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Juwel Rio 240 Tanganyikan Community

5K views 33 replies 6 participants last post by  lee1983 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Sorry for yet another stocking question but hopefully this is a quick answer!

I am new to Tanganyikan cichlids and want to make sure I get my stocking right from the off. I have a Juwel Rio 240 Litre (63 US Gallon) tank 48"x20"x15" starting from scratch. Firstly is my 1mm fine gravel substrate ok for the stocking I will suggest as I am not sure where fine sand becomes the requirement. Secondly, stocking numbers seem to be hard research so any assistance would be greatly appreciated;

Stocking
6 x Julidochromis (thinking Marlieri)
12 x Cyptichromis Leptosoma
10 x Neolamprologus (potentially Ocellatus)

I think this would be it but if I have space for Synos or anything else please do let me know. Thanks in advance!
 
#2 ·
Go with smaller Julidochromis. J. transcriptus, ornatus, sp. Kombe... the marlieri will be too aggressive in this tank, particularly with the ocellatus. You just want a pair, so once you have a pair, remove the rest.

As far as the ocellatus are concerned, you really only need a trio or quad. If you can ID the sex at purchase, just get a male and two to three females.

Make sure that the leptosoma aren't jumbo.
 
#3 ·
Fogelhund said:
Go with smaller Julidochromis. J. transcriptus, ornatus, sp. Kombe... the marlieri will be too aggressive in this tank, particularly with the ocellatus. You just want a pair, so once you have a pair, remove the rest.

As far as the ocellatus are concerned, you really only need a trio or quad. If you can ID the sex at purchase, just get a male and two to three females.

Make sure that the leptosoma aren't jumbo.
Thanks for the advice Fogel, if you were to try and keep the same numbers is that possible with any other species, basically I want Leptosoma (non jumbo) for the mid to top, a rock side and a shell dwelling side. As populated as possible for the size tank.

Everything is flexible I think and if you can suggest a mid to high water column fish replacement happy to consider it.
 
#4 ·
bbroom89 said:
...if you were to try and keep the same numbers is that possible with any other species...
Not really. Julies and shell dwellers are about as mellow as you are going to get for this kind of Tanganyikan setup, and in a tank with a 48" x 16" footprint you just don't have space for more than a few breeding pairs. The good news is that even a single pair of J. ornatus will soon populate the tank with their progeny, which will become part of a cooperative breeding colony. Very cool. The shell dwellers are even easier. So my advice would be not to worry too much about the initial numbers, because those are going to change over time.

bbroom89 said:
...I want Leptosoma for the mid to top, a rock side and a shell dwelling side. As populated as possible for the size tank. Everything is flexible I think and if you can suggest a mid to high water column fish replacement happy to consider it.
Again, make them happy and the Julies and Shellies will populate the tank for you.

There really aren't any other viable mid-water choices for a setup like this other than Cyprichromis. That said, if you get one of the more exotic and desirable Cyprichromis, e. g. C. leptosoma Mpimbwe 'Black Bee,' they will become the stars of the tank, and you will have no problem selling any fry.

BTW, you're not in Norwich, Connecticut, right? :)
 
#5 ·
sir_keith said:
bbroom89 said:
...if you were to try and keep the same numbers is that possible with any other species...
Not really. Julies and shell dwellers are about as mellow as you are going to get for this kind of Tanganyikan setup, and in a tank with a 48" x 16" footprint you just don't have space for more than a few breeding pairs. The good news is that even a single pair of J. ornatus will soon populate the tank with their progeny, which will become part of a cooperative breeding colony. Very cool. The shell dwellers are even easier. So my advice would be not to worry too much about the initial numbers, because those are going to change over time.

bbroom89 said:
...I want Leptosoma for the mid to top, a rock side and a shell dwelling side. As populated as possible for the size tank. Everything is flexible I think and if you can suggest a mid to high water column fish replacement happy to consider it.
Again, make them happy and the Julies and Shellies will populate the tank for you.

There really aren't any other viable mid-water choices for a setup like this other than Cyprichromis. That said, if you get one of the more exotic and desirable Cyprichromis, e. g. C. leptosoma Mpimbwe 'Black Bee,' they will become the stars of the tank, and you will have no problem selling any fry.

BTW, you're not in Norwich, Connecticut, right? :)
Thank you Sir (In every sense!)

So in theory the numbers is not a worry start smaller and expect the colony element of Tanganyikans to shine through (This is the coolest part about them I find anyway)

So go for a 1m/3f of Ocellatus, 4-6 Ornatus and only keep 1 breeding pair, then is 12 Cypri (Non-jumbo) viable or should I go for more or less? Will any Syno catfish fit anywhere in this or not an avenue to explore? And yes those Black Bee's are stunning!

Far and away from Norwich, Connecticut, Norwich in the UK for me!
 
#6 ·
Doing a bit more research on what I can get in a Covid world in the UK.

Shell dwellers I can get are Brevis or Caudopunctatus red fins. If I went for either of these do I apply the same rules as the Ocellatus?
Transcriptus and Ornatus 4-6 of these then pick 1 breeding pair.
Cypri Leptos are available so that's a guaranteed!
 
#7 ·
bbroom89 said:
Shell dwellers I can get are Brevis or Caudopunctatus red fins. If I went for either of these do I apply the same rules as the Ocellatus?
Pretty much; it's largely a matter of personal choice. I have a soft spot for N. brevis; really cute to see the tiny females and much larger males together. But N. caudopunctatus is a nice little fish as well.

bbroom89 said:
So go for a 1m/3f of Ocellatus, 4-6 Ornatus and only keep 1 breeding pair, then is 12 Cypri (Non-jumbo) viable or should I go for more or less?
That sounds about right.

bbroom89 said:
Will any Syno catfish fit anywhere in this or not an avenue to explore?
Not if you want any fry. I've never seen the attraction of keeping Synodontis as mostly you never see them.

bbroom89 said:
Far and away from Norwich, Connecticut, Norwich in the UK for me!
I was just kidding. :) Years ago I lived not far from Norwich CT.

Good luck!
 
#8 ·
I am sure one is based on the other Sir!

Glad for this forum, i had an idea on the fish to some extent but getting numbers was actually quite difficult for some reason.

Picture of the future home, rocky slate side on the left. Fake plants to be replaced with shells, these are just from my cycled other tank!

 
#9 ·
There are a number of options that you could swap out the Julidochromis for. A pair of Telmatochromis vittatus/bifrenatus or a pair of Neolamprologus buescheri could work instead... not many other options though. Some rarer Neolamprologus might work... like ventralis.. but good luck finding those.
 
#10 ·
Fogelhund said:
There are a number of options that you could swap out the Julidochromis for. A pair of Telmatochromis vittatus/bifrenatus or a pair of Neolamprologus buescheri could work instead... not many other options though. Some rarer Neolamprologus might work... like ventralis.. but good luck finding those.
Thanks Fogel,

I do like the Julis, if I were going to swap them the thing I would want is the Calvus. Having trouble seeing my picture in my previous post can anyone else see it?
 
#12 ·
bbroom89 said:
Fogelhund said:
There are a number of options that you could swap out the Julidochromis for. A pair of Telmatochromis vittatus/bifrenatus or a pair of Neolamprologus buescheri could work instead... not many other options though. Some rarer Neolamprologus might work... like ventralis.. but good luck finding those.
Thanks Fogel,

I do like the Julis, if I were going to swap them the thing I would want is the Calvus. Having trouble seeing my picture in my previous post can anyone else see it?
You could do a pair, or trio of calvus instead of the Julies... that shouldn't be a problem.
 
#13 ·
I can't see your pic either. You need to go to 'Post Reply' (not 'Quick Reply), then 'Upload Attachment' then 'Choose File,' 'Upload File,' and 'Place Inline' before the pic will appear in your message. Lots of steps.

I agree that Calvus would work, but for me the Julies are more interesting. :thumb:
 
#14 ·
Apparently, the smaller Julies like Ornatus are quite fond of hiding and really only come out with feeding, is this true?

Will the rockwork be enough, will be blacking out the back and left side of the tank so it feels more safer and cave like for them as well.

]

 

Attachments

#15 ·
I can see a couple of these pictures. That rockwork is not near enough for the Julidochromis, nor what they are really looking for. They want flat deep caves, and multiple levels. I just took a couple of videos of my marlieri and ornatus for an idea of what they prefer. Quick videos, apology for the quality.



 
#16 ·
Fogelhund said:
I can see a couple of these pictures. That rockwork is not near enough for the Julidochromis, nor what they are really looking for. They want flat deep caves, and multiple levels. I just took a couple of videos of my marlieri and ornatus for an idea of what they prefer. Quick videos, apology for the quality.



Thanks Fogel, they look stunning.

Very different to what i have then so basically paving slab sized rocks with levels?
 
#17 ·
Whatever you can find that offers flat, low caves for them to hide in, and breed in. They prefer the depths of a cave, darkness. Young fry tend to hang around the flat rocks, often upside down in the caves for protection. Slate, whatever... and build the bottom two levels, so they are just thick enough for your adult Julies to get through. They can produce a lot of babies, once they get going for sure though.
 
#21 ·
bbroom89 said:
Thanks Sir,

I have seen concrete paving slabs (Which is what the ones i can quickly get although they look limestoney) Are not a great idea to use, is this a common consensus?
You never know what's in them. And from an aesthetic standpoint, I think they look ugly. You certainly can't make them look like a rocky biotope in the lake, as shown below-

tanganyika_dive_005.jpg
 
#23 ·
bbroom89 said:
That is a very fair point, interestingly yours isn't as high Sir, no issues with the slightly less tall combination of rocks?
I think you can get carried away with the rockwork for these fishes. That's a 40-gallon Long tank for the ornatus; I don't want 10 gallons of the volume to be rocks. And the ornatus seem to be happy, so... :)
 
#24 ·
sir_keith said:
bbroom89 said:
That is a very fair point, interestingly yours isn't as high Sir, no issues with the slightly less tall combination of rocks?
I think you can get carried away with the rockwork for these fishes. That's a 40-gallon Long tank for the ornatus; I don't want 10 gallons of the volume to be rocks. And the ornatus seem to be happy, so... :)
That is the main thing just having happy healthy fishies! Will have a look at what I can get.
 
#25 ·
bbroom89 said:
...That is the main thing just having happy healthy fishies! Will have a look at what I can get...
I used to live in New England, shale and granite shards everywhere, so that's what I used in my tanks. After a while I switched over to 'river rocks' because I thought they looked more natural. That's what I use exclusively now, not least because I have a few tons of these in the landscaping around my property. There are some amazing 'rocky shore biotope' tanks that you can find online, like this one (not mine) at http://biotope-aquarium.info/aquari...allow-rocky-shores-of-ikola-tanzania-487-l/#- It's so realistic they even used slightly turbid water! :thumb:

Screen Shot 2021-04-12 at 10.14.05 AM.png
 
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