# Back In The Game



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

was out of the hobby for about a year and finally picked up another tank , nothing too major its a 68 gallon tank 72x18x12 its the perfect footprint for what i will be keeping, the tank is 2 weeks old it came drilled with tops and a flimsy pine stand but the best thing i got with the deal was a 6 foot current usa metal halide fixture which i will be hanging from the ceiling, a bit overkill for freshwater but im happy. the tank had a sump set up but i decided to plug it instead and run a fx5 because it will be next to my bed and the sump is way too loud. these pics were taken by the dude i bought it from, right now the tank is in the process of getting the back painted black and the stand has primer on it and will be painte black also. picked up some play sand from home depot it should look sweet when its all set up. will post some more pics as soon as i get everything together. oh i forgot about the fish... im looking for a wild colony of gold ocellatus that i will try breeding and i might put a divider and try to breed different varients of shell dwellers also.
all advice, opinions or whatever are welcome


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

congrats on the new pickup. its a pretty neat footprint.


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## TimmyTeam (Jun 20, 2003)

I had a trio of Lamprologus Ocellatus "Gold" in a 20 gallon tank. Very very very interesting fish, as soon as i put them in their tank they went to work excavating their shells. They bred prolifically, and took great care of their fry. I recommend at LEAST 2-3 shells per fish, as they are very territorial. Good luck, your gonna love them in that tank. I'd love to do a species only tank with these guys in a tank like that.


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## TJcali (Mar 27, 2009)

cool tank man very unique footprint indeed :laugh:


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

nice pick up, love the footprint! wet dry, wet dry, wet dry!


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## SirusX1721 (Oct 6, 2008)

Sweet deal! You could probably do a heck of a deal on the light to someone in SW/Reefer. Either way very nice! 72" long 68gal FTW lol.

Also I agree on thw etdry being very loud next to your bed. My SW tank upsets me at times due to the noise, but the filtration can't be beat. The FX5 is a very well made filter as well though. I can't wait to see this baby up and running!


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

just an update, tank is fully painted the stand still needs to be done.
i put the tank on the stand just to get an idea.
also been thinking about getting a few Lepidiolamprologus Nkambae insted of the ocellatus or maybe put a divider and keep both.


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## Avatar~God (Oct 21, 2004)

That tank is so deceiving, looks much larger than a 68 gallon haha. Looks sharp man


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

ready to be set up in my room, and start cycling. 
anyone have any idea how i should go about hanging the light off the ceiling?


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

Current fixtures usually come with these hanging kits
MarineDepot


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

xeloR said:


> Current fixtures usually come with these hanging kits
> MarineDepot


so do i have to buy 2 or just 1?


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

the tank is finally in my room and all set up, i need some more play sand and the light still needs to be hung up, i ordered the hanging kit (thanks xelor). as soon as i get some more sand i will start filling.
the shitty iphone pic really doesnt do this tank any justice.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

threw on my old 4 foot light just to see what it looks like and i really like it, might just sell the metal halide its wayyy overkill anyway.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

looking good







the tank does look alot longer than it actually is. gonna see if i can pick up a similar footprint down at my lfs.


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

Nice pick up and it does look alot larger than 68.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

water is in, i cant wait till the cloudiness is gone.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

finally picked up some rocks, went to a landscaping place to a guy i know and got 30 pounds of black lava.
i think it looks way sweeter then my old brownish lava rock. will be going back to get some more because one of the sides looks a little empty. im usually very dissapointed with most of the rockwork i do but im very happy with this one. the water is a little cloudy from moving the sand around.
the tank has 6 danios for the cycle by the way.


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2010)

DAMN.

Now that's how you get a good start right there. I must say the sump would keep me awake, but obviously its no problem for you.

Awesome job man. Will be keeping up with this thread for sure.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

Mr. Lahey said:


> DAMN.
> 
> Now that's how you get a good start right there. I must say the sump would keep me awake, but obviously its no problem for you.
> 
> Awesome job man. Will be keeping up with this thread for sure.


I agree that's why I switched over to a fx5, not loud at all once it gets settled and burps up all the bubbles. I forgot to mention I'm not doin shell dwellers no more but I will go with larger more aggressive tanganyikans. I'm telling you if u switch over to tangs u will get hooked and will stick to them for a while.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

Very nice work sapir. its looking spiffingly good old chum.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

His Majesty said:


> Very nice work sapir. *its looking spiffingly good old chum*.


Jesus HM, does this post come with a cup of tea?


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

a little update, i ended up selling the metal halides so i can buy some fish.
the fish i ordered arent the shell dwellers i originally planned, but theyre from tanganyika also.
i ordered 4 f1 lepidiolamprologus nkambae, 4 f1 lepidiolamprologus mimicus, a pair of wc neolamprologus sexfasciastus, and 3 wc synodontis dhonti. hoping to get a pair of both lepidio species in the future so i can add a pair of lemairii. the tank doesnt have a heater atm so i ordered the hydor theo 300watt hopefully its a good heater since i never used that one before. i will update as soon as i recieve the fish.
i know the pic is sh*t but thats the best i can do with an iphone.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

added more rocks to the empty side, cant wait to get my fish tomorrow


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

liking this setup very much indeed. gonna look even better with the fish in it


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## Murphy18 (Oct 17, 2008)

Thats looking very good Sapir, i really like that lava rock. And those dimensions certainly are odd but it looks great


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

That's such a sweet footprint. I really like shallow tanks like that! The saltwater setup I had was only 12" high too.
Keep us updated!


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

got out of school today and headed straight to the air port, the flight was delayed by an hour no biggie. 
floated the bags and dropped in the fish, the pics are from the first couple minutes they were in the tank, the mimicus already ate two of the danios. lightning fast fish. need to take some of the s. dhonti, the fish are stressed right now so the colors will only get better.
will take some better pics on a real camera this is all i have for now.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

some more


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## rhom15 (Dec 20, 2009)

nice tank there looking good







would love one in my room wife says no way


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

splendid looking tank sapir. im digging the white sand and lava rock. really looks like a SW setup than a FW. but it goes well together.


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## NakedSavage (Apr 9, 2008)

wow man that looks great! ive never seen that footprint b4 but i love it, i want one... and the rock looks really nice too.


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

thanks for the compliments guys


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## Devon Amazon (Apr 3, 2005)

Looks great....good work


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

taken with a decent camera, the little guys still have a lot of coloring up to do.


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## Guest (May 7, 2010)

Dang







Sure turned out nice


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Lookin great man


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

That looks great


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

Huge fan of this setup


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

thanks guys








i just got back in the hobby with this tank and im already considering picking up another, its a 48Lx24Dx17H but only problem its has a chip on the glass, would you take the risk? the guy said it held water for 30 days


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## zig (Oct 7, 2005)

tanks looking good
wheres the chip on the tank


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

zig said:


> tanks looking good
> wheres the chip on the tank


in the upper corner, on a good note i found a tank thats 48x24x12 brand new with lids for $79 from a lfs.
that is the next tank i will pick when these guys grow larger and more dominant.


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## TheSpaz13 (Apr 9, 2010)

Thats a wild tank man...looks good


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## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

picked up an ac110 today that i will add to the fx5, going to put it on the tank this weekend after a water change also gonna be adding rocks and redoing the scapeing.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

Tank looks great. I cant believe how big it looks for a 68 gallon. Looks alot bigger than my 75! You are going to love your fx5. I have an fx4 on my tank and you literally can not hear it at all. Such a nice change from the hang on filters I used to use.

Are those bumblebee cichlids? I had a breeding pair in my tank but had to sell all my fish when I moved. Your fish really look great. Nice colorings already.


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