[ktluvsfish]

Hi,
I am new to keeping Tangs. I only have a 29 gallon tank to work with at the moment, because I am in a small apartment and don't have room to upgrade to a larger tank. For the substrate I have black moon sand and I added limestone and shells to the tank to provide pleanty of caves for the fish. Right now I have the following residents in my tank: 2 juvie (blk or white, can't tell which) Alt. Calvus, 1 julie (again, can't tell which species) but it seems to really get along with the calvus, and 1 leleupi. I was looking to maybe add a single brichardi to the tank and maybe a schooling fish for the upper levels of the tank, but I am not sure what would work well. I was wondering if any of the smaller Paracyprichromis would work well. I really like the blue neons. Any advice would be really appreciated. My pH out of the tap is about 8.0 I have also been adding african cichlid salts to the water to increase the hardness. So far the fish seem pretty happy. Is there anything else I should be doing? I would appreciate any feedback that you have. Thanks!

 

[yuju]

tangs are a great bunch of fishes, you're going to enjoy keeping them!

what are the dimensions of the tank? i think 29 gallons will be a bit crowded if you try to add paracyps, and all the fish you are hoping to keep in there will occupy similar habitats within the tank (i.e. rock piles) which compounds the issue.

with a tanganyikan tank that size i would suggest a species tank or perhaps two compatible species only. shell dwellers are popular, or you could try smaller julies...

 

[ktluvsfish]

Thanks for the response! The dimensions of my tank are 30x12x18. I understand what you are saying about the issue of territories. I am definetly set on keeping my pair of calvus. They are such beautiful fish, and I have been wanting a pair for a while now. The Julie gets along really well with the two of them. The leleupi has been fine so far. Would I be better off going with a schooling fish such as dwarf rainbowfish to fill up the upper levels of the tank instead of the paracyps? If I did that, could I keep the fish I already have, or should I get rid of the Julie and Leleupi and go for shellies? The only problem is that shellies are very hard to find in my area, and ordering them online is pretty pricey. Thanks for the imput. I really appreciate it

 

[ktluvsfish]

I just thought of another question....
I was reading that the calvus grow slowly (only about 1 inch per year). My calvus are only one inch right now. My julie is about 1.5 inches and so is my leleupi. Could I add a few more juvie calvus and rehome them once they start to get to large for my tank? I just feel like it looks so empty with so few fish in the tank.

 

[yuju]

If the fish are still small juvies you would be fine keeping them in there and letting them grow up a bit. In the long run you'll probably run into some spacing problems, and yes, you should rehome them as they fill out.

This is just an idea (can't say I've tried it) but if you really want to keep the calvus then you might try housing just the two alone once full grown, and adding some small dithers. Hopefully one of the more experienced members can help with some actual experiences... Good luck!

 

[ktluvsfish]

I think I can probably fit more than just a pair of calvus in the tank because the 20 gallon cookie cutter suggests a pair of calvus along with other fish. I figured that in a 29 gallon I would have a little more room, I am just trying to figure out which fish to stock and whether I can keep the ones I have. Thanks for the advice. I will definetly keep that option in mind.

 

[DJRansome]

Sometimes the cookie cutters and even the articles are a little dated and newer advice you receive on the forums is more accurate. Example: when I was stocking my 38G tank which is 36" x 12" I was told to limit to a pair of Calvus and a pair of something else...ideally shellies or Caudopunctatus. So I have 6 of each right now to allow them to form pairs of their own choosing. But eventually, it will be 2 pairs in this tank.

I also have a 125G which is 72" long and read an article in the Cichlid-Forum Library about how to stock it. When I presented my proposed stocklist in a post the mods and experienced Tang keepers were shocked and suggested I scale my stocklist WAY back.

Calvus get pretty big when full grown...I don't think a 29G tank would look empty with a pair of them. What are the dimensions of your 29G? Footprint is more important than gallons. If the 20G footprint is the same as the 29G footprint, then that's why more fish are not recommended in the 29G.

 

[SwellShellDweller]

Tangs are really fun and interesting to watch you'll love your tank!

As far as the calvus goes...I kept 3 calvus in a 29 gal long with some meleagris and they were fine. However, it was 1 male and 2 females. Judging by their behavior (the male was very aggressive with the females), it seems there may be a problem if there was 2 males and one female, as she would get beat up pretty bad.

Like yuju said, you could consider getting some shell dwellers. They are really interesting fish to watch, and many have big personalities for their small size!!.....although...I havent kept leleupi before and I have heard they can be aggressive with shellies.

 

[ktluvsfish]

Sometimes the cookie cutters and even the articles are a little dated and newer advice you receive on the forums is more accurate. Example: when I was stocking my 38G tank which is 36" x 12" I was told to limit to a pair of Calvus and a pair of something else...ideally shellies or Caudopunctatus. So I have 6 of each right now to allow them to form pairs of their own choosing. But eventually, it will be 2 pairs in this tank.

I also have a 125G which is 72" long and read an article in the Cichlid-Forum Library about how to stock it. When I presented my proposed stocklist in a post the mods and experienced Tang keepers were shocked and suggested I scale my stocklist WAY back.

Calvus get pretty big when full grown...I don't think a 29G tank would look empty with a pair of them. What are the dimensions of your 29G? Footprint is more important than gallons. If the 20G footprint is the same as the 29G footprint, then that's why more fish are not recommended in the 29G.

My 29 Gallon is 12x30x18. It does have the same footprint of a 20 gallon. I don't want to have too much aggression in my tank because the tank is too cramped. I totally agree that things like cookie cutters can sometimes be out of date, but unfortunately, when you are new to something, that is the type of resource you look for because it is straight forward and not too confusing. I am in no way new to keeping cichlids, but I am new to Tangs and I want to be sure that I do it right because I know how fragile they are. I should probably stock it like a 20 gallon and maybe add some dither fish for the upper levels of the tank since it is a tall tank. What do you think?

 

[ktluvsfish]

Tangs are really fun and interesting to watch you'll love your tank!

As far as the calvus goes...I kept 3 calvus in a 29 gal long with some meleagris and they were fine. However, it was 1 male and 2 females. Judging by their behavior (the male was very aggressive with the females), it seems there may be a problem if there was 2 males and one female, as she would get beat up pretty bad.

Like yuju said, you could consider getting some shell dwellers. They are really interesting fish to watch, and many have big personalities for their small size!!.....although...I havent kept leleupi before and I have heard they can be aggressive with shellies.

What are the dimensions on a 29 gallon long. I am assuming that is different than a regular 29 gallon. Thanks for sharing your experience. Since my calvus are so small, I was thinking of getting 4 more young ones in hopes of getting a trio once they mature. What do you think of a pair of Occelotus (I probably spelled it wrong), a trio of Calvus, and maybe some dithers for the upper levels?

 

[alicem]

People may disagree with me, but I don't think rainbows are suited to your aquarium.
The brichardi and leleupi are probably too aggressive for most "dither" types you may want to add.
If you are staying with the calvus only, I found some articles about some commonly found
tetras that school and can handle your size aquarium and pH:

Black Skirt tetra
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi
Black Skirt tetra information:
Scientific name: Gymnocorymbus ternetzi
Common name: Black Skirt tetra, Black tetra, Skirt tetra
Max. size: 6.0 cm / 2.4 inches
pH range: 6.0 â€" 8.0
dH range: 5 - 19
Temperature range: 20 â€" 26°C (68 â€" 79°F)

The Black Skirt tetra is a popular aquarium fish. It can be recognized on its characteristic black “skirtâ€

 

[DJRansome]

I just recently saw a post which suggested a school of harlequin rasboras to occupy the top of a shellie tank that I want to try someday. Might work with Calvus instead of shellies.

With Calvus and shellies, you don't have to worry about "tough" top-dwellers like the black-skirt tetra as much as you would with mbuna.

I also agree with alichem...lots of people here use rainbows to occupy the top of the tank, but my reading on them suggests they need a larger tank.

I agree about the cookie cutters and the articles, I had the same experience, thus my post. Most of the information is good, but always check and value the information on a recent post over Library information. Especially if it comes from a mod or a poster that you know is very experienced (Triscuit for Tangs, for example).

 

[ktluvsfish]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was gonna go with dwarf rainbows that get only 2.5 inches, but I will go with the tetras instead. I like the black skirts and I have had them before, I'll look up the bloodfins as well. Do you both agree that I could add a shellie into the tank with the calvus?