communityfluvalroma
Fish Fanatic
Lake Tanganyika 240 Litre Aquarium
I am currently in the process of setting up a Lake Tanganyikan aquarium. I have always kept freshwater tropical fish, mainly community tanks, a Betta sorority and some species only tanks. I have always wanted to set up an African Cichlid tank, but due to several factors I've not been able to do it. Now I have a little more of everything that I was missing, I'm now ready to dive head first into Lake Tanganyika.
Firstly, a bit of a background on Lake Tanganyika. Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest. However, it is the world's longest freshwater lake! The lake is shared between four countries – Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania (46%) and DRC (40%) possessing the majority of the lake. It drains into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.
The lake's water is alkaline with a pH around 9 at depths of 0–100 m. Below this, it is around 8.7, gradually decreasing to 8.3–8.5 in the deepest parts of Tanganyika. Surface temperatures generally range from about 24 °C (75 °F) in the southern part of the lake in early August to 28–29 °C (82–84 °F) in the late rainy season in March—April.
The lake holds at least 250 species of cichlid fish and undescribed species remain. Almost all (98%) of the Tanganyika cichlids are endemic to the lake. All Tanganyika cichlids are in the subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae. Of the 10 tribes in this subfamily, half are largely or entirely restricted to the lake (Cyprichromini, Ectodini, Lamprologini, Limnochromini and Tropheini) and another three have species in the lake (Haplochromini, Tilapiini and Tylochromini).
Many cichlids from Lake Tanganyika, such as species from the genera Altolamprologus, Cyprichromis, Eretmodus, Julidochromis, Lamprologus, Neolamprologus, Tropheus and Xenotilapia, are popular aquarium fish due to their bright colours and patterns, and interesting behaviours.
Stocking
I have decided to stock the following species, with thanks to the help from @Colin_T :
Cyprichromis Leptosoma (Kekese Yellow Head) - Open Water -
I will be buying a group of 10 juveniles. It’s an open water species, inhabiting the intermediate zones with scattered rocks and sandy bottoms.
Very peaceful. Do not keep it with boisterous fish such as Mbuna. Good tankmates include other Tanganyikan species that inhabit different areas in the tank. Rockdwellers such as Julidochromis or Altolamprologus are particularly good choices, as are shelldwelling species.
Julidochromis Ornatus - Rocks & Caves -
I will be buying a group of 4-6 juveniles. This will hopefully result in at least 2 pairs and then I will remove the others from the tank. They should be housed in a Lake Tanganyika biotope setup, with piles of rocks arranged to form caves. With the scape that I have arranged, there should be plenty of space for 2 pairs to live happily.
A territorial species. It can be maintained successfully with other small to medium-sized Tanganyikan cichlids that occupy different areas of the tank, such as Neolamprologus shelldwellers and Cyprichromis species. J. ornatus should be kept as a pair as it is aggressive towards conspecifics. A suitably large aquarium is required if several are to be kept.
Lamprologus Ocellatus - Open Sand Bed & Shells -
Again, I will be buying a group of 6 juveniles. In an ideal world, this will hopefully result in 2 males and 4 females. Based on the amount of open space and shells I'm planning to have, I will be able to house 2 males with enough shells and territory. It is found in areas with scattered rocks and areas of open sand around the shoreline of the lake, in areas where the substrate is littered with empty snail shells.
A territorial species that will defend its shell and the small territory around it vigorously. It can be combined with species that inhabit other areas of the aquarium though. Good choices include rockdwellers such as Neolamprologus brichardi or smaller species of Julidochromis and open water species such as Cyprichromis sp. If a number of fish are kept it will form a colony. If keeping it in this kind of situation make sure there are enough shells and try to keep more females than there are males or infighting may get out of hand.
Aquarium Hardware
Aquarium
Fluval Roma 240 Litre - L 120cm x D 40cm x H 55cm
Filtration
Fluval FX4 External Filter. This filter is suitable for aquariums up to 1000 litres and has an output of 2650 litres per hour.
Lighting
Fluval 6500k LED Strip Light.
Heater
2x Fluval M300 Heater. Purely as a back up in case one fails.
Aquascape
I will be splitting the tank into 4 key areas. The first area will be open water for the Cyprichromis Leptosoma, the second and third areas will be rock formations at either side of the tank for the Julidochromis Ornatus and the fourth area will be the open sand bed for the Lamprologus Ocellatus.
For the substrate I will be using sand. African Cichlids love to dig in sand and it also helps to aid their digestive system. To help make their colours really stand out, I will be using black sand. This may be an unpopular decision, but I have always used dark substrates.
African Cichlids natural habitat is very rocky, with lots of caves, tunnels and crevices. I haven't yet decided on which rocks I'll be using, so any suggestions are welcome (source-able in the UK). I have just placed an order for 2 custom made caves to be built for the Julidochromis Ornatus, which will be set into the natural rock.
In the middle of the tank, I plan to either use a large rock or tangled roots to help create in a broken line of sight between the 2 rock formations.
I will be attaching Anubias to some of the rocks and these will be the only live plants that I have in the tank.
Below is a photo which is where I have taken my inspiration from.
The tank is already here and set up. The sand will be delivered on Monday 28th as well as the custom caves. I am going out shortly after posting this to look for some suitable rocks. So if all goes well, the hardscape should be finished by this time next week.
I will be uploading photos here of the progress.
Thank you for reading and welcome to Lake Tanganyika.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tanganyika & https://www.seriouslyfish.com
