75 gallon Peninsula tank

[az]

Hello,

I am setting up a 75 gallon tank in my basement entertainment room. It will be set up peninsula style, as something of a room divider between my TV area and an area where I hope to have people over for board games and card games. I will drill the tank, build a bean animal overflow, and plumb it through the wall into a 55 gallon sump in the adjacent utility room. Tropheus are definitely near the top of my choices for inhabitants for this tank.

I have two questions/concerns about putting Tropheus in the proposed setup.

1. Will a peninsula style setup, with rocks piled in the middle of the tank, with both long sides of the tank open be stressful for Tropheus? I know lots of fish feel more secure with a background and places they can hide between it and cover. I have also read that Tropheus are out in the open a lot more than other cichlids, so I thought they might be a good option.

2. I have two cats that are EXTREMELY energetic, curious, playful, and strong willed. I am certain that they will love watching the fish. They also will be batting at the glass a lot, especially at first. They probably will back off a bit after a while but likely will not ever completely stop being fascinated by the tank. Again, no background to hide against, possibly exacerbating the stress of perceiving predators coming after them. Will the Trophs eventually get used to this and not be bothered by it? 

Thanks for the input,
AZ

[renoguy]

Trophs will be fine with the setup.... I would limit the rocks you put in... maybe a few small piles. Trophs really get used to the people or families around them.

[brianyelick]

Yeah I agree I keep very little in the way of rocks a couple piles. The more open space is good. But more important than your decor is making sure you keep your water nice and clean by filters and regular water changes. Also feeding a high quality vegetarian food is important. I use spirulina flakes along with a mix of northfin veggie and dainichi veggie fx for my pellets. Also I use northfin kelp wafers and rapashy super green. If you do things a similar way anyone will tell you you'll have success. As far as starting I would go with f1 tropheus as they are easier. Drew (mastifman) the moderator of this site has several awesome wild groups and has great fry and ships. Also lots of other experienced breeders do too.

Good luck and welcome to the forum

[az]

Thank you for the input.

I would definitely be going with F1 fish.

My plan is to filter the water from the display tank through filter socks in the sump to catch detrius, which can be removed easily and often (ideally daily, but a few times a week is more likely). I will build a good sized wet dry filter for bio filtration. Using a 55 as a sump should let me add an extra 20-30 gallons of water volume to the system.

I plan to have a 55 gallon drum of water in the utility room where the sump is, with a pump and heater to keep the water oxygenated and at the proper temp, ready to be pumped to the tank. There is a floor drain in the utility room as well, so getting a siphon going with a python will be simple. This relative ease of water changes should make large frequent water changes a piece of cake.

AZ

[mikevxr]

I think your fine - I have two cats who use one of the rooms I have a tank in - initially they showed interest but after a few days they lost interest now they occasionally sit on the hood for some heat but are not interested in my Tropheus.
With regards to fish , avoid wilds and buy the best quality you can find from a trustworthy source. I've bought F1s and TB and to be honest they were bought from trusted sources and you can't tell the difference. - the only difference I've noted is my F1s are more sensitive to changes in water conditions - whereas my TB are a lot more hardy. The important thing is buy fish from a recommended source and you won't go wrong.

[bkyln]

I think your setup will just do fine.. keep us posted