Help Recreating The Nile

[SwissHandGrenade]

I am trying to recreate a scene from ancient egypt. I want everything to be native to egypt and feel real. the egyptian tanks i see online are stocked with cheesy decorations, neon tetras and gouramis but none with native fish or plants. I understand these fish would be cold water and need a lot of space. I plan to use a 90-500 Gallon tank, but am not going to purchase until i know which fish i will use and the appropriate space needed. Another issue has been finding native plants. i plan to leave 10-12 inches at the surface for floating plants such as lotus flowers. any help with water levels, exact temperatures, substrate, salinity, or native plants and fish would be greatly appreciated. i have no reservations for marine, brackish, or freshwater, ill take whatever info you guys have.

 

[KittyKat]

I am trying to recreate a scene from ancient egypt. I want everything to be native to egypt and feel real. the egyptian tanks i see online are stocked with cheesy decorations, neon tetras and gouramis but none with native fish or plants.

Sounds like a cool project!

I understand these fish would be cold water and need a lot of space.

They would be tropical, not cold water. There are small fish from that area too, so you need to decide whether you want to go for the small ones or large ones.

I plan to use a 90-500 Gallon tank, but am not going to purchase until i know which fish i will use and the appropriate space needed. Another issue has been finding native plants. i plan to leave 10-12 inches at the surface for floating plants such as lotus flowers.

I recommend you go for a paludarium, so that you can grow papyrus, for example.

any help with water levels, exact temperatures, substrate, salinity, or native plants and fish would be greatly appreciated. i have no reservations for marine, brackish, or freshwater, ill take whatever info you guys have.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the title was Egyptian mouth brooding cichlids, aka Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor, and climbing gouramis, for example Ctenopoma petherici. I used to keep a pair of P. multicolor: very nice fish, but on the small side and quite aggressive, so a tank with a large footprint is a must for groups. Also, Hemichromis spp., aka jewel cichlids, could be good.
Anyway, here's the list of species: http/fishbase.org/identification/RegionSpeciesList.php?e_code=2
From what I understand, plant-wise, it would be predominantly lilies and papyrus.
I am working based on freshwater here, I'm sure it wouldn't be that difficult to do a search for the water parameters and temperatures For temperatures, it would be relatively accurate to look at the lowest air temperature for the area the fish are from and add 2-5 C to it, then look at the highest and subtract 3-5 C from that to get your ranges. If you want more reliable information, search for scientific papers about the species to are interested in, especially for modern papers about distributions and description.
Going by what I remember from school geography lessons, substrate is a mix of sand and fertile soil, so I would assume it's a black water environment.

 

[moochy13]

also, when i was on the nile i dropped a pair of socks with a hole in them in the river. you should put some socks in for authenticity

good luck, sounds like it will be great, and pretty unique.

 

[SwissHandGrenade]

wow i just figured out how to view this thank you for all the help. the fish look great! the paludarium is a great idea, i had never seen one but that is exactly what i was going for. and would be perfect for the papyrus. do you know of any mosses or carpets native to egypt? hm... you guys really know your stuff, im impressed. i had given up on this project about 5 months ago when i hit a dead end on water quality. i still have a ton of research to do... but now i have a start. thanks again
and moochy if nothing else when this is completed i will take a pic of a holy (clean) sock in the tank

 

[Ace Of Spades]

http/www.fishlore.com/fishforum/aquarium-aquascaping/89964-help-nile-aquascape.html

http/fish.mongabay.com/data/ecosystems/Nile.htm

 

[SwissHandGrenade]

so heres where im at now,

150G tall tank, 60G canister filter, 2 home made carbon reactors. one 30G heater on each side. and a spectrum uvb 5.0 reptile bulb. (origanally i was gonna use my old waterfall pump, but that doesnt seem too realistic)

i plan on putting 2 egyptian geckos on the land portion, they only get 6 inches and wouldnt require much space. i havent gotten any fish or plants, as i havent even started cycling the tank yet.

im getting 2 egytian mouth brooders first, possibly a jewel cichlid then maybe moving my gray bichir from his 60G. i was playing with the idea of nile perch but from what ive heard they get too big for my tank. ive went through the list you guys provided but i cant seem to find a cool looking native oddball or freshwater eel that would get along with the emb, any ideas? i would prefer to keep my bichir by himself. also any tips to improve my setup before i cycle would be great
thanks again.

 

[KittyKat]

150G tall tank, 60G canister filter, 2 home made carbon reactors. one 30G heater on each side. and a spectrum uvb 5.0 reptile bulb. (origanally i was gonna use my old waterfall pump, but that doesnt seem too realistic)

So what are the total dimensions and what are the dimensions of the watery part?

i plan on putting 2 egyptian geckos on the land portion, they only get 6 inches and wouldnt require much space.

Can they swim well?

im getting 2 egytian mouth brooders first, possibly a jewel cichlid then maybe moving my gray bichir from his 60G.

You should get most of the cichlids at the same time because of their territorial aggression. Did you check if the mouthbrooders are compatible with jewels? Wouldn't the birchir eat the mouthbrooders?

also any tips to improve my setup before i cycle would be great thanks again.

You can try a theory of mine, if you like… I reckon it reduces likelihood of problems: dose 1 ppm of household ammonia, wait until ammonia and nitrite are 0 ppm, dose 2 ppm, wait for double 0s, dose 3 ppm, wait for double 0s, dose your highest ammonia dose (3-5 ppm, maximum once every 24 hours) and repeat until you're getting double 0s at 12 hours after dosind, stock almost full stock.

 

[SwissHandGrenade]

48x24x30 if i measured correctly. i havent decided how im gonna seperate it just yet, im waiting to see exactly what plants and fish im gonna use. my local fish store said to have the jewels with the multicolors: i need to get them together when their young, have more than 50 gallons of room and move around the territories when i change the water (though im still skeptical and probably wont get the jewels).
the gecko can swim but from what ive seen not well. and i wouldnt want the fish nipping his underbelly, so maybe i need to find a way to block him from the water. hes completly terrestrial and cant climb so that shouldnt be too hard.
and i was gonna ask you the same thing about the bichir. he origanally had a few tank mates (butterfly fish, 5 rasboras, banjo cat, farowella acus, and black kuhlis) now only the butterfly, farowella, and banjo remain. i think he'll stay in his tank just incase. the butterfly stays in the floating wisteria, the twig is always attached to anubis, and the banjo is always buried. its like he has a 60g all to himself
i would like fish with the cichlids other than just a Synodontis or two. are their any native oddballs or "fun" looking fish that would get along with the mouth brooders?
my brain hurts...

 

[KittyKat]

48x24x30 if i measured correctly. i havent decided how im gonna seperate it just yet, im waiting to see exactly what plants and fish im gonna use.

That's only 85 US gallons when empty, not 150! So if you keep 48*16*12 of that as water, you'll only have 38 gallons in there.

my local fish store said to have the jewels with the multicolors: i need to get them together when their young, have more than 50 gallons of room and move around the territories when i change the water (though im still skeptical and probably wont get the jewels).

I think you should investigate keeping the two species together, giving area required in volume is rather poor of them: the two species most definitely wouldn't mix in a 2*2 ft column which contains 50 gallons, but are likely to work in a 6 ft long tank of the same volume. The important part here is actually the footprint of the tank because the territories are determined by grown area. Personally, in a 4 ft tank, I would worry about mixing the two species as I used to keep multicolors in a 3 ft tank and they were aggressive enough that I couldn't mix much with them.
As for rearranging décor, that is only done to ease introduction of new fish: if it needs to be done on a weekly basis, that the fish are not compatible.

the gecko can swim but from what ive seen not well. and i wouldnt want the fish nipping his underbelly, so maybe i need to find a way to block him from the water. hes completly terrestrial and cant climb so that shouldnt be too hard.

I would be more worried about him drowning then, this is one of the reasons why paludariums rarely contain anything but fish. Maybe a mesh which is suspended over the water will do the job?

i would like fish with the cichlids other than just a Synodontis or two. are their any native oddballs or "fun" looking fish that would get along with the mouth brooders?

You should look through the list of the species I showed you, then do your research about compatibility. Post some suggestions maybe? No offence, but I have no desire to start digging through that list of species for myself

 

[SwissHandGrenade]

only 85?!?! wow... petsmart sucks. they said it was 150 Tall.. i used to have pacus in that tank. well my dads old saltwater tank has a small crack on the back side but its atleast double the length of my 85 though not quite as tall. if i can seal up the crack, maybe the length will help out with territories. when i go by his house ill measure it and post the dimensions. yea i dont really trust most people with what fish get along and which dont... from my experience fish are like people, they all have different temperments and there is always an exeption. though i would rather the mouth brooders be the only cichlids in the tank. haha none taken, that species list is a beast, ive gotten maybe 10 names in... i think my problem is 1. i suck at scientific names... 2. i look up and research each fish as much as possible as im going through the list, even if im not that interested, which results in me getting burned out very quickly. ill be back when i have more info.

 

[Chris2]

48x24x32 inches?

Thats around 150 gallons.

Cool tank idea OP, I really want to see this when its done!

 

[KittyKat]

only 85?!?! wow... petsmart sucks. they said it was 150 Tall..

Sorry, I was wrong. It's 142 gallons The 38 gallons for 48*16*12 of it being water was still the right number.

 

[mike455555]

pics when its done? i bet it would look great... do a journal on it? =]

 

[SwissHandGrenade]

ok so work has really caused this project serious lag, but i do have a quick (probably stupid) question. african snakeheads are illegal in the US right? because i just got an offer from someone who said they were only illegal to sale but he had a bunch before they were made illegal. thus getting granfathered in and being able to breed (and give away for the price of a really expensive pen) the obscuras he had. the next question may be even more dumb... they would eat everything in the tank right? he said if i got one when it was small and kept it well fed i could mix the multicolor with the obscura. i work as a dog trainer at a pet store and am in contact with a lot of people who have exotic animals/fish they will give away... if you buy a small item from them at the street price of the fish... normally i would never do this but i think these fish are beautiful. and yes i know about what they have been known to do to guys... i wouldnt be swimming with it lol

 

[Louiseness]

ok so work has really caused this project serious lag, but i do have a quick (probably stupid) question. african snakeheads are illegal in the US right? because i just got an offer from someone who said they were only illegal to sale but he had a bunch before they were made illegal. thus getting granfathered in and being able to breed (and give away for the price of a really expensive pen) the obscuras he had. the next question may be even more dumb... they would eat everything in the tank right? he said if i got one when it was small and kept it well fed i could mix the multicolor with the obscura. i work as a dog trainer at a pet store and am in contact with a lot of people who have exotic animals/fish they will give away... if you buy a small item from them at the street price of the fish... normally i would never do this but i think these fish are beautiful. and yes i know about what they have been known to do to guys... i wouldnt be swimming with it lol

If you're going to buy an illegal fish I wouldn't tell the whole internet about it I may be wrong but I believe the fish that are illegal in the US (snakeheads, asian arowana etc) are illegal to OWN, not just purchase.

And snakeheads are quite specialist fish and generally require a species-only tank to thrive. I don't think anyone would recommend what you're thinking of.