New fish! - Tanganyika Shoreline 50G Riparium

[Jeffww]

Ah. I highly suggest shell dwellers then. Very fascinating behavior, but you do have to sacrifice a lot of space to little escargot shells for them to live.

[hydrophyte]

Originally Posted by Jeffww

Ah. I highly suggest shell dwellers then. Very fascinating behavior, but you do have to sacrifice a lot of space to little escargot shells for them to live.

That would be great, but I would worry about the Synodontis being too disruptive for the shell dwellers. I am planning the whole thing around the catfish. I need cichlids that will hang around in the rocks or swim around in the mid-water area.

Smaller Julidochromis spp. seem like a good idea. If I can find some a small Cyprichromis in a small group would be really group.

[hydrophyte]

Here are a couple more shots to show the riparium foliage. The Ruellia, Asclepias and Cyperus are all growing in well. I will have flowers on the Asclepias before too long.

[crazydaz]

Paracyps or Cyps, maybe Devin?

[hydrophyte]

Originally Posted by crazydaz

Paracyps or Cyps, maybe Devin?

Yes I have had those in mind. Cyprichromis is better recommended for larger tanks, but there are some type localities for C. leptosoma that are smaller than some others.

I got a hardscape into this thing I'll have pictures in three hours when the dust settles.

[hydrophyte]

Bookmarking this page...

http://www.fishbase.org/trophiceco/F....php?ve_code=4

[hydrophyte]

I was waylaid last night but here's a quick picture from this morning.

The background plants are growing in well. I need to get more plants established on trellis rafts to start to cover up the planters. I also added this new hardscape of big limestone slabs that I pilfered from our yard. I like the way the look of these rocks and I'm surprised I never thought to use them before.

[Overfloater]

If you need some shells, I about 100 or so from my old shellie setup.

[hydrophyte]

Originally Posted by Overfloater

If you need some shells, I about 100 or so from my old shellie setup.

Thanks. Shellies are probably not a good idea for this setup because I already have that group of Synodontis catfish in there and they are very active and swim all around the bottom. Species that would hang around in the rocks would be better.

[hydrophyte]

Here's a shot of the riparium foliage. Everything is growing in well. I will have to start pruning some of it back pretty soon. The Asclepias Mexican milkweed have flower buds and they will bloom soon.

[crazydaz]

Paracyps hang out by rocks. I'm just sayin'.....maybe you forgot that I told you that before.....

Awesome, D! Love it! I was going to do the whole, pilfer my yard thing too, but decided against it at the last second. My wife would have been screaming like a Banshee at me for doing it.

[hydrophyte]

Originally Posted by crazydaz

Paracyps hang out by rocks. I'm just sayin'.....maybe you forgot that I told you that before.....

Awesome, D! Love it! I was going to do the whole, pilfer my yard thing too, but decided against it at the last second. My wife would have been screaming like a Banshee at me for doing it.

Yes Paracyprichromis are on my list of fish to look out for, but I'm limited by what I can find easily. It is hard to get very good Tanganyika fish. I will probably just order some fish and pay for the Express shipping. My current favorite idea is still to use a group of goby cichlids.

If I still have it in the tank when the snow melts I can replace that limestone in the border of the flower bed easily enough.

[hydrophyte]

I think I have a good idea for an additional fish to add to this tank!

There is quite a bit of open water space up in the front of the tank and I have thought that it might look best if I could include some kind of schooling fish. One idea that I had earlier for the fish stocking was to use a group of Cyprichromis, and then call it good. These active fish get to be several inches long however and this 36" is rather short for them. While snooping around I encountered this fish that I had never heard of before...

Google: Lamprichthys tanganicanus
https://www.google.com/search?q=Lamp...LoX9qAGWqIHwAw

What a cool fish! This is a killi that occurs in open water habitats in Lake Tanganyika and it's gorgeous. It looks something like a rainbow. However, L. tanganicanus also gets to be rather big, to 6", and it would be better suited to a bigger tank.

While looking around some more on the Internet I saw some descriptions of using this fish as a Tanganyika tank dither and something of a stand-in for the more delicate, larger-growing and hard-to-find L. tanganicanus...

Google: Oryzias wowerae
https://www.google.com/search?q=oryz...D4-uqQGt04HABg

What a great idea! O. wowerae is not from Africa at all, but it makes sense to use it in a Tanganyika setup. The area in Sulawesi where it originates has karst (limestone) topography and streams with high dissolved mineral content and probably few underwater plants.

I should be able to track down a group of these, then if I can just add one Tanganyika cichlid that will use the rocky areas in the tank this setup will be complete.

[hydrophyte]

Here's another cool idea for this setup, a Tankanyika lampeye!

Aplocheilichthys pumilus
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Aplo...s-pumilus.html

[hydrophyte]

The Asclepias Mexican milkweed is blooming! This plant flowers readily in the riparium if you give it light.