Fallen In Love With Tanganyikan

[jonnyuk]

well i picked my tank up today from wharf aquatics in notts, what a fantastic place. so many tanks, all unusual fish, not the run of the mill guppy's etc. what they did have was shell dwellers, about 3 different types.

they also had some Julidochromis Dickfeldi in, loved them!

i have bought tuffa rock (26k for £30, i got a small discount on this), has the colouration i was after and was told they are better than ocean rock in ph buffering. i also got fine coral sand as my substrate. i have a few questions as i asked them questions that contradict what i have read

1: not to put sand on top of the crushed coral sand, this is because the coral needs to be in contact with the water and the sand will stop water penatrating to the coral, making is useless.

2: ocean rock is not good for ph buffering as its very very slow release, also mentioned another reason, something about the chemistry of the rock

3:spent a good 20 mins talking to a cichlid expert(so they said). in a tank my size she recommended only keeping shell dwellers as they will get very terroretial and rock dwellers or open space will not mix, this is something i wanted to do.

anyway i have placed my rocks in the tank and here is a pick. they are currently placed on a towel until i'm ready.
you can't really tell from the picks but the right hand side is a little cove with an over hang. i have tried to break up the tank into areas.


kiriyama, if you still have those shells i'll take them, pm me with a price etc. i have tons of mts snails in my planted tank, could i put these in this tank.

cheers
Jonathan

 

[doresy]

Oh people, spread the word.....Tanganyikans are the way forward Welcome my friend

 

[kiriyama]

well i picked my tank up today from wharf aquatics in notts, what a fantastic place. so many tanks, all unusual fish, not the run of the mill guppy's etc. what they did have was shell dwellers, about 3 different types.

they also had some Julidochromis Dickfeldi in, loved them!

i have bought tuffa rock (26k for £30, i got a small discount on this), has the colouration i was after and was told they are better than ocean rock in ph buffering. i also got fine coral sand as my substrate. i have a few questions as i asked them questions that contradict what i have read

1: not to put sand on top of the crushed coral sand, this is because the coral needs to be in contact with the water and the sand will stop water penatrating to the coral, making is useless.

2: ocean rock is not good for ph buffering as its very very slow release, also mentioned another reason, something about the chemistry of the rock

3:spent a good 20 mins talking to a cichlid expert(so they said). in a tank my size she recommended only keeping shell dwellers as they will get very terroretial and rock dwellers or open space will not mix, this is something i wanted to do.

anyway i have placed my rocks in the tank and here is a pick. they are currently placed on a towel until i'm ready.
you can't really tell from the picks but the right hand side is a little cove with an over hang. i have tried to break up the tank into areas.


kiriyama, if you still have those shells i'll take them, pm me with a price etc. i have tons of mts snails in my planted tank, could i put these in this tank.

cheers
Jonathan

Like the rocks, different from the Tufa that used to be in LFS, have seen this local but not as dark as the stuff you have, will be keeping my eyes peeled
Wasn't sure about tank dimensions, the height would be wasted on shellies, if you like the Dickfeldi why don't you do some homework on them, get a small group and return the odd ones once they pair up, nive Juli, had them before, very nice to watch

 

[elisew]

When I went to my local Maidenhead aquatics yesterday I spoke to one of the guys there and he reiterated what I`ve also read elsewhere about coral sand.....be careful if you do use it because it irritates the fishes gills and can cause infections apparently.
It`s one reason why I decided against it and used the sand I already had. I may look at changing the Unipak sand for the Argos play sand or another lighter coloured, softer sand instead

The rock looks nice

 

[kiriyama]

I agree about the coral sand, I had it in a Multi tank and they ended up with cuts on there mouth, to be honest they don't actually like the sand, that's why they dig it away from there shells, if you look at pics. from the lake the shells are in piles feet deep, I piled the shells once and the Multies loved it, your tufa will buffer the ph

 

[jonnyuk]

interesting about the coral, sand it is then. i have not opened the bags yet so i may take them back if i get up to wharf aquatics before my 30 days run out.

i love the colour of the rocks, have a far more textured look than most rock i have seen.

i was thinking about the same regarding shell dwellers, allot of open space wasted. i may have some rock dwellers first, let them pair off then introduce some shell dwellers. i have allot of reading to do, i've got not clue what to feed them yet, how often etc.

i saldy can't set my tank up yet because the stand it was going is not strong enough, so i will have to souce a console table for it to go on, i'm so impatient though, just want to get started.

 

[kiriyama]

I'm wanting those tuffa rocks
Sorry to hear about the stand but will give you some time to think about stocking
Altolamprologus Calvus (black) x1
Lamprologus Caudopunctatus (1pr)
Don't know if you would be pushing it squeezing in a Lamprologus Ocellatus or a Julidochromis Dickfeldi.
My tank footprint was only 6" longer than the tank you're planning

 

[jonnyuk]

well its been a long time comming but i now have a sideboard, my tank sitting on it with Rock in it ! Sand is washed and ready to go, filter media in my existing tank ready. all i need to water and abit of advice about my tank setup.

my ideal stocking

6 Cyprichromis (thinking of Mpulungu) for the top half of tank. given its a tall makes sense to make use of the space up there,
2 pairs of Neolamprologus brevis (if i can get two pairs)
x number of Julidochromis ornatus

would love some Neolamprologus leleupi but i don't think my tank is big enough for these.

my main question though is my rock formation right with enough hiding places and is there enough floor space for my brevis?

and then of course, where do i find these fish?

 

[kiriyama]

You're rock formation looks much better than it did in the first pics
If you're adding shells I would put them down in the two front corners, more action to see
Sorry to p**s on your parade but the tank is to tight for cyps, 4-5 foot minimum , sorry bud don't shoot the messenger...

Brevis would be fine, they will bury the shells flat to the surface, I have read they are quite shy though Occies or Melaegres(spelling? ) are quite feisty. With that amount of rocks in there I would be really tempted with a couple of Julidochromis in there but failing that I think a few Caudopuntatus would work a treat, lots of nokks and crannies for hiding and they would love patrolling all water levels (including the top) displaying there erect fins,
I can't recomend any LFS but try tropical fish finder . . "Wildwoods" , Tri-Mar and also Mike's Rifts Plenty of pics. on there , shoud see something you like
Oh yeah, if you do decide to add shells I have 12 unused Escargot packed and boced here , yours for a fiver posted

 

[jonnyuk]

funny you should mention Julidochromis, they where also on my list

i have read the brevis can get aggressive come spawning but i thougth the way i have split my tank in two halves i might get away with them.

def going with some form of shell dweller, think i'm set on some brevis (i'll be in touch when i get them).

if i go with Julidochromis what top level fish could i have? i've not found any yet that will fit in tank.

maybe i'm wanting too much

 

[kiriyama]

funny you should mention Julidochromis, they where also on my list

i have read the brevis can get aggressive come spawning but i thougth the way i have split my tank in two halves i might get away with them.

def going with some form of shell dweller, think i'm set on some brevis (i'll be in touch when i get them).

if i go with Julidochromis what top level fish could i have? i've not found any yet that will fit in tank.

maybe i'm wanting too much

You'll be struggling with mixing to many species unfortunately, I'm fairly sure a Calvus and Julies /OR/ Punks and Occies /OR/ Punks and Kungeweensis
The punks will be your top dweller/rock dweller

Sorry not being much help here, just don't ant to see you piling a lot of stuff in there and it goes wrong, the way your tank is layed out I would go for julies OR Punks and a shell dweller, if you want Julies and a shellie tank I would place a few rocks at one end and the shells at the other end, it might work that way..
Nice tank

 

[bullit]

Looks good buddy. As above for cyos the tank is to small. A shelly and some julies or punks i reckon id go for. Look for the small julies that get to 3 inch. (transcriptis) kipili.

What are the dinemsions? i couldnt see them.

 

[jonnyuk]

cheers guys for the input.

had a thought about dithers, could i not have some kili's. some are very hardy, my ph will be abit high but not to extreme.
some ideas,

killi Fundopulchanx family
golden wonder killi
longfin danio
rainbows from New Guinea

i know they are not from tanganyikan but i think i'm out of options for top level swimmers. i would rather have something than nothing.

i'm now thinking aobut multies, just for the fact i could have more of them, if i go with the brevis, i could only have 1 or 2 pairs max.

going to go with the julies for the rock the dwellers, i like the colours.

tonight im putting the sand and water, hopefully by using cycled media i could put fish in at the weekend.


bullit, my tank size is 24" in length, 18" high and 12" in depth.

 

[jonnyuk]

i now have fish.....at last.

finished getting my tank setup on saturday (with media from my other tank) and on sunday got my first set of fish.

in the end i got two brevis (only had 3 left). i got the biggest and the smallest so hoping m/f. as of yet they have just hung out together. i need some shells asap.

i also got 4 zebra danio's, not tangs but i wanted something for the top of thank. i may end of getting some Praecox rainbow or melanotaenia boesemani but i thought at 80p each for the zebra they will make a good start.

as for tank mates i have ordered a single julie transcriptis, i'm on the look out for a pair of simils. if they all get on i will add one more fish. what this is i don't know yet.

i have read people have Paracyprichromis nigripinnis mixed with brevis in 20gal tanks, given they are nearly the same as brichardi i'n not convinced on this. i know i've had lots of suggestions but any more?

could go for a pair of punks but the suggested calvus would surely eat my brevis for breakfast once fully grown?

i'll get some pics up when photobucket starts to behave its self

 

[bullit]

the calvus take a long time to grow so i wouldnt worry.