Setting up a 180 gallon Troph tank - advise

[Lawsman]

Okay, so I got this 180gallon the other day. Not hooked up yet, but will be soon.

Need to know about how many Troph's I can safely keep in the 180? need to budget my $ now. I was thinking Ilangi, but we shall see.

Filtration:

Fluval FX5
Amiracle Wet/Dry with Mag 5
Substrate- Cichlid Sand-Eco Complete

Suggestions?

Also, is it okay to keep a Synodontis with Troph's?

[CichlidFan]

Well, my thoughts would be to up the filtration a bit...and the mag 5 will be a bit small...I am thinking about a Mag18 .....maybe add a AQ110 or a second FX5 ....

Petricolas make nice tank mates but might pick off a newly spit fry once in a while....

I'm sure others will be able to offer more/better advice...

CF

[cichlid1409]

+1 on getting a bigger mag drive for your 180. then put about 40 trophs in there.

[jeebus]

+2 on the bigger pump. Depending on the size of your OFB you could go as large as a mag18, but most likely a mag12.

I wouldn't put more than 60 adult fish in a 180, but that's just my personal preference/opinion.

[Gene D]

Geoff once posted something about stocking levels for tropheus but I can't find it now for the life of me.

Ok I found the orignal post and this refered to 4 foot tanks

If I am not mistaken he said 15 fish per the first 50 gallons and then Y per X gallons after that.

What he said was 12-14 fish in the first 55 gallons and then add 1 fish for every 6-7 over the first 55 gallons

Maybe he will be kind enough to reply to this thread and fill in X and Y for a 6 ft tank

[Lawsman]

Yeah, the Y and X would be good.

I'm not sure my Amiracle can handle the GPH we are talking here?

Didn't someone say shoot for 6-10 tank volume change per hour?

So, 6 X 180 = 1,080 GPH min., 10 x 180 =1,800 GPH max.

FX5 has rating of 260 GPH with media

So, yeah I need another 820 GPH. Perhaps go with 2 mag 5's since I have them already. That will get me close?

[CichlidFan]

I believe you still might want to step up in size with the pump.....mag 5's and any other pump for that matter, lose pumping power as they push water up and over the back of the tank, so if a Mag5 is rated at say...300 gph....that is for level water movement, when you push water up against gravity, it will lose pumping power the higher it has to pump the water.....a mag5 pumping up 4 and a half feet may only pump 90 gallons per hour.....the actual numbers will probably be higher, but I think you get the point.....

Step in to a Mag 12 or better for lifting water up over 4 feet or more....

CF

[Lawsman]

CF,

Yeah, I think the mag 5 is rated for 500 GPH at 0 feet of "head" (ft). I think they are rated for something like 250-300 GPH at 5 Ft of head?

[CichlidFan]

Cool....so you are aware of the loss in "pushing" power, so if you had 600 GPH coming down, you want the same or more going back up.....sometimes I will add an extra Utube on the intake overflow box to increase the flow to keep up with the return pump........anyway...your' on the right track...it's better to go above and beyond when keeping trophs.....good luck...

CF

[Lawsman]

Thanks for the reply's. Will increase pump size in my Wet/dry. I don't have the overflow/skimmer box anymore. Any recommendations on good skimmer boxes?

I used the old U-tube type and remember the hassle of getting the flow started and keeping the air out of the top of the U bend? Was a Pain to deal with and it was noisy too?

[Zulaab]

CPR units you can buy a aqualifter which will remove all the air out of the overflow box.

http://www.marinedepot.com/overflow_boxes_cpr-ap.html

(remember to buy the aqualifter separately.)

Eshopps units

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+18358&pcatid=18358

(when space behind the tank is at a premium)

[Chris Derrick]

I run the Eshopps and have zero air bubbles or problems with mine! I also run a Mag 10 and this running wide open is about all my two U-tubes will flow!

[TROPHS4LIFE]

sounds like you been taken care of lol,60 adults max as already mentioned,also anything less than 40 would look kinda funny,with trophs just remember,constancy in feedings and WC's,lots of flow and filtration,and the most important numbers................
Chad

[billansor]

Are you going to add any water movers like sunsun or korilia or vortech wave makers???

That will help a wee bit too

Bill

[geoff_tropheus]

You need minimally 3-4 turnover rate in your wetdry to keep your bacteria optimized for the size it is rated for.

I really like the FX5's a lot. On a 180 gallon tank, I would do 2 of them, and then add a jet pump rated for atleast 2000gph.

In 6ft tanks with the proper filtration rate for Tropheus...

20 fish per 60 gallons is the max I would do.

I think the ideal setup for a single colony tropheus tank is 30 fish in a 125 gallon tank.