Starting Tanganyikan Tank

[dave_oddballs]

hi, as some will know ive been working on changing over my girlfriends tank from a ph 7 community to a small tanganyikan set up. Hoping to have brichardi, leleupi and multis, the brichardis are waiting at the lfs now for us. Was just going to get coral sand as substrate and ocean rock, but got a 30lb bag of caribsea african cichlid substrate, thought it would be better, it has bits of shells in and looks more natural than graded coral sand but the majority of it is very fine sand so good for the multis, waiting on some escargot shells at the moment.
Well i did it all and the ph of the water out of the tap is about 6.8 and i filled up the tank with the sand and ocean rock in and now its ph is around 8. I think it needs to be about 8.5 so its well on its way. The filter should cope with the ph change as i have been adding broken coral to the filter gradually over the last few months. One of my questions is when i do water changes the water from the tap is ph 6.8 so will i need to adjust this before i add it or will 20% water changes not affect it that much? Just a bit of info and advice really. I used to keep a 4 foot malawi tank so know the basics of a hard water set up but just any advice from experienced tanganyikan keepers please. Also how long will it be until the ph will be stable enough to add the fish? Taking into consideration its already cycled, for about 18 months.
Cheers, Dave

 

[syd_the_rabbitsnail]

Hiya Dave. I kept Tanganikans about 10 years ago I found that when doing the water changes i didnt need to adjust the ph as a 20% water change had little effect on the ph. Why not do a water change as an experiment? do a 20 percent change and see if it has an effect. Eva.

 

[dave_oddballs]

i didnt think it would make any drastic changes but if it did i was thinking i could do smaller more frequent changes so as not to affect the ph.
Hopefully we will get the multis and brichardis breeding and possibly others so want to make sure it is stable for them.
I was looking at the kent marine cichlid additive at the lfs yesterday, it said you just add 5ml every week per 120 litres. The tank is 125 litres so 5ml would do, it came in 250 ml bottles for £8.60 and in my calculations that would last 50 weeks which makes it cheap really. Would i benefit from using a product like this?

 

[syd_the_rabbitsnail]

i didnt think it would make any drastic changes but if it did i was thinking i could do smaller more frequent changes so as not to affect the ph.
Hopefully we will get the multis and brichardis breeding and possibly others so want to make sure it is stable for them.
I was looking at the kent marine cichlid additive at the lfs yesterday, it said you just add 5ml every week per 120 litres. The tank is 125 litres so 5ml would do, it came in 250 ml bottles for £8.60 and in my calculations that would last 50 weeks which makes it cheap really. Would i benefit from using a product like this?

yes you would i used something similar (cant remember what it was called sooo long ago!!) But I noticed a better colouration to my fish. I'm starting a small brichardi tank in the bear future i cant wait!!

 

[dave_oddballs]

yeah i will probably get some then. Yeah i like the brichardi, we are having 6 of the 10 that the lfs got in. Thats a decent size group isnt it, should get a pair in there somewhere, they are about 2-3 inch and i can get them for £5 each, that an ok price?
I have seen a breeding colony of 30+ multis for sale on the classifieds for £30 so im just trying to sort out picking them up! I love the leleupi too, will probably pick up a few of them in a few weeks!

 

[syd_the_rabbitsnail]

yeah i will probably get some then. Yeah i like the brichardi, we are having 6 of the 10 that the lfs got in. Thats a decent size group isnt it, should get a pair in there somewhere, they are about 2-3 inch and i can get them for £5 each, that an ok price?
I have seen a breeding colony of 30+ multis for sale on the classifieds for £30 so im just trying to sort out picking them up! I love the leleupi too, will probably pick up a few of them in a few weeks!

yes that's a good price and a good amount of fish. They breed like wildfire though!! I had 4 in my 1st set up and had 2000 fry within 6 months... it was mayhem! also if they pair off where are the non paired fish going as bullying can be brutal. Id have a spare tank set up for any casualties. Have you looked into brevis? a sligtly less aggressive species but just as fascinating

 

[dave_oddballs]

i think keeping them in larger numbers than just the usual 4-6 will help prevent bullying. The tank will be quite busy and the numbers should keep aggression to a minimum. All that said i have plenty of tanks and plenty of filters and cycled media if any casualties was to occur!

 

[syd_the_rabbitsnail]

i think keeping them in larger numbers than just the usual 4-6 will help prevent bullying. The tank will be quite busy and the numbers should keep aggression to a minimum. All that said i have plenty of tanks and plenty of filters and cycled media if any casualties was to occur!

I think you may need the extra tanks. My mbuna were fine kept in busy numbers... it didn't work for my Tanganyikan's... i hope you are more successful pics!!

 

[dave_oddballs]

well i cant pick them up anyway,so i will probably get smaller numbers and separate as necessary like you said.
the brichardi will be going in first so we will take 1 step at a time!

 

[syd_the_rabbitsnail]

well i cant pick them up anyway,so i will probably get smaller numbers and separate as necessary like you said.
the brichardi will be going in first so we will take 1 step at a time!

good luck with it Dave. post some pics of the little fellas when you get them

 

[lalo99]

I personally would add buffer to the water when doing water changes. Tangs are very sensitive to changes in ph. Much more so than mbuna. Use baking soda to bring up the KH and ph and epsom salts to bring up the GH. This will be much cheaper than any store bought additive. It will max out at 8.2. Same with your coral. 8.2 max ph. I would also recommend larger water changes. Tangs like good water quality. You should be fine in regards to the tank holding its cycle, as long as you keep an ammonia source in the tank.
I'm don't like your stocking list. Once Brichardi pair up the will take over a tank. Do a google search on Brichardi Death squad. You'll see what I mean. Also the lelupi will compete with the Brichadi for space. They occupy the same space in the tank. The multis will get it the worst . Adult lelupi can kill adult Shell dwellers. The can pull them right out of the shells. So can the brichardi. Any fry will also be hunted and eaten. The multis wont be happy with predators around them all the time. I would skip the brichardi. Also since you have a 4ft tank look at Cyprichromis. They will occupy the upper levels of the tank. Stay away from the Jumbos. They get very large and aggresive for a 4 ft tank. ( most of the time).