Tanganyika cichlids info needed

[fshygirl101]

Hi
I have a 55L tank with a featherfin catfish 6 black neons a spiny eel and a couple of plants I would like to turn this tank into a Tanganyika setup. i know its a small tank for this but i also know a couple of Tanganyika cichlids are okay with that. of course ill get rid of the neons but ide like the featherfin and eel to stay though ill get rid of the eel if i must. i particularly like the fairy cichlid/Neolamprologus brichardi but ide like another more colourful Tanganyika cichlid for the top water layers of the tank anyone got any ideas?

[Zoom]

Go read the advice here: http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=4861

[fshygirl101]

But arn't tanganyika ciclids somewhat diffrent than malawis?

[TankMaster]

Start off slow. Everyone wants African Cichlids but not everyone has the space or the capabilities to care for them. Get books and search the internet like your life depends on it.

Tell us what you know about Tanganyikans and Malawis so we can tell you what we know.

Some time back Zoom Said this


....We are aiming at creating a healthy HOBBY of good sound practise! .....We are aiming at the person at home who wants to keep a fish tank. If they do not have the space in their home, we find alternate methods....

He forgot to mention that it is on the owners part to have knowledge about the fish that they are keeping. You will not be able to understand our advice if you don't know what we are talking about. There's so many articles on the net about these fish.

My advice still stands since your last thread. Get a bigger tank or get Apistrogrammas.

TM

[10i]

if you want a tang setup go for shellies and get rid of what is in the tank now... sorry.

[fshygirl101]

Thanks for the info

[keith1964]

Hi there, first browse the internet and read all the information about tanganyikan cichlids and more research on the following topics:

Tank set-up (substrate, filter and heater) these fish like very clean and oxygenated water
Water parameters - conditioners (Seachem products)
Tank mate compatibility
Feeding - very import type of food
Breeding - tank size not big enough

If you are a beginner do not start with N.brichardis very aggressive fish not other tank mates will be allowed into their boundaries.

Shelldwellers yes, there are a variety but do not know how there availability in your area.

Juliedochromis transcriptus or dickfeldis

The information you can obtain from the various internet sites the more helpful it becomes.

I also started by browsing the various internet sites, I was very inexperience and just loaded up my tanks with any beautiful fish I came across and that is when disaster struck, lots of fighting and mortality high due to the incorrect food diet. Thanks to these wonderful forums where one can pick up lots of ideas and share your thoughts.

[fshygirl101]

hi guys i decided to go for a brichardi speicies/breeding tank 55L is supposed to be ok for that thanks for the info now i know what im doing.

[Slojo]

Wait,before you start You need to watch
Jewels Of The Rift.
Even a 55L is way too small.
You need to look at a 100L for a pair but if you watch this Documentary you will realise that Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika does not conform to the accepted norm for tanksize.
Shellies need one dominant male,a few females as well as some midget males.
Therefore i would suggest that you start looking at a 1.5 meter tank to house them properly.

A 55L will only lead to deaths and a waste of money and fishes.
If you cannot download this Documentary give me your postal adress and i'll mail you a copy,but it is a must that you view this ,so that you can understand their behavioral patterns and living conditions.

PLEASE DO NOTGO AHEAD WITH YOUR PLAN TO HOUSE THEM IN SUCH A SMALL TANK.

[fshygirl101]

ish everything is setup and ive done alot of work but i dont want to kill fish. ive planned so many diffrent things for my tank and everytime i pick something i setup my tank for it go do reseach find out where to get the fish then come to this forum and find out my tank is much too small, then i find something else i like which should work and go through the same prodecure. but ive been to many diffrent web sites and they say 55L is fine for a brichardi species tank with one pair. i watched most of jewels of the rift but i must admit it didnt really help me. it was interesting though.

internet says it should work for shellies, will it? and can my featherfin cat and eel stay, i really like them.

[Sean]

Hey. I would have too agree that your tank is very small. But you could always start with a few lamprologus multifisiatus, they are easy too keep and in you tank you could keep 1 male and a few girls. But note only 1 male as 2 would fight too the death. I have kept a lot of tang fish and bred almost all and what I have learnt is easiest is multis I kept 20 adults and hundreds of babies in a 150L tank so 1male and 3-4 girls should work. But you should really get a bigger tank. O and brichardi will fight too the death for territory and girls so they need space and a lot of it. I hope this helps you. Sean