Planning A Special Tank!

[smiles669]

Hello everybody. In a few months I'm going to be doing a build on a fairly decent sized tank, so far I'm estimating about 60 gallons, although this can change. I'm looking at doing a Lake Tanganyika Cichlid tank, and would some stocking suggestions. One fish that I am definitely wanting to stock up on will be Gold Head Compressiceps. I was looking at my build being about a 30 inch cube, with the water level at approximately 20 inches. This can change, based on any stocking suggestions, and also on what i can get my hands on for aquarium glass. Also any tips on bottom feeders, or on ways to decorate the tank will be greatly appreciated, I always love all of your inputs!
Thanks!

 

[attibones]

Doing a cube tank is not always great for bottom dwellers. You lose a lot of length with a cube tank like this which means there is not as much space for fish who would live at that level.

Why do you want the water ten inches lower than the top of the glass? (Just hit the calculator and it looks aroun 78 gallons, assuming 30 long, 30 wide, 20 high.) if I were building a tank, I would keep the depth which is a good depth for loaches in particular, and stretch the tank out. I would make it 48 inches long, 30 inches deep, twenty inches high. This is a larger tank, but more importantly it has a larger footprint. Of course, you may be designing a cube tank to fit in a very specific area of your home so this may not work.

 

[smiles669]

O sorry i should have specified more. The tank isn't going to be totally a cube, just the length and width will be exact, and the height of the tank will be about 20 inches. But as i said, I am totally open to any suggestions as I'm trying to do this perfectly, which is why I'm planning everything out for it now.

 

[attibones]

I'm looking at the gold head now. Very pretty fish, but appears to require a 4 foot or longer tank, so it seems if you definitely want this fish, then you'll have to do some tweaking to your construction plans. They also appear to dwell primarily on the lower level of the tank, which will take away valuable bottom dweller space. If you decide to build a four foot tank, then I'd get a couple of these and maybe some bristle nose plecos.