That sounds utterly EPIC!!! That is going to be one hell of a tank!!
Sounds awesome mate. Im also going for Zaire river biotope.
2/3 Kribs
3 Upside down catfish
6-10 congo tetra
1 african bush fish
Have just had a search on the killifish you mentioned, so depending on space i might add one to the list
Thanks for the positive feedback guys! To be honest, it was complete luck that I arrived at this stocking idea, it just so happened that there seem to be a lot more common yet manageable sized "leftfield" species that originate from the African continent.
The conumdrum of what mix of fish to put in a 60 UK gallon tank has got to the point of serious obsessive compulsive disorder over the last few weeks! I started off wanting to find international species centred around Boesmani Rainbows and then Lake Kutubus, but as much as I love the colouring of these species, I began to get serious doubts about the long term effect of a 4' tank for fish that are naturally very active as well as the prospect of spending a fortune on either buying 125 litres (lots of rainbows need ~50% water change per week to stop formation of white thread-like growth on their chins) of enriched reverse osmosis water (~£18 per week) or a reverse osomosis unit... Even though Kutubus like a pH upto ~8 and moderately hard water, I suspect that Southampton's 8.2 and very hard water would have a bad long term effect on them and most other fish that could mix with rainbows.
I then thought about focusing on smaller rainbows like Praecox and Furcatus, with the likes of Rummynose, Harlequin/Copper Rasboras and and a placid dwarf cichlid like the Agassizii. However, most of the fish are not good starter groups, being rather sensitive to water conditions, plus preferring quite acidic water, which brings back the RO expense again.
A Malawi setup briefly entered my head, as my tap water would almost be perfect for them. However, as much I believe they need overstocking for aggression control, squeezing ~15 cichlids including Yellow Labs and Rusties with a BN Plec (resulting in eventually ~80 inches of fish) just does not sit well with me personally (just like the rainbows that started off this quest).
Then more recently, a Tanagnyika setup played on my mind, another one that fits the tap water well. Part of me loves the idea of a community of Dickfeldi, Goby and Ocellatus cichlids, perhaps with an upside down catfish. There were some gorgeous Tropheus Morilo Reds at Aquajardin, with what seemed like a socialable male and female in the centre of the tank and a submissive male in the very top corner of the tank, but I've had trouble finding info on whether a single pair would be happy rather than a school and then what other strctly herbivorous Tanganyikas could play nicely with them.
So then I came back to idea of having a colourful mid dweller, which is where the Congo Tetras came in, with there lovely irridescent(sp) spectrum of colour coming off the flanks. This then made me think back to some of the oddballs I had seen at Aquajardin in great condition: The African Butterfly; the upside down catfish (all these inverted fish will confuse the normal species LOL); the Humphead Glassfish (not African, but they look so different); the
Ornate Bushfish (small and quirky looking); the Leopard Bush (now not sure if a potential 20cm predator is such a good idea, would do the Ornate if anything). I then started googling west African cichlids and the Lionheads (especially in blue) look and behave quite amazing! Given the other fish, I was not suprised that Aqadvisor brought up no warning messages for adding Kribs, which did not look look great when housed next door to gorgeously red Apistogramma Agassiziis, but then the Kribs were only ~3cm and their pastell coloured fins and cherry stomach should come in time.
I'm toying with the idea of a clawless African Fan Shrimp, or a few Bamboo Shrimp, both of which like to climb plants in search of food. The Africans do a great job of filtering the water and would fit better into the African theme (suprisingly enough, given their name
)
I also fancy getting a few Yellow/Orange Rabbit Snails from Sulawesi, they look so funcky for snails!
The Golden Wonder Killi is not a cert yet, while it will certainly brighten the top level and will "hold its ground", I need to do more googling on African killis for a more biotope fitting option. The other possibility is a small group of Sulawesi Celebes Halfbeaks, I'm almost positive there was a happy hareem of larger females with a vibrant colourful male at Aquajardin (despite the plain conditions of their stock tanks, the colourful fish species all knock spots of the same species at other LFS in Southampton).
So in conclusion, from top to bottom of tank, we have...
1/2 African Butterfly
Golden Wonder Killifish OR [west African Killi] OR 5 Sulawesi Celebes Halfbeaks
5-10 Congo Tetras AND/OR 5-10 Humphead Glassfish (although these quirky guys are ~£25 a pop!)
Ornate Bushfish OR [less likely] Leopard Bushfish
<--- EDIT: Ornate seems to be a nightmare to transport, looks like more bush fish research needed!
2/3 Kribesis
3 Upside Down Catfish
2/3 Lionhead Cichlids (so hope I can sourse the blues)
~5 Sulawesi Rabbit Snails
African Fan Shrimp OR Bamboo Shrimp (not sure on this one yet)
