The Cichlid Room Tour

The Cichlid Room Tour presents:

Room spec.

Owner:
Viktor Sundberg of Gothenburg, Sweden

Amount of tanks and tank sizes:
26 tanks divided in the following way: 2x540, 1x500, 1x250, 4x222, 2x198, 6x100, 2x65, 8x54

Racks:
Mainly home made wooden racks painted a dark shade of brown.

Heating:
The room heating is sufficient and a fan circulates the air making sure the temperature is equal from the floor to the ceiling.

Lighting:
Ambient room lighting from noon. Individual aquarium lighting only for four hours from 7pm to 11pm.

Filtration:
All tanks have overdimensioned blue filter sponges with either a EHEIM, Aquaclear or Project power head behind them. The eight smallest fry tanks are run by a Resun LP-40 membrane air pump.

Electric installation:
Two cables in a series, one for pumps, one for lighting. Welcome to amature hour. Works though.

Flooring:
Cement floor, painted a light shade of grey.

Substrate:
Industrial blast sand (silversand) in all but two aquariums.

Interiors, (plants rock work):
A stone here, a stone there. Some pipes and roof tiles. Not a single plant.

What could have been done better?
I could have installed an automatic water changing system but didn’t (and still don’t) think it’s worth it. Also, there are quite a lot of things I could have done better if I had an unlimited amount of money, for example more symetrical tanks sizes and racks. I am happy with what I have though. I could also have easily squeezed in 1000 more litres of water, but it would not have been as cozy and the maintenance would have been more complicated and time consuming. The next step is to hide the sloppy electrical job and work on the aquarium interiors (more stones).

Do you have a show tank in your livingroom?
Yes, I have a Malawi tank with some Sciaenochromis fryeri, Labeotropheus trewavasae from Tundu Rocks, Metriaclima estherae from Minos Reef and some
wild caught Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos from Likoma.

Fish

What cichlids do you keep?

Malawi:
Astatotilapia calliptera
Aulonocara sp. "röd rubin"
Aulonocara stuartgranti, Hai Reef
Aulonocara stuartgranti, Ntumba
Aulonocara sp. "stuartgranti maleri"
Copadichromis borleyi, Kadango
Copadichromis sp. "mloto fluorescent"
Cyrtocara moorii
Dimidiochromis compressiceps
Labeotropheus trewavasae, Thumbi West
Labeotropheus trewavasae, Tundu Rocks
Labidochromis caeruleus
Labidochromis sp. "hongi"
Labidochromis sp. "perlmutt"
Lethrinops lethrinus
Melanochromis auratus
Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos, Likoma
Metriaclima estherae, Minos Reef
Metriaclima lombardoi
Metriaclima sp. "zebra maisoni"
Nimbochromis livingstonii
Nimbochromis venustus
Placidochromis sp. "phenochilus tanzania"
Protomelas sp. "spilonotus tanzania"
Pseudotropheus sp. "polit"
Sciaenochromis fryeri
Tropheops sp. "chilumba"
Tropheops tropheops, Crocodile Rocks

Tanganyika:
Cyphotilapia frontosa, Burundi
Julidochromis regani, Kipili
Lamprologus ocellatus sp. "gold"
Neolamprologus gracilis
Tropheus moorii, Moliro

Your favourite fish in the room and why? (only one individual)
My Aulonocara sp. "stuartgranti" male is very cool with his 10 females. He dominates the tank in a mafia inspired way. He hardly ever strikes, but when he does, it is swift and effective.

Last fish purchased:
Tropheus moorii, Moliro

Nr. 1. on your wish list:
Chilotilapia euchilus

Maintenance

Waterchange frequency:
50% weekly.

Method of waterchanges:
A large diameter hose with some special modifications added.

Smart gadgets to help working the room:
The pepper grinder for grinding pellets for fry is excellent!

Foods for fry and grown fish:
Shrimp mix for everyone! High quality pellets when lazy.

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