Lake Tanganyika Species • The mix

[realfun1]

Hi guys Im new here. My name is Bill. I have had Tangs for a long time. I am trying new types of fish. I purchased some 6 Kilesa, 4 Black calvus and 4 very small Syn. Petricola . I have a 80g tank. My question is I have a 5+ in. Syn.Polli cat that I want to have in the same tank. I know he likes to eat fry. Will the Kilesa still do their thing? I put rocks on both ends of tank with alot of sand thru the middle. The Polli never bothered small fish. Any thoughts.

Thanks,

[Shaky]

I don't think I'd trust a large catfish to leave any of those alone.
Wouldn't that big polli just eat all the new ones, even before they manage to spawn? Maybe I'm wrong..

[realfun1]

Anybody else have an opinion about this? Shaky your probably right. My cat is a Syndotis Polli. It looks like a Petricola.

[DJRansome]

In general, any Synodontis will bother any bottom dwellers, and not just at the time there are fry present either. I have a group of 5 polli, nice fish.

[realfun1]

So will the cat eat the bottom dwellers, or just make them uneasy? The cat lived with L. Brichardi for years and I never witness ed the cat messing with the brichardi except the newborn fry. I just dont know with these new fish. DJ I really like my Polli. He's or she is a beauty. I was hoping to keep him in my big tank. I dont want to loose any fish.

[DJRansome]

Brichardi is a rock dweller. Regarding shellies (and kilesa), they want to own the bottom and Synodontis want to be everywhere on the bottom, the shellies are constantly disrupted and do not display their normal behavior. The cats will only "eat" fry IME.

[realfun1]

Thank you for your info! Now I need to get some mid-water swimmers. Any Ideas I was thinking blue orchid Livua. 6 -8.. Could I also do a small group of shellies like brevis or similar.

[DJRansome]

Synodontis will bother the shellies too. Consider them your bottom dweller. Calvus is your rock dweller. What are the dimensions of your tank?

If your tank is big enough for cyps, you want a group of at least 12 individuals.

[realfun1]

I will not put my Polli in this tank. So I have 6 Kilesa 4 Calvus . My dimensions are 48w 24 ht. 15 d. Some blue orchids , A few shellies, What about a couple gobys to add to this tank?

[DJRansome]

I think with the kilesa (bottom), calvus (rocks) and cyps (top) you are full. If you want shellies, I'd skip the kilesa.

I did not realize Monday that blue orchids are jumbo cyps...may be too much for a 48" x 15" tank. I'd go with 12 non-jumbos.

[noddy]

I will not put my Polli in this tank. So I have 6 Kilesa 4 Calvus . My dimensions are 48w 24 ht. 15 d. Some blue orchids , A few shellies, What about a couple gobys to add to this tank?

Blue orchids are jumbo cyps, you'r going to want to stick with a non jumbo in a 4' tank, ie: utinta, blue flash etc.

[Darkskies]

You could probably have another rock dweller like one of the smaller julidochromis species if the dimensions of your tank are large enough(length most important) and if you have a good distance between your rock piles. Lamprologus brevis is a pairing shelldweller that doesn't require much room for its territory(in the wild a male and female pair oftentimes share the same shell!) so I would think you might be able to have a pair of those if you scatter a couple shells in one corner. Caveat: My advice is given based on what I've read and researched and not really anything I've experienced.