New Tank 1 month after starting fish and plants

Hello everyone. I recently set up a 150 g tank. I thought I cycled it
correctly, but just completed a 10 day ammonia hell. Little loss of
life, except mine almost (wife due to time I spent trying to fix the
problem). I am putting down what I have because I would love to get
anyones thoughts. Particularly if you have had a bad experience with
the mix I have or just want to tell me I'm an idiot for doing it this
way! Of course, time will tell how things work out. So, here is what I
have so far. I'm pretty happy with this mix and will probably let them
grow up without more additions other than adding a few more to the
species that only have a couple. I know there are a varied mix of
aggressive to non-aggressive. Here's the fish I have at present with
numbers in parentheses.

L. ceruleus (4), M. estherae (6), M. callainois (6), M. lombardoi, i
think (3), M. auratus (4), P. crabo (3), , A. Jacobfreibergi (2),
albino unknowns (2) S. eupterus (1), S. nigriventris (4), and
Gyrinocheilus aymonieri (1).

The tank has AC sand for substrate with lots of rocks and driftwood
for hiding, caves and a moderate amount of live plants.

I have a couple questions about unknowns too. Please see pictures
below. There are a couple pics of a striped and marbled fish that i
think is M. lombardoi, but not sure. Not sure about the two albinos.
The blue one appears to be a male auratus or johanni. The rest are
just pictures I thought were cool. Sorry quality is not too good, just
my phone.
Thanks for your time.
Rich

I like it

Being a New World/river and stream addict have no idea about the compatibility of its denizens but it looks pretty good. Any chemistry issues you have should clarify going forward as the bacteria get established assuming you've got enough filtration - read as adequate water flow across ample surface area for bacteria to colonize.

Never liked the term "cycling a tank" - something so simple shouldn't be communicated as misleading and nebulous gobbledygook.

Just a few things:

very pretty tank.
can't comment on the mbuna mix too much, but my guess is that you're probably OK while they're small, but I think you have some bruisers in there that might not play well with others when they get bigger. Seems like you also have such a mix that you might end up with cross-breeding issues, so I'd say you really wouldn't be able to sell fry from this tank with any certainty.

Also, lots of wood "tends" to drop the pH and thus is not usually used with African tanks. I do have a piece in my peacock tank and I've not had any trouble. but you might monitor your pH just to be sure it stays high enough.

Also, I might look at your large rock arrangement again. You don't have as many caves and pass-throughs or hidely holes as I'd personally like to provide. But maybe that's just from the perspectve of the camera.

I personally like anubias in AFrican tanks. I think it looks authentic and usually lasts OK. Mine do get nibbled on a bit, but nothing major.

Good luck!

hollyfish2000 said:

Just a few things:

very pretty tank.
can't comment on the mbuna mix too much, but my guess is that you're probably OK while they're small, but I think you have some bruisers in there that might not play well with others when they get bigger. Seems like you also have such a mix that you might end up with cross-breeding issues, so I'd say you really wouldn't be able to sell fry from this tank with any certainty.

Also, lots of wood "tends" to drop the pH and thus is not usually used with African tanks. I do have a piece in my peacock tank and I've not had any trouble. but you might monitor your pH just to be sure it stays high enough.

Also, I might look at your large rock arrangement again. You don't have as many caves and pass-throughs or hidely holes as I'd personally like to provide. But maybe that's just from the perspectve of the camera.

I personally like anubias in AFrican tanks. I think it looks authentic and usually lasts OK. Mine do get nibbled on a bit, but nothing major.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you for those comments!
So far the pH is staying up nicely, probably due to all the sand.
I agree with the hiding spots/caves. However, camera angle doesn't reflect that the rocks are spaced back from the inside wall so there is room to swim behind and within all the rocks along the wall.
The anubia and ferns are doing well. The wisteria is too.
Overall, I know this mix may not last, but I wanted to try by growing them up together.
Take care and happy holidays.
Rich

For a Mbuna show tank, on a rating of 1-5, I give it a 10!
Very nice.
The Bumblebee's, Kenyi and "Unknown" Albinos worry me, but the tank is really sharp!
Stick with this forum/club and you will be able to fill that tank up with some really nice lines of Malawi.

I hear ya. Hoping they do ok being brought up together, but will definitely be watching closely to remove them if need be.
Rich

fischfan13 said:

For a Mbuna show tank, on a rating of 1-5, I give it a 10!
Very nice.
The Bumblebee's, Kenyi and "Unknown" Albinos worry me, but the tank is really sharp!
Stick with this forum/club and you will be able to fill that tank up with some really nice lines of Malawi.

Click to expand...

Nice setup! Good luck with it.