Lake Tanganyika Species • New to Cichlids

[CCCrandall]

Hello everyone i am new to cichlids, i only worked with geckos until this past week. I was at my local pet store selling some of my geckos and i saw some Julio. "Gombi" and i was intrigued so i bought a 30gal and 2 of them. I was so entertained by them i went back and bought 2 Julio. Ornatus and Lepido. Kendali. Let the addiction begin:)

[Iggy Newcastle]

Cool and welcome to the forum.

Did your LFS tell you anything about cycling your tank?

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fishless_cycle.php

Very important stuff. If your tank is not cycled I would suggest purchasing some Dr Tims One & Only nitrifying bacteria to put you on the fast track to a cycled tank.

[DJRansome]

Also, two species of julidochromis are likely to crossbreed and a 30G might not be big enough for either pair to be happy cohabiting. I think the kendali needs a bigger tank, but hopefully experienced keepers will chime in.

[Razzo]

...suggest purchasing some Dr Tims One & Only nitrifying bacteria to put you on the fast track to a cycled tank.

Congrats on entering the cichlid world. Many-many interesting sizes, shapes, colors, and personalities of cichlids. Have to be careful mixing them which we can help

BTW: If your LFS doesn't carry Dr. Tims, they will most likely carry SeaChem Stability. You can cycle a new tank in eight days with it. You have to get a handle on cycling your tank asap otherwise you will lose fish to the coming ammonia spike. Hopefully, your LFS covered this with you.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=12021

Russ

[slieb845]

look up leleupi and brichardi cichlids. They are also great for a smaller tanganyikan tank

[Fogelhund]

look up leleupi and brichardi cichlids. They are also great for a smaller tanganyikan tank

On their own... yes. With other cichlids, not so much.

Back to the beginning though. I would recommend keeping only one of the Julidochromis species that you've picked up. Choose the one that you like the most, and pick up four more of those. The other species should go back to the store. The Lepidiolamprologus kendalli is an predator of smaller fish, and very aggressive when spawning. I wouldn't keep a pair of these in anything less than a four foot tank... when alone. I've seen some specimens at 8" and large enough to eat adult Jul. ornatus or gombi. They too need to go back.

From there, I would either recommend either looking at some Altolamprologus calvus, or perhaps a group of Lamprologus multifasciatus, a very entertaining shelldweller. Let us know which works for you, and we can help you with your tank from there.

[CCCrandall]

Thanks for the help everyone! i bought another tank to seperate the julis. As for the Kendali, theyre just as big as the rest of the cichlids. And dont seem to be terrorizing the others.

[Storiwyr]

As for the Kendali, theyre just as big as the rest of the cichlids. And dont seem to be terrorizing the others.

YET. You have to realize that things change with these fish, and they change fast. If you just put these guys in a week ago, they are still adjusting. You don't want to wait for them to start killing each other to do something. The Kendali will get bigger, and it will be easier to deal with the issue now than deal with it later. If you're new to Cichlids, trust people like Fogelhund who are experts.

[Fogelhund]

As for the Kendali, theyre just as big as the rest of the cichlids. And dont seem to be terrorizing the others.

They won't terrorize anything for now. But, once they get to 4-5" (which will happen quick), they may pair up. Once they pair up and spawn, it is probable that every other fish in your tank will be dead overnight. In the meantime, make sure that your tank has no openings in the top, they are well known for being escape artists and landing on the floor.