Returning to the hobby

[kid718]

Hello everyone. After an extended layoff from fish keeping, I am returning to the hobby. I inherited a free 125g tank (6'), stand, and fluval fx5, along with some reef lighting....all for free And so...I am back in the hobby.

I recently set the tank up. I went with 120 pounds of black tahitian moon sand, 1 250 watt heater, 1 300 watt heater (my room is a meat freezer in the summer lol), and so far, about 100 pounds of random rocks for decor/shelter. I am also using a 1050 gph powerhead for added circulation.

I will be going with Mbuna.

I have a few of questions. First, the only surface movement I have is from the fluval output, and the powerhead...nothing actually brakes the surface. Lots of movement of the surface, but it's never really broken. Being warm water fish, will the lack of surface braking cause a problem in terms of oxygen? Or will the movement of the surface suffice?

Secondly; I have filled a few media compartments in my fluval with crushed coral, but after set up, the PH was only 7.6. Neither the rocks I used, nor the sand provide any real buffering. Any other tricks to raise the ph? I just added some over the counter buffer, but would like something more stable.


Thirdly....I need advice on a nice stock for this tank, to avoid buying bad combos. It has been awhile for me, and even then, I was mainly into new world cichlids. I was considering a school of 6-8 clown loaches for bottom cleaning. Will they work well with the Mbuna, and the higher PH? If not, what is a good bottom feeder for a mbuna tank? And what would you advise as a stock? I once had an all yellow lab 90g tank that I loved...but it got boring lol.

Here are a couple of terrible pic of the tank as it sits. I need new lighting, and the outer glass is filthy from working with the tank all day.

[austings]

Glad you're getting back into the hobby. As far as the loaches go, mine do fine with my mbuna cichlids. Ive never seen them being chased, no nipped fins either. They all come to the top snd freely eat together.

I think your PH is fine at 7.6. That level wont hurt the loaches.

[BNoel21]

Well for stocking purposes if you can pick one must have fish we can help you out with what would go best with that fish.

As far as the water surface im not big fan of bubble strips but you could add one and be ok. I run a canister on my 125 with a powerhead, but I also have 2 hob filters to that help aggitate the surface

I thinkink your ph of 7.6 would work out fine. Just not perfect. The main thing about ph is keeping it consistant. If you have to keep adding in buffers to get the ph to raise it wont stay consistant and the fluxuation with hurt the fish were keeping it at 7.6 consistantly wont.

I have never kept loaches but a lot of us that keep african like have synodontis catfish as our cleanup crews and they also do a good job of fry control.