Tanganyika 200 Liter Advice

[BobbyBray]

Story
I've got a 55 gallon (~210) liter tank that I'm thinking of changing over to cichlids, and would really like to go with a Tanganyika setup. I'm not new to keeping fish in general, but I don't have a lot of experience with cichlids. The tank was filled with general community freshwater fish, until I made a silly mistake and killed 2/3's of the residents So I'm taking the opportunity to change the tank into a cichlid community.

Tank Setup
I'm planning to pull the gravel out and fill the tank with plain sand instead (I'm assuming good quality beach or sandbox sand is ok). I'll also take the plants and bogwood out and replace that with either stones, slate or something like tuffa rock. Would any of these be better than another for Tangs?

Filtration
I've got an Eheim Pro 2128 rated for a 150 gallon tank, and with 198 gph filter circulation, so I'm not terribly worried about filtration too much. I've also got an Eheim power head to keep the water moving around a bit more.

Water
I'm not sure what the hardness is, but its being pulled from a well in the country, and not a city sewer system. The pH is fairly high, and registers at about 8.2 straight out of the tap.

Fish
So onto the fun stuff, what kind of fish? Here's what I've been considering, and what I'd like the most advice on. If any of these should be added first, or last, or not at all, and of course if there's any of these species that won't mix well with each other. If there are any others that might work well, that I've left out I'd love to hear about them as well. I'm not being terribly original with these choices however, they're actually based off a tank from another member of this forum.

Lamprologus caudopunctatus

Julidochromis marlieri

Neolamprologus leleupi

Neolamprologus pulcher or Neolamprologus brichardi

Altolamprologus calvus

Synodontis multipunctatus (for a bottom feeder)

Cyphotilapia frontosa (though I'm worried about it being too big for the tank size)

Neolamprologus tretocephalus (But I've heard they can be much more aggressive than other tangs)

Thanks for any input you guys can offer, I've always received excellent advice from this forum.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

How about a little hareem of shell-dwellers eg. ocellatus with the socially structured Julidochromis dickfeldis (parents and their older offspring all help look after the current new youngsters, so unusual in any animal besides us, yet alone in the fish world)?

At a push, I think you may be looking at two rock/cave species and one shell-dweller, in tanks like we have

 

[BobbyBray]

Thanks Goat, I may look into some shell dwells, we shall see. Anybody else have any advice? Am I on the right track, or suggestions if I need to rethink my current idea.
Thanks guys!

 

[kiriyama]

Current mix looks good, Caudopunks, Lelupi, Black Calvus , maybe even Julidochromis Regani (nice colour).... OR

as previousy suggested a small group of shell dwellers, Multis are always a good start and bags of fun too, or Occies , mean looking little critters and look like fun, or you could go for dwarf sumbu comps, got 4 in a 95ltr would be better suited in your tank saize, then Julidochromis Dickfeldi or Transcriptus (smaller), check out the Gombe(spelling might be Gombi) variety...
Just trowing in some ideas

 

[BobbyBray]

Thanks for the input, I may look into that Juli regani a bit more. I think I'll shy away from shell dwells in the end, they do look like fun due to their personalities. But in the end I think my wife would prefer larger fish, with flashier colors to watch.

Anybody know of any problems with using regular sandbox grade sand from a hardware store?

 

[doresy]

Check my signature. Works ok for me.

One or two of my Fronts will need to be rehomed in a year or two. My Synos need rehoming now (boy do they grow!)

I would suggest coral sand/gravel. Water temperature and PH being constant is extemely important more than being a particular level. Obviously hard and high ph is preferable as long it is maintained at a constant level. High airation too so plenty of surface agitation. Also small (10-15%) water changes very frequently (1-2 a week) are extremely important as nitrate level needs to be kept in check. (larger water changes will make levels unstable unless particular attention is paid to matching temp. ph etc) This is due to the fact that Lake Tanganyika is very deep so temperature etc is extremely stable and vey high in oxygen.
As you can tell, water quality is ever important when trying to keep Tangs' but to me they are by far the most rewarding of all Cichlids.

One last thing, unlike Malawis you must not overstock to ward off aggression as that will not work with Tangs'. Keep within normal stocking levels and provide loads of rocky hideaways but maintain some free-swimming space.

Happy to have a Tanganyikan Cichlid Keeper, we are proud to be different