Fluval Osaka Tang Stocking Sugestions

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Brett_dale

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Hi all
Hope some of you can advise me, i recently got hold of a fluval osaka 260ltr that id like to setup as a tang community. Its used to be setup as a marine reef system and is running a eheim pro wet/dry 2227 and a v2 600f fluidised sand bed filter so will have a fair amount of filtation capacity.

What i would like to do with this tank is to create a lake tanganyika setup, the plan is to have a rock pile/wall on the left side sloping down to a sand are and then a shell bed on the right side of the tank, i initially wanted to include Neolamprologus pulchers in the tank with Neolamprologus multifasciatus until i read up on the pulchers darker side.

Im looking for suggestions on a stocking list for this tank, currently the only fish im sure that id like in there is the multis and some smaller cats. I have more reading to do but i was also looking at Eretmodus cyanostictus. Any way im fully open to suggestions for a tang tank that will include the multis.


Many thanks
Brett
 
Hi. Is that a four foot tank?, as you will have a lot of possibilities. Normally for a tang community you would choose a sand dweller, rock dweller and an open water swimmer. So you have multies for the sand, the open water is normally filled up with cyprichromois. Then a rock dweller like calvus, comps, or a small julie. Caudopunks and paracyprichromois are also worth a look. You might get away with two rock dwellers but then id prob loose the catfish. But 3-4 species is what you want to go with overal. As for your gobies, im not that up on them as they are normally kept with tropheus as they have similar diets. You might be ok with a pair but dont quote me though normally a single is suggested. cheers
 
thanks for the reply bullit, the tank is an odd size W 103cm x D 45cm x H 62cm which i think is around 3.5 ft.

The layout (sand, rock, open water) you mention is similar to how i had envisioned.
I had looked at the cyprichromois but wasnt to sure if they needed a bit more length in the tank?
wife is really keen on the cats and keeps trying to squeeze them into my apisto setup, i think they will be better of in this larger tank tho so they will be one of the species in there, im thinking Synodontis Lucipinnis but more research to do there.
Rock dweller wise its a hard choice for me between julies, caudopunks and paracyprichromois.

Again thanks for the response, gives me more researching to do :)
 
No worries. Yeah cyps as you mention could really do with 4ft so paracyps could be an option as a replacement for them though they wont be as active as the cyps. So eg, paracyps, multies and lucipinnis. Then either a julie or a punk. I suppose the julies will stay in the rockwork away from your shellies more but then the punks will more active. A consideration with the catfish is that they dont roam all over your multies lol. cheers
 
reading into the punk i see it is also a partial shell spawners which i guess could cause squabble's over shells, so its looking like paracyps, multies, lucipinnis and julie, am i right in thinking all these can be kept in multiples apart from the julies which should be a pair?
 
Julies best introduced in a small group, they will pair up naturally then remove the extras as they can sometimes get killed.
The Paracyps will appreciate the rocks and caves, they love to hang about under overhangs, if you fancy something a bit different have a look at the brienni(spelling?) variety, the will use the open water column more then the nigripinnis.
Caudopunctatus and Multifasciatus can work in the same tank, again the "punks" will favour the rock area but may spawn in shells, the secret is to give each species there own territory or small holding.
I'm not suggesting you add all of these, as mentioned the tank is to tight for Cyprichromis, you will be amazed at how small an area Julidochromis will hold, the Caudopunctatus will also swim in the open column.
As for the Eretmodus I'm thinking this could be your rock dweller, they like a lot of current and well oxyginated water, maybe means all the tank mates will be on spirulina woth occassional cyclops for a protien top up...
I would choose 1 species rock dweller and the Multies, a lot of my multies swim up in the water column so I wouldn't worry about dithers.... probably just made all this more confusing but hope it helps.....
Paracyps, punks, multies ? :good:

Cheers, Sean
 
Thanks for the reply Sean
When isnt it confusing trying to come up with an ideal stocklist that also has to keep the wife happy :lol:

A concern i had with the julies is that they might not take full advantage of the large amount of rock i had planned, but there plus side was to add a bit of darker colouring to the tank as theres a lot of silvers, grays and neon in there already.

Certainly more reading and research to do.
 
Thanks for the reply Sean
When isnt it confusing trying to come up with an ideal stocklist that also has to keep the wife happy :lol:

A concern i had with the julies is that they might not take full advantage of the large amount of rock i had planned, but there plus side was to add a bit of darker colouring to the tank as theres a lot of silvers, grays and neon in there already.

Certainly more reading and research to do.

Julies will utilise a small rock pile, if they have more rocks they will claim them also. If you are considering the paracyps I would go for a dark background and some slate, they will hang under it plus it will show up there subtle hues... Let us know how you get on.

Cheers, Sean
wee goby posing today
SAM_0682.jpg
 
spent some time at the lfs with a good tang selection today and i think were set on paracyprichromis nigripinnis (blue neon), multies, synodontis lucipinnis and julidochromis regani kipili.
My next question is on numbers, my intention isnt to fully stock the tank from the start but to stock in acceptable numbers and allow the fish to breed and populate the tank themselves. what would you suggest for my max stock figures and for my initial stocking?


Many thanks Brett
 
Normally youd start with six juvies to get a pair but you should have a good chance with 4. So id go for 4-6 muties. 4-6 julies (the spares then being taken out when a pair forms. 4-5 catfish and then 5 paras, aiming for around a group of 10 overal. As each has a diff territory adding each group at diff times will be fine. The only doubt with the stocking is the julie regani. A transcriptus or onatus would be better due to size. cheers.
 

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