So Excited! 1st Trophs coming from Cichlids & Herps

[catstoy66]

Hello All! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I've been a member & long-time lurker lol. I've learned so much from everyone here & now I'm very excited to say I'm about to join you as a keeper of these amazing fish! 

I've spent the last year here reading, researching, learning and getting my setup ready & saving!!   and now my little guys are on the way from Alison at Cichlids & Herps. Thanks to my husband's Christmas gift I have 25 Ndole Bay Reds coming! 

Hopefully I won't drive y'all crazy with questions & needing help! LOL ... please don't kick me out of the club

Thank you all for everything you've shown & taught me so far! 

Happy New Year to Everyone! ~ Cat

[...]

Hey Cat thanks for coming out into the light...looking forward to seeing your new ndole group...nice gift from your man...awesome mate...we're here to assist with any questions you have...and to enjoy watching your group develop as you keep regular updates with the TAM community 👍

[catstoy66]

Thanks for the kind welcome! Yes, it was a great gift from a pretty great guy. Now the frustrating wait begins...lol

[...]

Ha ha, yes, let the wait begin. When do your fish arrive? Can you tell us about your set up...tank dimensions, filtration, lighting, sustrate, aquascape planning, etc??

[catstoy66]

I thought you'd never ask LOL because I'd love your opinion (and yes, reassurance!) that I'm as prepared as can be.  Hopefully per Alison my fish should arrive tomorrow, Weds.

I've attached a not so flattering cell ph pic of my tank. It's a 75gal. I've used approx 1in bottom PFS then 2in Aragonite on top for substrate. I'm running 3 filters: Fluval 406 & Marineland 220 plus a 5in diameter sponge filter. I also have sponges cut to cover the intakes on my canisters. Both canisters are a mix of mechanical & biomatrix (ie: crushed coral, Purigen, bioballs, Matrix & sponges in top for some polishing).  There are 2 300watt heaters for redundancy keeping my tank steady at 79 degrees.

I've got a Hydor Koralia 1150gph circ pump & control system but I don't have it in there yet because I'm afraid I went a little too strong on the gph for a 75gal LOL, what do you think?

My tank parameters are:
kh - 18
gh - 11
pH - 8.2 (wish that were some higher but that's right out of the tap)
Ammo & Nitrites - 0
Nitrates  - 20 ppm

I've got 500 gr Metro powder on hand, Epsom, etc... I have Cobalt Spiralina flakes to pulverize until they get a bit bigger then Danichi Veggie FX small size.

Am I missing anything? Should I change anything up? Does the rock work look okay? I'm an excited basket case!!

Thanks so much! Cat

[finadic]

Nice setup. Sounds like you covered all the bases, now it time to enjoy them. Cheers

[catstoy66]

Thanks Finadic! I sure hope so...

[...]

Your set up looks great Cat! Love the way you placed the rock scape, very natural looking...the only thing missing is the Ndole!!
You have certainly done your research and you are more than ready to launch into your 1st Troph's experience.
Maybe start a thread in the troph variants section and keep us updated with pics & vids of your groups progress plz mate!
Thanks for including us in your journey. We're excited for you!

[riftwater]

Very nice, you clearly have done your research.

[catstoy66]

Thank you all for the great feedback & support! Yes, I'll certainly do that (start a thread in the Variants section) to share my experiences, pics & even try my hand with some vids.    I appreciate it so much & feel a lot less anxious about doing something wrong knowing I've got such a knowledgeable & kind group to reach out to for help & support!

More to come tomorrow... they are scheduled to arrive between 9:30 - 10:30am. It's gonna be hard to sleep tonight, for sure!