West African habitat tank

A

ArkyLady

Addict In Training
Nov 27, 2002
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Arkansas
I've been doing a lot of research on setting up a west African habitat/biotype tank (namely Niger river/basin area). I'm collecting profiles with as much detailed information as I can find about various fish (and plants) from this region that are reported to work well in a community tank. Since I haven't had much luck finding any detailed information about this type of habitat setup, I've decided to compile all the information I do have into a website so I can post it for others once it's complete.

If anyone has setup a tank similar to this, I'd greatly appreciate any pics of your setup and tips on how to best duplicate this habitat. Any fish you've had success with would be nice too, I have a decent list going so far, but more info is always welcome and as much "real life" info I can get on each fish the more informative the website will be.

Please include whatever information you'd like to be included in the credits for anything you contribute :)

Thanks!
 
My favorite West African tank features Nannochromis transvestitus. Unfortunately, after having paid for them, I couldn't afford any of the nifty barbs that I would have used for dither fish (Barbus jae), for example.

However, even without that I am still able to say that the fishes of West Africa like extremely soft and acidic water. For example, my fish wouldn't breed until I got the pH down to around 5, and then they wouldn't stop. They also preferred dim light and definitely peaty-colored water.

It may differ for you, depending on the species you are considering, but my one thought is that habitat replication (as opposed to the Germanic concept of regression towards a 7.0 mean) is the best guarantee of success. Good luck.
 
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If you do plan to do a west african tank setup..Please post your pics.. I would be interested in seeing them. I hope you plan to add fish that are not cichlids. I have seen so many tanks that were setup for for cichlids (african setup), but not specifically other fish. Would be nice to see a elephant nose included in there!
 
It's been awhile since I thought about my West African biotope!

I just purchased a 150gal Oceanic (used) tank and got all excited about setting up a reef system in it, until I realized I would have to take out a loan to buy enough lights for this thing! Not to mention the other equipment and learning curve involved. So I decided to scrap that idea for now and get started on my West African biotope finally :)

Anyone set one of these up that didn't see this post last time around by chance? And no I don't mean cichlids and yes Jamison an elephant nose was definitely on my list! Some great fish come from that area besides cichlids.

I'll have to dig up that website I started making for this that has all my info I saved. If anyone has any further info on fish from this region, please pass it along so I can be sure to include it on there. I'll be starting from scratch with this project, so I'll be sure to take lots of pics as I go!
 
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