Over my head?

[lindabee53]

My former boss has offered me a 65-gallon tank, all fitted out, with a bunch of cichlids.  It used to belong to his son, who passed a couple of years ago.  He's been keeping it up, but doesn't enjoy it and can't find anyone to take any of it off his hands.  He hadn't offered it to me before now because he thought I was going to do a saltwater aquarium.  Seriously, that is so far out of my league!

So, is this something I could handle?  I've never had anything larger than a 29 and know nothing about cichlids, not that I know all that much about non-cichlids.  I'll be on-calling for him again on Monday, and I'd like to be able to discuss this intelligently.

Back to the couch to deal with the side effects (fairly mild - headache and low-grade fever) of either the flu shot or the booster.  AC YouTube videos coming up.

[Guppysnail]

I wish you a speedy recovery. As far as handling the tank. If you are physically and financially capable of caring for the tank. AND it is something  you WANT then I would say yes. You are here and this forum is probably the largest combine experience based knowledge you can find to get through it. If you are only a little interested in the tank the maintenance may make you dislike it. The fish if they do not mesh with you can be adopted out.  I have never kept cichlids so do not know how extensive their care may be. Do you know what type of cichlids. Folks here could give you more detail.  

[Colu]

Do you no what type of Cichlids they are 

[Patrick_G]

I kept all different kinds of Cichlids when I was a teen-early 20s. They’re still one of my favorite fish, but their general incompatibility with plants has steered me away this time around. What I loved is the bright colors of the Africans and the generally fascinating personalities of  them all. Like @Guppysnailmentioned, find out what type they are and how many there are. 

[Jawjagrrl]

I certainly wouldn't be intimidated by the larger tank aspect - in fact it's much easier to keep your water parameters stable with more water. I started with a 55 for this reason. Cichlids have so much personality and many of the Africans (some of the SA too) have color to rival saltwater tanks. I really enjoyed them a lot, and they were the 1st fish I ever kept. 
 

I'd say personally go for it if you are up to tank maintenance. Your water should be perfect (they love that liquid rock!) and an established group should have minimal aggression issues since they've been together for so long. So many experienced people here would be happy to help whenever needed. 😄 You can always shift into other fish later, but I can vouch for how entertaining cichlids are, you may be surprised!

Someone local to me was selling a 100gal setup with their cichlids for an amazing deal just before my birthday and I thought my husband was going to surprise me.... but no 😞 So the 55 plan continues to form as he gets more bonded with the fish in the 5gal next to the football chair, haha!

[Flumpweesel]

Don't forget to get the measurements and find out if your getting the stand as well.  It has to fit in the house somewhere where you'd want a tank 

Cichlids are really pretty and very popular so I'm sure you'll enjoy them. But do get numbers and if he doesn't know types some photos so you have a better idea of what it turning up.

 Feel better soon and this will be a nice thing to do if it is suitable for you. 

[lindabee53]

On 10/23/2021 at 1:15 PM, Guppysnail said:

I wish you a speedy recovery. As far as handling the tank. If you are physically and financially capable of caring for the tank. AND it is something  you WANT then I would say yes. You are here and this forum is probably the largest combine experience based knowledge you can find to get through it. If you are only a little interested in the tank the maintenance may make you dislike it. The fish if they do not mesh with you can be adopted out.  I have never kept cichlids so do not know how extensive their care may be. Do you know what type of cichlids. Folks here could give you more detail.  

Thanks for the good wishes - I slept for an hour and a half, and that isn't like me.  It's all good, or so my 34-year-old son told me.

I'm fascinated by the idea of a cichlid tank, but don't know what's involved.  And fascinated isn't the same as desperately want.  Is it a very expensive enterprise? If so, then I can't do it.  Not that I'm poor, but, of necessity, I budget everything to death.  All I really know is that the son had the aquarium for a few years before passing at 18.

For everyone who asked, I have no idea what kind of cichlids they are.  He said they're pretty.  You gotta remember, a teenage boy selected them.  For all I know, they're plastic.

I guess I'd better do some research.  Not today.

 

 

[Flumpweesel]

I suppose your biggest extra expense will be water and water conditioner depending on how you're charged for water anyway. 20% of 65gal is fair amount of water compared to a smaller set up.

As it is will be arriving with a filter it will depend on the type and make but aside from the power the canister filter I have on a similar size tank has been on the same media and sponges for the last 10 years. I just replaced the carbon with some spare gravel for increased biological. I snapped the priming handle one year but that has been all I've spent in it. 

I hear they can be greedy fish so that might need factoring.

Hope that gives you bits to think about while you're trying to work out the pros and cons of taking this on.

[lindabee53]

@Flumpweesel Thanks for the information.  It's helpful and I need that.

[Dan Hudock]

My experience with a cichlid tank (55gallon) was it was no big deal.  I used crushed coral as a substrate and had bought a lot of larger river rock so they could hide etc.  20% water change once a week would suffice.  They are very colorful fish!

I found it to be no different than running any other aquarium.  Make sure you have a stand (if the boss isn't giving it to you) that can hold that size of a tank.  I used a regular metal stand for a 55 gallon tank and even had over 300 pounds of river rock in it with no problems.  I bought the river rock at a local landscaping company.  They charged me $5 a five gallon bucket and I believe I had 4 of them.

[Jawjagrrl]

On 10/23/2021 at 4:23 PM, lindabee53 said:

Is it a very expensive enterprise? If so, then I can't do it.

For everyone who asked, I have no idea what kind of cichlids they are.

I don't think there would be much additional expense, especially if you are using well water that you aren't having to treat with dechorinator. Filtration doesn't have to break the bank either. They will eat more than small fish of course, but I used to feed blanched veggies, peas in addition to pellets. 

I do hope you are feeling better. Perhaps he could snap a few pics of the fish to show you - most cichlids are pretty easy to Id (lots of help on here!) and since it was for a teen probably nothing really obscure. If it could fit in the space where you planned to have the 29, you could use it for quarantine, hospital, fry surpise tank 🙂

I was selling baby OB zebra cichlids every month for about $3 each... in 1997! It was store credit, but basically paid for my fish habit without any need for a fry tank - just caught them right out of the 55.

[lindabee53]

On 10/23/2021 at 6:31 PM, Jawjagrrl said:

I don't think there would be much additional expense, especially if you are using well water that you aren't having to treat with dechorinator. Filtration doesn't have to break the bank either. They will eat more than small fish of course, but I used to feed blanched veggies, peas in addition to pellets. 

I do hope you are feeling better. Perhaps he could snap a few pics of the fish to show you - most cichlids are pretty easy to Id (lots of help on here!) and since it was for a teen probably nothing really obscure. If it could fit in the space where you planned to have the 29, you could use it for quarantine, hospital, fry surpise tank 🙂

I was selling baby OB zebra cichlids every month for about $3 each... in 1997! It was store credit, but basically paid for my fish habit without any need for a fry tank - just caught them right out of the 55.

@Jawjagrrl More information - much appreciated!

I understand store credit to support a habit.  I used to do sample quilts in return for the fabrics I used.  When they were finished displaying, I carried them home.

[Jawjagrrl]

On 10/23/2021 at 7:49 PM, lindabee53 said:

@Jawjagrrl More information - much appreciated!

I understand store credit to support a habit.  I used to do sample quilts in return for the fabrics I used.  When they were finished displaying, I carried them home.

How cool! Quilting is about the one needlecraft I haven't explored over the years, really appreciate the craft/utility of it. Maybe this is the winter I finish crocheting the couch throw I started two Christmases ago. 

[lindabee53]

On 10/23/2021 at 7:11 PM, Jawjagrrl said:

How cool! Quilting is about the one needlecraft I haven't explored over the years, really appreciate the craft/utility of it. Maybe this is the winter I finish crocheting the couch throw I started two Christmases ago. 

Well, I do crochet, too.  If you lived closer, we could sit and crochet and look at our tanks!

[Jawjagrrl]

On 10/23/2021 at 9:53 PM, lindabee53 said:

Well, I do crochet, too.  If you lived closer, we could sit and crochet and look at our tanks!

sounds good for the BP 🙂 Right now we're watching bama/tenn football while kuhli loaches are doing gymnastics in the "trees" and generally annoying their pet betta 😄 Just saw one swim up top and literally slurp up a bloodworm he missed. So glad I got a group of them, they are quite active at all levels of the tank.

[lindabee53]

On 10/23/2021 at 9:01 PM, Jawjagrrl said:

sounds good for the BP 🙂 Right now we're watching bama/tenn football while kuhli loaches are doing gymnastics in the "trees" and generally annoying their pet betta 😄 Just saw one swim up top and literally slurp up a bloodworm he missed. So glad I got a group of them, they are quite active at all levels of the tank.

Okay, I'll show my ignorance:  what is BP?

That sounds so good!  Here everyone watches UT.  There are no Carolina fans, and they think burnt orange is the right color for orange, completely disregarding Tenn.  😉

Years ago, I had the same tank I'm setting up now and fish were active all over.  There were cory cats at the bottom, tetras in the middle, and my betta at the top.  I really enjoyed it.

[Jawjagrrl]

On 10/23/2021 at 11:12 PM, lindabee53 said:

Okay, I'll show my ignorance:  what is BP?

That sounds so good!  Here everyone watches UT.  There are no Carolina fans, and they think burnt orange is the right color for orange, completely disregarding Tenn.  😉

Years ago, I had the same tank I'm setting up now and fish were active all over.  There were cory cats at the bottom, tetras in the middle, and my betta at the top.  I really enjoyed it.

BP = Blood Pressure. An issue at our house that cats, dogs, chickens and fish usually help with - unless like today the chickens all get out while the chicken dog is also outside...

As far as football goes, we are an integrated house - an ACC grad and an SEC grad. As a Hokie, burnt orange is best 😉 but my spouse bleeds red, black and silver and stayed in college a 5th year in part because it was 1980 and Hershel Walker led the way to a national championship for UGA. We have a french bulldog named Sugar that thinks UGGA is her virtual boyfriend. 

But I have friends from many SEC and ACC schools, Tennessee included. Heck, I've even flatfooted to Rockytop at a friends' wedding once. I've chomped with Gators, hooked horns, and endured my Mom's crush on Lou Holtz when she was in SC. Now if the Braves can just seal the deal it will be a pretty good Saturday.

[lindabee53]

Thanks for the explanation.  Furred, feathered, and finned family are all great for BP.  I used to have cats, always rescues, but one is gone and my ex has taken custody of the other, a Maine Coon named Oscar.  He turned into an ankle cat after his brother, a strikingly tiny Siamese mix, passed, and one day I tripped and fell, cutting myself on a glass badly enough to require stitches.  My ex took him and he hasn't come home.  I do have visiting privileges.  😉

My family is multi-cultural, university-wise.  My youngest did a year as a Hokie before the Navy decided they had other plans for him.  I have three UNC kids, one UNC-Asheville, one Western Carolina, and one former Marine who started at UNC-A and quit, announcing that he could support a family far better as a mechanic than he ever would be able to as a teacher.  And that's just undergrad.  If you want masters and PhD's, it goes all over - University of Chicago, Georgetown University, Kent State, Yale. When you get into in-laws, we're all over the place.  I don't even keep up anymore!

My ex went to New Mexico State, but is a huge UT (Texas) fan.  I guess I'm lucky that none of our pets ever wanted to be friends, virtual or otherwise, with Beevo.

Okay, the only fish-related thing I see in this post is the reference to "finned family" in the first line.  I should quit now.

[Jawjagrrl]

On 10/24/2021 at 12:38 PM, lindabee53 said:

Okay, the only fish-related thing I see in this post is the reference to "finned family" in the first line.  I should quit now.

Man can't live by aquariums alone! My family academics are also spread all over. LSU, BAMA, VT, Auburn, WVU, Ohio State... and that's just Mom's side. I did my grad work in San Francisco while my sibling stayed in Virginia. Oh yeah, I have an out-law brother that went to UVA, so Thanksgiving is usually fun. But if I was 18 today I'd do a trade instead or nursing school. AI will probably soon overtake my former field. 

I've had vampire crabs on the brain ever since spotting that journal yesterday - found some amazing paladariums people have DIY'd for them on YT today. But it's time for tank maintenance! 

[lindabee53]

@Jawjagrrl I never finished college, but, as you say, academics are spread all over in my family.  It used to keep things fun during the holidays - all those games.

I had never even heard of a paladarium until I found this forum.  I've since found some incredible ones - it's fantastic what people can do.

I would do tank maintenance if I had anything to maintain, but I'm still at the making a mess stage.  Actually, I now have everything planted and have watched one plant melt away.  The driftwood has given the water a lovely weak tea tint, which is fine.  I've had a leaf floating around and decided it was okay.  This evening, I noticed what seems to be a root coming from it.

Have a great evening and work week, and that's for everyone, not just @Jawjagrrl.

[Jawjagrrl]

On 10/24/2021 at 10:43 PM, lindabee53 said:

@Jawjagrrl I never finished college, but, as you say, academics are spread all over in my family.  It used to keep things fun during the holidays - all those games.

I had never even heard of a paladarium until I found this forum.  I've since found some incredible ones - it's fantastic what people can do.

I would do tank maintenance if I had anything to maintain, but I'm still at the making a mess stage.  Actually, I now have everything planted and have watched one plant melt away.  The driftwood has given the water a lovely weak tea tint, which is fine.  I've had a leaf floating around and decided it was okay.  This evening, I noticed what seems to be a root coming from it.

Have a great evening and work week, and that's for everyone, not just @Jawjagrrl.

I dropped out during the thesis stage when it registered that the return on investment wasn't going to be there. No regrets.
"making a mess" stage can be fun too! I don't mind tea water at all, helps with those things where it's a stretch in harder water. I'm two months in on my tanks and still have some melting, but others have grown quite a bit already, like my moss from outside, the dwarf lily and the java fern.

Happy Monday everyone....

[lindabee53]

@Jawjagrrl My youngest quit his PhD at the thesis stage, too.  He decided that he just didn't want to write another one and wouldn't need it for what he wanted to do.  His life, his choice, no matter what my mother said.  😉

You know, much as I'd like to have fish, my tank isn't ready and I'm okay with that.  Things are moving pretty slowly, but they are moving. 

Are photos of your tanks in here somewhere?  I'd love to see them.  I should learn how to take photos and post them.

Just general information:  in my next life, I will be taller so I can reach over the top of my tank without getting a step stool out.

[lindabee53]

To everyone who offered support, encouragement, and information:  many thanks!

I have decided to pass on the cichlid tank.  I still think it sounds interesting, but it isn't what I want.  I want my small tank which is enough added work for me, but not so much that it'll cut into my reading, quilting, crocheting time.  Plus, I was just appointed to our town's Library Board of Trustees - not a prestigious position, trust me, but still a time sink.

So, no cichlids, and my boss is disappointed.  

[Guppysnail]

Congratulations on your new position!  Bigger is not always better. I think you made a wise choice. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Me too! I love my small tanks an multitudes of small fishes.