From: mattk@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (matthew.kaufman)
Subject: Re: Another Beginner's Questions
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 13:51:11 GMT

In article <65987@hydra.gatech.EDU> dc37@prism.gatech.EDU (COLLINS,DONALD J) writes:
>I am currently in the process of setting up my first tank since I was a 
>kid.  I would like to get suggestions from you guys on a couple of things.
>The equipment I have so far consists of:
>1) 45L tank (45 gallons 48"x12" surface)
>2) Eheim 2215
>   From bottom to top, medium
>     Efimech (small ceramic tubes)
>     Efifix  (Easter Grass)
>     Chemipure
Fie on voodoo concoctions of peat moss on carbon. Use Ehfisubstrat or 
good quality crushed lava rock for biological filtration. This stuff needs
regular replacement and is merely a checmical filter.
>     Efisynth (Polyester fiber wad)
>3) 2 100 Watt Visitherm Heaters
Visitherms are routinely trashed here as having incaccurate settings e.g.
set it at 72, you get 72, set it at 73, you get 80, etc. etc.
>
>I would like to set up a FW tank with african ciclids, a catfish, and some
>dither fish.
If you want the fish to successfully breed, no catfish - it'll eat
the fry, unless its a wimpy catfish like a corydoras, which should
be kept in schools and *not* in african cichlid tanks!
You probably don't need dithers, either, don't believe the myths about
rainbowfish and suchlike being good dithers - cichlids do fine without
dithers, once they get use to you and the schedule. Some sort of
covering on the surface like floating plants is about all that's needed.


>
>My questions are:
>
>1)  How many fish can I have?  I have gotten estimates from "1 pair of ciclids
>    + 5-6 dither fish + a catfish" to "Oh you should get at least 40 ciclids
>    and thats all"
Depends. Wanna do 50% water changes every day or so? You can probably then
keep the latter. Get the tetra fishkeepers guide books by Loiselle
and his 'cichlid aquarium' they have good pointers.
>
>2)  Do I need an UGF?  Boy all sorts of answers on that one too! From "ciclids
>    dig too much for a UGF and they're bad anyway, I never run them."  to 
>    "I have lots of tanks and you do need one."  Will my Eheim 2215 not be
>    enough?
It probably will be enough, but I like hang-on-back power filters with
my canisters as I've found the canisters make great biological filters but
not so great mechanical filters (probably don't clean them enough :-)
I like aquaclears, an AQ 300 is a good filter size for this tank.
>
>3)  Someone said that for African ciclids to use crushed coral gravel, any
>    comments?  One book said that no crushed coral should be used in FW.
Depends on the hardness of your water  - if you have hard, alkaline
water with a high degree of carbonate hardness, you don't need crushed coral
for the rift lake species. If you're keeping west african riverine
cichlids, they like soft water.
>
>4)  In a related question to 2, if I do get a UGF in addition to the Eheim
>    do I need power heads or just air to run them?  Also, can I somehow run the 
>    water from the UGF through the Eheim to filter the dirt, etc from
>    under the gravel better?
UGF, fie. Don't bother.
>
>5)  Does anyone have any suggestions on good test kits for a beginner?  I
>    would like to test enough to be able to correct problems but I don't
>    want to over do it.  i.e. should I be testing ammonia, nitrites, nitrates,
>    and ph or do I need to test more or less than these.
Ammonia nitrite nitrate, eventually once the filters break in you'll
be testing nitrate only. pH not reallly - once the water's hard enough
it should stabilize. 
>
>6)  Does any one have any of the optional Eheim equipment for the filter
>    they would recommend.  I have two double isolating valves.  What about
>    the prefilter or the airator that you can get.  I saw some info on the
>    surface extractor--does it really improve water quality that much?  I
>    considered placing a sponge on the intake for the Eheim for both a pre-
>    filter and a biological filter--will this work?  Finally, what about
>    the biological filter mediums for the Eheim--If they are good how much
>    do I need to get?  Will this affect my need for an UGF?
I have various eheim thingies - I like the airators better than spraybars
because they seem more manageable. I have surface extractors I inherited
that someday I'll hook up because they look like a good idea, but the
surface stuff isn't so much of an issue with the aquaclears. Get some
biological media, don't get a UGF.
>
>7)  How many inches of each filter material do you suggest in the Eheim, and
>    In what order should I place them?
Ohh, couple inches of noodles on the bottom, then the easter crass,
then a fair amount of biological media, then an inch or so of ehfisynth -
I find I like a lot of unreplaceable media and not so much ehfisynth.

Don't forget the basics like a thermometer. If you can run your
filter on a friend's establish, healthy, hopefully crowded tank for
a week or two (yes, that long), it'll make setting your tank up easier.
Also, 1tsp/gallon of marine salt mix seems to make african rift lake cichlids
real happy (good colors, breed like crazy...)
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