Thinking Of Changing From Tropical Community To Mbuna Or Tanganyikan

[kiriyama]

Thanks

I must admit I`m doing tha same old thing I always did with Tropicals, I keep wondering what I can do to make the tank look better

I`m hoping to take the leleupi back at the weekdn and I`ll definately add another calvus. The cross breeding thing did cross my mind as they`re pretty similar so I don`t think I`ll be adding a comp

Too true, just looking at mine just now and wondering where to postion the rocks and what other fish could I squeeze in there
I like the new avatar

 

[Proxo]

OH MY GOD!
I always wanted to set up a mbuna tank (elisew might remember my old topic) and i was pretty focused on setting up a mbuna tank.
But i think from reading this topic, I've changed my mind... It's going to be tangs, hopefully in the very near future too!!

Is it possible to have any other plecs in with tangs other then BN?
The Girlfriend is obsessed by plecs, if there's no chance - it's a good excuse for me to get yet another tank lol.

Anymore video links you can throw at me?

P.s that tank is the one i always have to pass on the way to my LFS,
It makes me sad i've no room for it Maybe it's time to knock some walls down

 

[kiriyama]

OH MY GOD!
I always wanted to set up a mbuna tank (elisew might remember my old topic) and i was pretty focused on setting up a mbuna tank.
But i think from reading this topic, I've changed my mind... It's going to be tangs, hopefully in the very near future too!!

Is it possible to have any other plecs in with tangs other then BN?
The Girlfriend is obsessed by plecs, if there's no chance - it's a good excuse for me to get yet another tank lol.

Anymore video links you can throw at me?

P.s that tank is the one i always have to pass on the way to my LFS,
It makes me sad i've no room for it Maybe it's time to knock some walls down

Have seen L137 "red violet bruno" in with tangs , aka Doresy, awesome looking plec I know gibbiceps(spelling) prefer the softer water but I have seen them in a tank with Tropheus, hope this helps

 

[elisew]

Too true, just looking at mine just now and wondering where to postion the rocks and what other fish could I squeeze in there
I like the new avatar

Are we just fussy do you think?

OH MY GOD!
I always wanted to set up a mbuna tank (elisew might remember my old topic) and i was pretty focused on setting up a mbuna tank.
But i think from reading this topic, I've changed my mind... It's going to be tangs, hopefully in the very near future too!!

Is it possible to have any other plecs in with tangs other then BN?
The Girlfriend is obsessed by plecs, if there's no chance - it's a good excuse for me to get yet another tank lol.

Anymore video links you can throw at me?

P.s that tank is the one i always have to pass on the way to my LFS,
It makes me sad i've no room for it Maybe it's time to knock some walls down

Ohhhhh, so we may just have another addition to the Tang Team??

I was a bit unsure about the plecs too because I had a clown plec in my tropical tank and really wanted to keep him. Unfortunately all the info led me to believe that the clown wasn`t right for the Tang tank so he`s now settled in one of my other tanks. I have 3 bn plecs in the Tang tank and they`re doing well, the leleupi have been bloody horrible to them and I saw one of the leleupi going for one of the plecs eyes yesterday

kiriyama and doresy would be able to help you more on the plec issue, I`ve just gone for the bn as I already had them. I will be adding a synodontis petricola to the tank just to give it a different look to seeing the plecs whizzing around

IF you do decide on the Tangs I personally don`t think you`ll be sorry. Do a search on youtube for Tanganyika, you should find some great setups and fish

 

[Proxo]

Yeah, at first i was really interested in mbuna
but from reading this topic & around the web i think i've changed my mind.

Mbuna seem a little bit too aggressive & abit of a hassle to get going & keep going,
dont get me wrong they're very nice fish and look awesome if you pull them off

but i have too much hassle with 'baby sitting' my green terrors to do it all again.

I dont mind BN plecs and would be happy with them, it's just the girlfriend likes the fancy ones
She was so upset when we lost a golden nugget a few month back, bless her.

Now all i must do is SAVE SAVE SAVE!!

 

[kiriyama]

Yeah, at first i was really interested in mbuna
but from reading this topic & around the web i think i've changed my mind.

Mbuna seem a little bit too aggressive & abit of a hassle to get going & keep going,
dont get me wrong they're very nice fish and look awesome if you pull them off

but i have too much hassle with 'baby sitting' my green terrors to do it all again.

I dont mind BN plecs and would be happy with them, it's just the girlfriend likes the fancy ones
She was so upset when we lost a golden nugget a few month back, bless her.

Now all i must do is SAVE SAVE SAVE!!

Maybe not very fancy, I just evicted this chap from the 20gall and put him in the fry tank, he's laying under a rock swishing his tail at the fry BN's are worth a look for a Tang tank

 

[elisew]

Hmm, not good news today.....my cyps are poorly and I`ve lost another one today so I`m now down to 7

I`ve been doing a lot of reading on the condition and symptoms and it appears they`re suffering from 'skinny disease'. Apparently this can be due to bad stock and seeing as I got them all from the same shop it appears that may well be the case. The poor things have gotten skinnier and it seems that whatever food I give them, they can`t even see it
Not sure where I stand on the issue or whether the guys at the shop have had any other customers with this problem but I`ll have to have a word with them at the weekend.

So, I now have to see if I can get some frozen cyclops (which they love apparently) from my nearest shop tomorrow in the hope that this will encourage them to eat and possibly help them to survive, but I`m not holding my breath

 

[Proxo]

Hmm, not good news today.....my cyps are poorly and I`ve lost another one today so I`m now down to 7

I`ve been doing a lot of reading on the condition and symptoms and it appears they`re suffering from 'skinny disease'. Apparently this can be due to bad stock and seeing as I got them all from the same shop it appears that may well be the case. The poor things have gotten skinnier and it seems that whatever food I give them, they can`t even see it
Not sure where I stand on the issue or whether the guys at the shop have had any other customers with this problem but I`ll have to have a word with them at the weekend.

So, I now have to see if I can get some frozen cyclops (which they love apparently) from my nearest shop tomorrow in the hope that this will encourage them to eat and possibly help them to survive, but I`m not holding my breath

I used to have a platy that got skinny, it used to just spit the food back out & never eat anything... this similair thing?
i always wondered what it was... sorry to hear about ur lose and problem too

Hope all will be well soon

 

[elisew]

Thanks Proxo, I`ve been wondering if there was something wrong with them because the water quality is spot on but they keep going skinny and dying

I`ll try them with some frozen cyclops then try worming them......it might work

 

[kiriyama]

Sorry to hear this is happening.
I wish I could help but I don't know much about cyps, what have you been feeding them so far ? I know they have tiny mouths so the cyclops is a good idea, zooplankton, I picked up a tub of brine shrimp flake and the fish went nuts for it, maybe worth a look.
Now I'm not a 100% on this but it may be worth finding out a bit more about but I think I remember reading somewhere that cyps and paracyps are sensitive to water chemistry, so rather than big water changes, smaller more frequent ones are easier on them
Hope this helps and hope you get this resolved be a shane to see any more losses, especially in such a cool tank

 

[elisew]

Sorry to hear this is happening.
I wish I could help but I don't know much about cyps, what have you been feeding them so far ? I know they have tiny mouths so the cyclops is a good idea, zooplankton, I picked up a tub of brine shrimp flake and the fish went nuts for it, maybe worth a look.
Now I'm not a 100% on this but it may be worth finding out a bit more about but I think I remember reading somewhere that cyps and paracyps are sensitive to water chemistry, so rather than big water changes, smaller more frequent ones are easier on them
Hope this helps and hope you get this resolved be a shane to see any more losses, especially in such a cool tank

Thanks, it`s really frustrating because I want to treat them and make them better now, no chance til the shops open tomorrow to try the cyclops though. I`ve been feeding a combination of flake, daphnia, decapsulated brine shrimp and bloodworm (the cyps don`t touch the bloodworm though). I always crush the flake for the cyps and make sure it sinks so they don`t have to gulp at the surface. It`s as if they can`t even see the food in front of their faces, either that or they ignore it because they just don`t want it.
I`m really, really hoping it doesn`t come to the point of having to cull them

I`ll see how they go with the cyclops, then worm them and then look at sorting smaller water changes. Fingers crossed

 

[kiriyama]

Sorry to hear this is happening.
I wish I could help but I don't know much about cyps, what have you been feeding them so far ? I know they have tiny mouths so the cyclops is a good idea, zooplankton, I picked up a tub of brine shrimp flake and the fish went nuts for it, maybe worth a look.
Now I'm not a 100% on this but it may be worth finding out a bit more about but I think I remember reading somewhere that cyps and paracyps are sensitive to water chemistry, so rather than big water changes, smaller more frequent ones are easier on them
Hope this helps and hope you get this resolved be a shane to see any more losses, especially in such a cool tank

Thanks, it`s really frustrating because I want to treat them and make them better now, no chance til the shops open tomorrow to try the cyclops though. I`ve been feeding a combination of flake, daphnia, decapsulated brine shrimp and bloodworm (the cyps don`t touch the bloodworm though). I always crush the flake for the cyps and make sure it sinks so they don`t have to gulp at the surface. It`s as if they can`t even see the food in front of their faces, either that or they ignore it because they just don`t want it.
I`m really, really hoping it doesn`t come to the point of having to cull them

I`ll see how they go with the cyclops, then worm them and then look at sorting smaller water changes. Fingers crossed

I know I don't have cyps (yet), I had been feeding a variety of frozen foods after the Tanganyikan flake ran out, cyclops was always a favourite but for a while they seemed not as interested (although still eating), the Artemia was always successful, they went absolutely bonkers when the brine shrimp flake went in the tank, 3 helpings in 1 day then some spirulina for supper (good for digestion).
I was reading somewhere that they need somewhere to hide and sleep at night, some cyps sleep on the substrate in the open space ? Maybe something else you might want to investigate
Keep us posted on how it goes

 

[elisew]

I know I don't have cyps (yet), I had been feeding a variety of frozen foods after the Tanganyikan flake ran out, cyclops was always a favourite but for a while they seemed not as interested (although still eating), the Artemia was always successful, they went absolutely bonkers when the brine shrimp flake went in the tank, 3 helpings in 1 day then some spirulina for supper (good for digestion).
I was reading somewhere that they need somewhere to hide and sleep at night, some cyps sleep on the substrate in the open space ? Maybe something else you might want to investigate
Keep us posted on how it goes

I`ve read also that the cyps like to have a flat surfaced ledge so I`ve put a big flat piece of slate on top of the ocean rock to try and give them a 'ledge', there`s also an area of sand where the punks don`t inhabit but I guess the cyps aren`t interested. Maybe I need to NOT feed them for a day or 2, they might be hungry enough to eat something at some point
They have been fed brine shrimp in jelly but seem to ignore it, they don`t pay much attention to the decapsulated brine shrimp either....they`re just too fussy

Will let you know how they go with the cyclops

 

[bullit]

sorry to hear elise. With the slate, ive only read about standing it up at the back for breeding. Whether this would make them any happier, i dont know. hope they get better

Hmm, not good news today.....my cyps are poorly and I`ve lost another one today so I`m now down to 7

I`ve been doing a lot of reading on the condition and symptoms and it appears they`re suffering from 'skinny disease'. Apparently this can be due to bad stock and seeing as I got them all from the same shop it appears that may well be the case. The poor things have gotten skinnier and it seems that whatever food I give them, they can`t even see it
Not sure where I stand on the issue or whether the guys at the shop have had any other customers with this problem but I`ll have to have a word with them at the weekend.

So, I now have to see if I can get some frozen cyclops (which they love apparently) from my nearest shop tomorrow in the hope that this will encourage them to eat and possibly help them to survive, but I`m not holding my breath

I used to have a platy that got skinny, it used to just spit the food back out & never eat anything... this similair thing?
i always wondered what it was... sorry to hear about ur lose and problem too

Hope all will be well soon

i had a fish that did this. It happened when the fish was weak, when i my ammonia went up, as she was the dom in the tank.

 

[elisew]

Thanks bullit.

I had to get my son to put one of the cyps out of it's misery last night, it had no sense of direction, was being blown around by the filter and still kept drifting back down that end of the tank. I'm now down to 6

Off to southern aquatics now to try and get some cyclops, fingers crossed they have some