what kind?
- Thread starter YahooFishKeeper
- Start date
Uh oh, you said tangs...expect Orion here in a little bit. 
Most of the average Mbuna would do pretty good. Yellow labs, orange zebras, etc. Would provide for a nice active, simiaggressive, colorful display. And fairly easy too. Malawi Peacocks would be nice in there too.
You said you are interested in tangs, Orion can go into greater detail in that department....but i'd suggest looking into fish such as Calvus, and the Juli species. Basically the Julidochromis and Lamprologines. But thats all i've ever kept personally so its what i'd recommend. Some type of small Cyprichromis might fill out the top of the tank well, as the others i suggested above are rock dwellers and stay near the bottem, however i am not to confident in myself giving info on Cyprichromis. But like i said...i'm sure Orion would be glad to help you out even more tang wise.
Most of the average Mbuna would do pretty good. Yellow labs, orange zebras, etc. Would provide for a nice active, simiaggressive, colorful display. And fairly easy too. Malawi Peacocks would be nice in there too.
You said you are interested in tangs, Orion can go into greater detail in that department....but i'd suggest looking into fish such as Calvus, and the Juli species. Basically the Julidochromis and Lamprologines. But thats all i've ever kept personally so its what i'd recommend. Some type of small Cyprichromis might fill out the top of the tank well, as the others i suggested above are rock dwellers and stay near the bottem, however i am not to confident in myself giving info on Cyprichromis. But like i said...i'm sure Orion would be glad to help you out even more tang wise.
**HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!**
lol, sorry couldn't resist.
Tanganyikan ciclhids are some of the most interesting fish available in the hobby. Unfortunatly most of the time they also demand a higher price than most other cichlids. That is really their biggest drawback.
How long is your tank? I don't think I would try Cyprichromis in anything under 4 foot long. Agian, they aren't to bad priced for a single fish, but they are a schooling fish so they need pretty good numbers and that can get a little pricey.
I envy your water. I would love to have a PH that high. How hard is your water? I'm cursed with soft water and a low PH, so I have to buffer my tanks.
Julies would be a great fish to start off with. They are very entertaining to watch. With the help of a special swim bladder, they can swim and hover in any direction. Mine if often seen hovering nose up right next to a log.
Calvus are beutiful, but adults are rather costly, and juvies take FOREVER to grow. I found some great looking inkfins a while back for $15 each which was a decent price for them.
To get your feet wet in Tangnayika cichlids I would sugest that you take it slow, and understock. They need really clean and stable water to do their best.
Something that might get the enitire family interested in this tank is to get some shellies. These are smaller fish that live inside empty snail shells, and most are super easy to breed. You could start with a small colony of Neo. multifaciatus. They should be fairly cheap as long as you don't get wild ones, and don't require a large amount of teritory. They get just a little over an inch, but will try to defend the shells and attack fish much larger than they are. But because of their small size rarely do any real damage to any tankmates.
If you go with julies, be sure to stick with the dwarf julies. They are J. ornatus, J. transcriptus and most think of J. dickfeldi as a dwarf too (I do). Agian, these aren't to expensive, and can offer some nice color to the tank.
Calvus are a pretty laid back fish and not to teritorial unless breeding. But if you get young ones, it will take several years for them to mature so you won't have to worry about that for a long time.
One fish I would stay away from is Neo. brichardi, and really most fish of the Neolamprologus family if you want a community (except most shellies). They are excellent fish, but most of them are best suited to a species only tank. They defend teritory very well, and most breed often so they are always on high alert.
I think a tank with Calvus, julies and smaller shellies would make for a very nice and interesting tank. We have a few good profiles of some Tanganyika cichlids in our profiles, and you can search about the web some for different species to see what interests you. Tring to learn about cichlids can be a big task for a beginer because not many have common names. Just don't let the big words scare you off and ask if you have any questions.
-HTH
lol, sorry couldn't resist.
Tanganyikan ciclhids are some of the most interesting fish available in the hobby. Unfortunatly most of the time they also demand a higher price than most other cichlids. That is really their biggest drawback.
How long is your tank? I don't think I would try Cyprichromis in anything under 4 foot long. Agian, they aren't to bad priced for a single fish, but they are a schooling fish so they need pretty good numbers and that can get a little pricey.
I envy your water. I would love to have a PH that high. How hard is your water? I'm cursed with soft water and a low PH, so I have to buffer my tanks.
Julies would be a great fish to start off with. They are very entertaining to watch. With the help of a special swim bladder, they can swim and hover in any direction. Mine if often seen hovering nose up right next to a log.
Calvus are beutiful, but adults are rather costly, and juvies take FOREVER to grow. I found some great looking inkfins a while back for $15 each which was a decent price for them.
To get your feet wet in Tangnayika cichlids I would sugest that you take it slow, and understock. They need really clean and stable water to do their best.
Something that might get the enitire family interested in this tank is to get some shellies. These are smaller fish that live inside empty snail shells, and most are super easy to breed. You could start with a small colony of Neo. multifaciatus. They should be fairly cheap as long as you don't get wild ones, and don't require a large amount of teritory. They get just a little over an inch, but will try to defend the shells and attack fish much larger than they are. But because of their small size rarely do any real damage to any tankmates.
If you go with julies, be sure to stick with the dwarf julies. They are J. ornatus, J. transcriptus and most think of J. dickfeldi as a dwarf too (I do). Agian, these aren't to expensive, and can offer some nice color to the tank.
Calvus are a pretty laid back fish and not to teritorial unless breeding. But if you get young ones, it will take several years for them to mature so you won't have to worry about that for a long time.
One fish I would stay away from is Neo. brichardi, and really most fish of the Neolamprologus family if you want a community (except most shellies). They are excellent fish, but most of them are best suited to a species only tank. They defend teritory very well, and most breed often so they are always on high alert.
I think a tank with Calvus, julies and smaller shellies would make for a very nice and interesting tank. We have a few good profiles of some Tanganyika cichlids in our profiles, and you can search about the web some for different species to see what interests you. Tring to learn about cichlids can be a big task for a beginer because not many have common names. Just don't let the big words scare you off and ask if you have any questions.
-HTH
Sure you can put them all togeather so long the tank is large enough. I think a 46 will be enough room for all of them. But it is important to note that the julies do need to be the dwarf type (J. ornatus, transcriptus or dickfeldi).
The calvus can be any type that you want to get.
For the shellies I would probably go with either multies or occies. They are active and will provide lots of entertainment to watch. The brevis are nice, but tend to hide a lot more than the other two and aren't as active.
Tanganyikan's aren't for everyone. Most lack the color of their famous Malawi counterparts. But the behaviour of them more than make up for it IMHO.
The calvus can be any type that you want to get.
For the shellies I would probably go with either multies or occies. They are active and will provide lots of entertainment to watch. The brevis are nice, but tend to hide a lot more than the other two and aren't as active.
Tanganyikan's aren't for everyone. Most lack the color of their famous Malawi counterparts. But the behaviour of them more than make up for it IMHO.
i dont see what the big deal is with people only wanting colorful fish. i bet i can stump and amaze my friends with just the lake tanganyika part. half of my friends probably never heard it, but like that its a big word, the other half will be impressed that i have fish from that area. some people probably wont even get exactly what a rift lake is, or what importance they have to native people, and wildlife. what is it called when a species is native only in one place? like madagasgar, or the galapagos (sp?) islands.
Endemic. Many fish are found in this lake that are no where else in the world. Unlike the other rift lakes whose fish evolved primaraly from haplochromis, there are many genus involved in the evolution of the cichlids from Tanganyika.
Different strokes for different folks really. Any body can toss a box of colorfull crayons in a tank and it be pretty. It doesn't meen that keeping one is any better than the other. Just what we want to look at.
You need to know that you can't just run out and buy all these fish, toss them into the tank and expect everything to work out. The tank needs to be setup properly with the correct teritories and area's. This will help out in the long run because as the fish mature they will have a space to call there own.
There are many books available that will help you understand the fish better. A few authors that would be good to familiarize yourself with would be Ad Konings and Pierre Brichard (older work, but still a good read). Back to Nature guide: Lake Tanganyika by Konings is a great book that will help you get a realistic grasp of how to setup a tank and why you want to setup like that. It's a great practical guide. Any of his books are great though. Brichard's literature is much older, but he was a pioneer to Tanganyika and will help you learn a lot about the history of the lake and it's habitat's. A lot has changed in the past 20 years in the way the fish are named, but for the most part they still hold true today.
Different strokes for different folks really. Any body can toss a box of colorfull crayons in a tank and it be pretty. It doesn't meen that keeping one is any better than the other. Just what we want to look at.
You need to know that you can't just run out and buy all these fish, toss them into the tank and expect everything to work out. The tank needs to be setup properly with the correct teritories and area's. This will help out in the long run because as the fish mature they will have a space to call there own.
There are many books available that will help you understand the fish better. A few authors that would be good to familiarize yourself with would be Ad Konings and Pierre Brichard (older work, but still a good read). Back to Nature guide: Lake Tanganyika by Konings is a great book that will help you get a realistic grasp of how to setup a tank and why you want to setup like that. It's a great practical guide. Any of his books are great though. Brichard's literature is much older, but he was a pioneer to Tanganyika and will help you learn a lot about the history of the lake and it's habitat's. A lot has changed in the past 20 years in the way the fish are named, but for the most part they still hold true today.
i was planning on introducing the smaller fish first to get a good territory, and slowly raise the bio load. im not sure how to do a fishless cycle... i've always done in fish cycle. i have never lost a fish during the cycling process... except when i first started and had like 10 gold fish in one tank. i dont know if a fish in cycle would be the best thing to do this time...
Then you had better prepare youself.
Do not cycle a tank with cichlids.
Fishless cycles are super easy. Lots of threads in the general and beginers sections about this. Cycle with other fish if you want. But don't cycle with Tanganyikan cichlids. While some species may be able to take it, most can't. The waters they come from are super clean, so they don't have a lot of tolerance to nitrites and ammonia's.
IMHO-Once the tank is cycled: Add the shellies first with plenty of extra shells and give them up to a month if you can to establish themselves. Then the calvus, and the julies last. The julies are important to get as young as you can. This way they will be at the bottom of the tank's pecking order while young, and hopefully once mature and breeding they won't be so prone to try to take over the tank.
Another note about the julies is the best way to get a breeding pair is to start out with several young ones. But once a pair is formed you may need to remove the other julies from the tank. In a tank this small you need to stick with only one pair of breeding julies if you want to keep your other fish in the same tank.
And please, don't cycle the tank with cichlids. It is that important.
Do not cycle a tank with cichlids.
Fishless cycles are super easy. Lots of threads in the general and beginers sections about this. Cycle with other fish if you want. But don't cycle with Tanganyikan cichlids. While some species may be able to take it, most can't. The waters they come from are super clean, so they don't have a lot of tolerance to nitrites and ammonia's.
IMHO-Once the tank is cycled: Add the shellies first with plenty of extra shells and give them up to a month if you can to establish themselves. Then the calvus, and the julies last. The julies are important to get as young as you can. This way they will be at the bottom of the tank's pecking order while young, and hopefully once mature and breeding they won't be so prone to try to take over the tank.
Another note about the julies is the best way to get a breeding pair is to start out with several young ones. But once a pair is formed you may need to remove the other julies from the tank. In a tank this small you need to stick with only one pair of breeding julies if you want to keep your other fish in the same tank.
And please, don't cycle the tank with cichlids. It is that important.
Right, the hardness of the water acts as a buffer to keep the PH from changing. The harder the water, the more acids it's going to take to affect the pH. Shells will darn near last forever in hard water, so they aren't going to disolve much if any, so in short no they will not affect the PH.
The size of the shell depends on what type of shell dweller you decide to go with. Multies are small, so smaller shells will be fine. I wouldn't sugest using ones from the ocean in large amounts because of different chemicals and minnerals that my leach from the shells.
http://www.cichlidbreeding.com/products.php?cat=10
They have all sorts of shells at good prices. I've ordered from them before, and I know Cichlid-man has, and maybe a few others from just this board.
My multies really like the whales eye and turbo shells. The muffin shells are great for larger species.
Have you decided on what types of the fish your going to get?
I will be more than happy to sit and answer the questions that I can all day long. It's how we can help each other in this hobby. But don't mistake my kindness for weakness, as I do expect you to do much reseach on your own because I, nor anyone else will do it for you. Read, read, and read some more, and when you have questions feel free to ask away.
The size of the shell depends on what type of shell dweller you decide to go with. Multies are small, so smaller shells will be fine. I wouldn't sugest using ones from the ocean in large amounts because of different chemicals and minnerals that my leach from the shells.
http://www.cichlidbreeding.com/products.php?cat=10
They have all sorts of shells at good prices. I've ordered from them before, and I know Cichlid-man has, and maybe a few others from just this board.
My multies really like the whales eye and turbo shells. The muffin shells are great for larger species.
Have you decided on what types of the fish your going to get?
I will be more than happy to sit and answer the questions that I can all day long. It's how we can help each other in this hobby. But don't mistake my kindness for weakness, as I do expect you to do much reseach on your own because I, nor anyone else will do it for you.
Read, read, and read some more, and when you have questions feel free to ask away.Yep, ordered from Cichlidbreeding and it was a very good experience. I ordered about 20 each of the few types of the shells on there and got a lot for very little money. I think i still have quite a few left over that i might use in future tanks, no broken shells on arrival and all were packaged well. Just needed a rinse in the sink and they went straight into the tank. My multis like the Whale eye too, sometimes you will see them using the turbos.
I used some from the beach, whale eyes at that! Ranged in size from 5"-1" and i let the multis choose which they want to use. Had no problems using older shells from the beach that i found years back.
I havn't seen those shells raise the pH, at least not enough to do any harm (or good).
I used some from the beach, whale eyes at that! Ranged in size from 5"-1" and i let the multis choose which they want to use. Had no problems using older shells from the beach that i found years back.
I havn't seen those shells raise the pH, at least not enough to do any harm (or good).
Altolamprologus calvus looked interesting, but so did the Altolamprologus comprecessiceps. is there much of a behavioral difference? if not, should i just go on availability and looks?
researching mainly shellies right now. i cant wait till i can get it. i'll have to do some major rearanging though. my mom says i cant get any more tanks unless i get rid of one. buy one trash one free. i will probably sell them. any ways. any ideas how i should re-arrange them? and what to get rid of? i have a five gallon eclipse with acf. 5 gallon hex with male betta. 12 gallon eclipse... crappy, with 4 female bettas. 10 gallon with 2 crays. 10 gallon puffer tank. 2.5 male betta. and a 29 with clown knife, pleco, and two unwanted goldies. im hoping they will get eaten. i have to get the 55 for clown knife before i get the cichlid tank, so i will need to get rid of 2 tanks total. any ideas?
researching mainly shellies right now. i cant wait till i can get it. i'll have to do some major rearanging though. my mom says i cant get any more tanks unless i get rid of one. buy one trash one free. i will probably sell them. any ways. any ideas how i should re-arrange them? and what to get rid of? i have a five gallon eclipse with acf. 5 gallon hex with male betta. 12 gallon eclipse... crappy, with 4 female bettas. 10 gallon with 2 crays. 10 gallon puffer tank. 2.5 male betta. and a 29 with clown knife, pleco, and two unwanted goldies. im hoping they will get eaten. i have to get the 55 for clown knife before i get the cichlid tank, so i will need to get rid of 2 tanks total. any ideas?