July '12 - Junior Gorski's 760 L African Cichlid Aquarium. (Brazil)

Once again we have the oportunity to appreciate the result of an experienced and dedicated African cichlid keeper when he's willing to take that extra step with the tank decoration, in this case an extremely well made styrofoam backdrop!

Owner:	Junior Gorski, 38, from Curitiba (Brazil), 24 years of fishkeeping.
Setup:	October 2011.
Dimensions:	230x55x60 cm.
Volume:	760 L (nominal), 680 L (effective).
Filtration:	220 L sump with 15 kg of Cubos Bio-Glass + 1 L of SERA Siporax; 6000 L/h water pump.
Lighting:	4x30 W compact fluorescents, 12 hours a day.
Heating:	Elite Titanium 500 W.
Substrate:	Pool filter sand (100 kg).
Decoration:	DIY styrofoam backdrop + rocks.
Others:	2x2000 L/h Sarlo Better internal circulation pumps.
Water:	Temp 25°C, pH 8.5, KH 11, GH 9.
Maintenance:	30% weekly water changes.
Fauna:	About 60 assorted African cichlids, 3 Labidocromis caeruleus of which I've had for about 6 years.
Flora:	None.
Comments:	This setup represents to me my love for African cichlids. I've been keeping and breeding them for more than 22 years, of course nowadays it's more of keeping. I used to have water tanks with fry and 12 aquariums setup, until about 7 years ago I suffered a CVA (actually 3) which left me out of the hobby for a year and my tanks and fry were sold or given away. After becoming active again I tried a little of everything: planted tanks, discus, even marine tanks, but these cichlids are still my greatest love in the hobby.

If you'd like to submit an aquarium for Tank of the Month, just contact me.

An aquarium this size will inevitably dominate a room

Small sampling of the many assorted cichlids in the tank

Details of the beautiful backdrop preparation

Photos taken by Junior Gorski and displayed here with his permission.