K so I have a 10 gallon tank with panda cories, glofish and scissortails (also raising some rescued convict fry) I also have a 30 gallon with Angelfish, blue and gold rams, a bala shark, a red tail shark, a pleco and pygmy and peppered cories. I have a 75 gallon which I will set up as soon as I am done buying sand for it (expensive only 2 bags at a time lol) I really want to try lamp brichardis and shell dwellers but I know they need different water quality (my 30 gallon is soft water for rams and angels) I was planning to put everyone in the 30 into the 75 except the pygmy cories which I would swap with the pandas so the bigger fish wont eat them. If you were me would you make the 30 gallon a species tank with the brichardis? And can I keep brichardis and shell dwellers together? Suggestions please
what would you do?
- Thread starter Eclipse_sky
- Start date
I don't mean to be.... I don't know the word, but, Red Tail Sharks need 55 gal. I AM THE VOICE FOR THE SHARKS!
I'm aware of this. So do bala sharks ........which is why I am setting up the 75......but if it makes you feel any better he is only an inch at this point. All my fish are small right now. I believe I said in my above post that everyone in the 30 will eventually be moved to the 75.
And u know what now that I'm thinking about it since u are THE VOICE FOR SHARKS let me get my panties in a bunch, bag up my redtail, bring him back to the lfs where he was in a ten gallon tank with 29 other sharks because according to u he would be better off there than in my 3x as big clean tank.....or better yet the 75 he will be in in a couple months. Yes yes I should.
Brichardi's are very neat fish. They have excellent parenting skills and older fry will actually help raise younger fry. The downside is when the pair up the become fiercely protective of their young and can kill other fish off in the tank to protect them. If you want brichardi I would set up the 30 gallon as a species tank. Provide some sand (doesn't need to be expensive, you can use play sand or pool filter sand), and several rocks for them to hide in. If you use limestone or texas holey rock, it will help buffer the water for you.
If you want to you might be able to get away with another species in the tank. At least while they are little. I would suggest Neolamprologus leleupi. They are a gorgeous fish but tough at the same time. I would imagine they could put up with the brichardi's.
If you instead wanted to go a shell dweller route then you have a few more options. Most would suggest Neolamprologus multifasciatus. They are a great, easy to breed shell dweller that also form colonies. I have not found them to be good with takmates at all though. Instead I would suggest another species of shell dweller such as Lamprologus ocellatus "gold". I have these guys in with some other Tanganikans and they are hilarious. They aren't shy like some other shell dwellers and they are very nice looking. For your 30 gallon you could set it up with sand and a group of shells on one side and a pile of rocks on the other side. This helps set up defined territories and keeps everyone happy. For the rock side you have several choices of fish. You could add a species of Julidochromis, Chalinochromis brichardi(different from Neolamprologus brichardi) or Neolamprologus leleupi. You could instead add either Altolamprologus calvus or Altolamprologus compressiceps but eventually they will get big enough to eat your shellies. This can take years though.
If you want to you might be able to get away with another species in the tank. At least while they are little. I would suggest Neolamprologus leleupi. They are a gorgeous fish but tough at the same time. I would imagine they could put up with the brichardi's.
If you instead wanted to go a shell dweller route then you have a few more options. Most would suggest Neolamprologus multifasciatus. They are a great, easy to breed shell dweller that also form colonies. I have not found them to be good with takmates at all though. Instead I would suggest another species of shell dweller such as Lamprologus ocellatus "gold". I have these guys in with some other Tanganikans and they are hilarious. They aren't shy like some other shell dwellers and they are very nice looking. For your 30 gallon you could set it up with sand and a group of shells on one side and a pile of rocks on the other side. This helps set up defined territories and keeps everyone happy. For the rock side you have several choices of fish. You could add a species of Julidochromis, Chalinochromis brichardi(different from Neolamprologus brichardi) or Neolamprologus leleupi. You could instead add either Altolamprologus calvus or Altolamprologus compressiceps but eventually they will get big enough to eat your shellies. This can take years though.
Thank you for your ideas! I will def take them into account when I'm ready to restock the 30 gallon.
