[mic_dk]

Hi fellow fish friends,

After a few years of absence from the hobby, I am in the process of planning my new tank and decided that it will be a Lake Tanganyika setup.
The water out of the tap here is very hard with ~18 kH and 20 dH, that should be a good base for the tanganyikans, right ?

About my tank:

Dimensions are (length x width x height)
100 x 40 x 50 cm = 40 x 16 x 20 inch (approx)
That's 200 liter = 53 g (approx).

As substrate i have planned to use a not-too-bright sand and want to build some rock formations out of dark/black granite rocks, probably in each corner and eventually let them meet in the middle.

I have ordered two slim background modules, too:

For planting I will probably use just a few Anubias between the rocks and or Vallisneria.
Got a 200 W Heater and an eheim external canister filter that can do 1050 liter per hour.

So I am not sure about how to stock it.
I am pretty much settled on a small Julidochromis species (either transcriptus or ornatus) and Neolamprologus meleagris shelldwellers.
I am wondering which other species would be a good fit for the tank, if it can even support another one..?
Really like the look of N. leleupi, but they might be too aggressive for this setup ?
Else I was thinking Paracyprichromis nigripinnis "Blue Neon", but not sure if the tank is not too small for them..
Any advice on those two or other species that could do well with my two favourites?

Also, i suppose I cant get adult paired species, so I have to buy a small flock juveniles and let them pair out?
Will it even be possible to catch the remaining fish out of a fully decorated tank (Thinking mainly about Julidochromis)?
I am also worried about where I can take them afterwards, I doubt the LFS will take them back..

Greetings from Denmark

 

[DJRansome]

Welcome to Cichlid-forum!

I would skip the leleupi with the shellies...also you already have 2 species for the bottom. Paracyps should work.

When you have to catch fish, tearing down the tank is not as big of a task as it may seem and you have to be prepared to do it anyway for a sick or deceased fish.

If the LFS cannot sell you paired fish (fish that have produced fry together), then how can they refuse to take back extras when they mature? It helps if your LFS is familiar with cichlids. The julidochromis will be the only ones with this issue most likely.

 

[mic_dk]

Thanks for the reply!

I will look into Paracyprichromis and find a LFS that is willing to take fish back!

 

[mic_dk]

Could it work to stock a group of leleupi and a group of julidochromis transcriptus or ornatus (all juveniles, 4-6 fish of each species) ?
I would skip the shelldwellers and paracyps then and remove any suppressed fish.

Or is the tank too small for that ?