Lake Tanganyika slices

Hi,

I'm really fascinated by Lake Tanganiyka and it's inhabitant and i want to keep every single species i get attracted to see. I've a dream to fly to the lake and have diving done, but for now i've started 2 1.2m tanks which i call them as "Lake Tanganyika slices". One is with black sand and other is with play sand. Here in this thread i will try to keep the progress of my fishes and there is another hidden agenda to attract people to these wonderful cichlids. I will get started with following 2 lovely fishes.

Altolamprologus compressiceps - Nangu region


Frontosa - Mpimbwe


There will be more to come with the FTS and other varieties I've.

Adesh

 

can't wait!

 

Awesome, big into setups which are geographically accurate in structure, fauna and flora. Will be awesome, and going there for some snorkeling/diving would be the cherry on-top.

 

Howzit @adesh8028 - great photos dude!

Both fish look a bit dark though and my dominant male (and all others) Compressiceps has visible vertical barring.
The Fronts whites don't seem to pop and the blues look more black - is this just in the photos? Could have to do with substrate, background, decor, light, their place in the hierarchy, stress, etc. etc. etc.

I find it nearly impossible to capture the colors of Lake Tanganyika cichlids and hence don't come up with many photos - and sometimes every more difficult to find the "take photo" button.

Cant wait for more! Enjoy!

 

Stunning idea. Had some Tangs a while ago. Nice thing about them is that you can go planted without them causing too much problems

 

@iamdieter - let's plan a trip to tanzania
@Jack Stone - jack, i think the images are darker because of soil and background. You are right about vertical bars are prominently visible, this picture is one his expressions where i guess he is trying to be alert and on the go in order to grab the food. About fronts you may be right with respect to substrate taking part in showing colours. In fact I've seen it with the caudopunctatus i have it in 2 tanks, where the pair in play sand look more beautiful.
@Pierré-Schoonraad - I've not tried the plants with these guys, however i've read that they can survive with plants (provided its not heavily planted) as you said.

@lep2soma - brother, will try to upload few today.

 

Now that would be cool. Middle Amazon and Rio Negro however top on my list at the moment. Looks like that may become a reality in August 2014.

Have been to and explored Western Lake Malawi underwater. Magnificent! Found some very interesting Compressiceps there, - yellow in colour.

Also attempted Lake Victoria and Lake Kivu, saw nothing, - water very murky in both. Tanganyka must be a gem. Air Rwanda and think even SAA fly direct to Bujumbura, right up north of the lake. Not sure what is best in terms of diving/snorkeling.

 

Once again, wanted show the same fish

Altolamprologus compressiceps - Nangu region


And Neolamprologus cylindricus

 

Tagging. Interesting stuff @iamdieter

 

@adesh8028: do you intend breeding the cylindricus, and how big are they?

 

@lep2soma - unfortunately this guy is the lone survivor from recent mishap happened due to high chlorine in water while i was doing WC. This guy was the dominant and proven male.

Does anyone have female for him?

 

I may be able to help, I still have a few youngsters around.

 

Nice tangs! However my concern is with the mpimbwe. How old are they? Do you have black substrate and background with them? The reason im asking is at this age you should see more blue on them even under stress they should show a very dark blue. Fronts is my game and where I cant help I do..... again nothing to worry about just my concern in lack of blue. And also do you have light on them and do your camera have a flesh when you took the pick. Light always brings out the blue in any blue variant. Again just my concern.... I would like to see a pick of all of them.... enjoy your tangs...

 

Thanks guys.

@lep2soma - please pm me the details.
@Ebrahim - My camera has a flash, in this photo it was overhead flash; may be this has caused them to loose blue. And more to that, i guess black substrate may have contributed as well. Which colour substrate you are using for your fronts?

 

Im using white fine coral.

 

PM sent

 

Thanks guys.

I've taken another one of frontosa. Here, he is looking more blue than earlier one.

 

Nice mpimbwe! I would like to see them when they are big. Beautiful! Try changing the subtrate to white. You can use play sand, pool filter sand or building sand. Make sure you clean it well. Stay away from sand blasting sand. The white substrate should bring out the blue more naturally. cool man enjoy.

 

@adesh8028 - what did you change on that last Frontosa photo?

@Ebrahim touched on the lighting question but you didn't pick up on it much - may I?

What type of lighting are you using on the tank? Can recommend 50% white and 50% actinic, either in one bulb or two separate bulbs.
For the Fronts you may want to lean a bit more toward actinic, I believe you get 40/60 bulbs as well, might want to give that a try.
Also, try to remove the flash from the camera and rely on your tanks lighting if you can.

I've found beach sand to be the best substrate for Tanganyika cichlids - not too fine, not too course and seems to be the same color as the sand in Lake Tanganyika.
Can't do much about it now (maybe use a 3D background inside the tank if there is enough floor space) but I don't think the black background does wonders for Frontosa either.

These things, along with their position in the colony, diet, mood etc. etc. can all play a part in how the Frontosa appear to us... then there's just the minor issue of the camera changing the end result into something completely different. Ultimately only you can tell what's working best in your environment. If you ever get the chance to see them (unstressed) in a bit of sunlight (not the dish washing liquid, hahah!) then you'll know what you're striving towards.

 

Howsit Jack.i make use of the rooms light as I have a breeding setup and display is not in my interest at the moment. But to what I have seen when my colony was in Seans tank my colony had amazing blue on them. I believe he used a 50/50 light and that is also recommend by cyphos.com. any one interested in increasing there knowledge on frontosa this is the site for great info.