So, after a 2 year hiatus from the fish keeping world, I've come back from my second year of college with a rejuvenated interest in the fish hobby. Knowing that I'd need to leave again in 4 months time, I decided to tackle a project that would not take much time to assemble or disassemble, and would be easy to ship my fish to Michigan so that I could continue to look over them in college now that I'm out of the dorms and my fraternity house. The goal of this build was to keep it cost effective as well as entertaining, so I went with my favorite shell dwelling cichlid: (Neo)lamprologus Multifasciatus. I had kept a colony before with much success before college, so I knew what I was getting into.
Tank Specifications:
- Standard 10 gallon glass aquarium
- 3D Background from www.designsbynature.net
- Marineland Stealth heater (Just found out they were recalled so may have to look for other options)
- TOM 45gph internal aquarium filter (I know it's underrated for this size tank, but I do frequent water changes and the sand & background make the tank volume just a little more than 6 gallons)
- Pool Filter Sand Substrate from Leslie's Pool Supplies
- 26 Whales Eye Shells purchased on eBay
Tank Stocking:
- 2 Males Neolamprologus Multifasciatus 'Mbita'
- 5 Female Neolamprologus Multifasciatus 'Mbita'
Tank Chemistry as of today:
- pH: ~7.6 (need to buy a better/more accurate kit)
- Ammonia: 0.0 ppm
- Nitrite: 0.0 ppm
- Nitrate: 0.0 ppm
1 hour timelapse video one day after I put them in the tank. Notice how skittish they are.
- EDIT: I can't post more than 1 video so here's a link to the video
2 hour timelapse video four days after I put them in the tank. Notice how much more active they are.
[video=youtube;kHfxEWjZUsk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHfxEWjZUsk[/video]
Cutting the background to size with a handsaw and sandpaper:
Acclimating the fish from a local breeder:
2 Males:
5 Females:
Other pictures:
Final notes:
- Haven't seen much digging of the substrate yet. Maybe it's a comfortability issue.
- Couldn't be happier with the stock. Received from: www.girlvirgo.com - Not sure if she's a member or not, but if she is shout out to you!
- Still looking to put together the money to invest in a new heater, better filter, and proper lighting.
- The fish haven't been eating as well as I thought. They don't really go for the high quality flake so maybe I'll go the store and pick up some frozen bloodworms.
- Will be on the lookout for fry! My last colony took 3 weeks to produce fry. Hopefully it won't take that long for these guys!
I hope you like my progress so far. It feels great getting back into the fishkeeping hobby! I will try to keep this journal updated as much as possible.
Tank Specifications:
- Standard 10 gallon glass aquarium
- 3D Background from www.designsbynature.net
- Marineland Stealth heater (Just found out they were recalled so may have to look for other options)
- TOM 45gph internal aquarium filter (I know it's underrated for this size tank, but I do frequent water changes and the sand & background make the tank volume just a little more than 6 gallons)
- Pool Filter Sand Substrate from Leslie's Pool Supplies
- 26 Whales Eye Shells purchased on eBay
Tank Stocking:
- 2 Males Neolamprologus Multifasciatus 'Mbita'
- 5 Female Neolamprologus Multifasciatus 'Mbita'
Tank Chemistry as of today:
- pH: ~7.6 (need to buy a better/more accurate kit)
- Ammonia: 0.0 ppm
- Nitrite: 0.0 ppm
- Nitrate: 0.0 ppm
1 hour timelapse video one day after I put them in the tank. Notice how skittish they are.
- EDIT: I can't post more than 1 video so here's a link to the video
2 hour timelapse video four days after I put them in the tank. Notice how much more active they are.
[video=youtube;kHfxEWjZUsk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHfxEWjZUsk[/video]
Cutting the background to size with a handsaw and sandpaper:
Acclimating the fish from a local breeder:
2 Males:
5 Females:
Other pictures:
Final notes:
- Haven't seen much digging of the substrate yet. Maybe it's a comfortability issue.
- Couldn't be happier with the stock. Received from: www.girlvirgo.com - Not sure if she's a member or not, but if she is shout out to you!
- Still looking to put together the money to invest in a new heater, better filter, and proper lighting.
- The fish haven't been eating as well as I thought. They don't really go for the high quality flake so maybe I'll go the store and pick up some frozen bloodworms.
- Will be on the lookout for fry! My last colony took 3 weeks to produce fry. Hopefully it won't take that long for these guys!
I hope you like my progress so far. It feels great getting back into the fishkeeping hobby! I will try to keep this journal updated as much as possible.
