Embarking on the discovery of rift lake cichlids.

**Pearl** · 12-11-2009, 12:01 AM

In other words, this is another plea for stocking advice.

I've been eyeing the lamprologus meleagris in the LFS for a few months now. Last week, I managed to get a good deal on a 45 gallon tank. So I was thinking I could keep two or three breeding pairs of the meleagris in this tank along with, say, a few neolamprologus marunguensis and a few julidochromus transcriptus. I was also wondering if I could add a brichardi or two or perhaps a calvus or compressiceps. Or should I just stick with the smaller species? And if so, how many of each?

Anyone?

**Pearl** · 12-11-2009, 11:14 PM

No one?

**petluvr** · 12-11-2009, 11:19 PM

I suck at stocking....LOL I am sure someone will be along

**Pearl** · 12-11-2009, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by petluvr

I suck at stocking....LOL I am sure someone will be along

Thank you, my friend. You are so kind.

**Jayhawk** · 12-15-2009, 2:27 PM

I'd do the shellies (2 or 3 pairs should work depending on the floor space in your tank) with either transcriptus or cavlus/comps. Any of the brichardi complex (which includes your marunguensis) will eventually take over the entire tank by forming a nice colony and kill your other fish. The brichardi complex, IMHO, should always have their own tank.

Meleagris are tough little buggers...maybe a pair of transcriptus and a single calvus/comp would make a nice tank with the shellies.

Eric

**toddnbecka** · 12-15-2009, 9:27 PM

Transcriptus should be fine, calvus/comp's are fry predators by nature. They are very sensitive to water conditions when small, incredibly slow-growing, and also quite shy. I'd recommend placing a rockpile in the middle of the tank with shells on each end. The Julies would occupy the rocks, which would also provide a sight break between the pairs of shellies and their territories.

**Pearl** · 12-15-2009, 10:50 PM

So the marunguensis are out if I want to build this tank around the meleagris, huh? Darn! I've fallen in love with both cichlids. What about the n. caudopunctatus? Would they be compatible with the meleagris?

Thanks for the replies, Todd and Jayhawk. All advice is needed and appreciated.

**Jayhawk** · 12-15-2009, 11:03 PM

Caudopunctatus is like a cross between a shellie and a rock dweller based on my experience as well as what I've read. Some prefer rocks, some prefer shells, and some will choose what seems best in a particular tank. I like them, but I've never tried keeping them with definite shellies.

toddnbecka - do you have any idea?

I think it could work...might very well work (the two times I kept caudopunctatus they were purely rock dwellers)...but I don't want to mislead.

Eric

**toddnbecka** · 12-15-2009, 11:24 PM

Depends on how many shellie pairs you want. A 4' tank is alright for 3 species (or pairs/trios depending on the fish in question) of substrate spawners provided you arrange it right.
Caudopunks are a little fish with a big attitude. An established pair would likely be alright, but you may have difficulty finding a bonded pair or establishing a pair from a group. They're not quite as difficult to pair off as occies, but nothing like transcriptus. As far as that goes, definitely avoid the "Gombe" variant of the Julie clan. They're murder on conspecifics. The "Bemba" transcriptus are the smallest amd most mellow of the clan, I highly recommend those for a smaller community tank.
If you really love the marunguensis give them a tank of their own, minimum of 20 gallons for a breeding pair, larger would be better. Something (in another tank) to eat the excess fry would also be wise, because they will quickly overcrowd anything smaller than a 75 with several spawns. Been there, done that with a closely related species that were less aggressive and/or productive (regarding spawn size) than brichardi. Started them in a 55 community, ended up in a 38, and finally got rid of them completely.

**Pearl** · 12-15-2009, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

Caudopunctatus is like a cross between a shellie and a rock dweller based on my experience as well as what I've read. Some prefer rocks, some prefer shells, and some will choose what seems best in a particular tank. I like them, but I've never tried keeping them with definite shellies.

toddnbecka - do you have any idea?

I think it could work...might very well work (the two times I kept caudopunctatus they were purely rock dwellers)...but I don't want to mislead.

Eric

Hello Eric,

Everything I've read about caudopunctatus says they'll defend shells as possible spawning territories but prefer rocks. I also intend to use rock and driftwood to divide the line-of-sight in this tank into three separate territories, which is why I'm thinking the caudopunctatus might work with the meleagris and a couple of transcriptus. Of course, I'm a complete newbie to these cichlids.

Thanks for your reply.

Vicki aka Pearl