wild male would knock up my Lab any chance he could, but that's MY fish. 75's have a great footprint for mbuna, that extra depth really comes in handy when it comes to rockwork.

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bangit

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 17, 2011

Been looking at Acei, these really are stunning fish, i assume these are a no no with the demasoni?

At the moment my list is looking like this

Yellow labs
Synodontis multipunctatus
Metriaclima estherae
Cynotilapia sp. hara

Acei / Demasoni?

opinions / advice appreciated!

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DJRansome

· #9 · Jan 18, 2011

Acei are fine with Demasoni. I found their color to be not enough contrast with the Cynotilapia sp. hara so I dumped the acei.

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iwade4fish

· #10 · Jan 18, 2011

Being centraally located in England, lots of options are out there. Look into the available Afra variants, I believe 'Tchalo' 'Chiafu' along with 'Chinyankwazi' are some stunners in the UK as of late. Labeo. Trewevassae would be a suitable Genus/species. Thumbi West location comes to mind, a real cracker!! You have a pm, sir.

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