Got a 10g to play with.
- Thread starter Philosophos
- Start date
cool deal my friend.. if for some reason you do go with some shellies and you cant find them local let me know i can hook you up with a contact, right now i have some neolamprologus multifasciatus and baby bristelnose plecos ready to divide and i have some kordon breather bags but no heat packs. later my friend and def keep us posted..
Sorry for the long space between posts. Holidays and research have got me busy.
I've been reading like mad, and checking out one particular LFS was very helpful. These guys have been breeding african cichlids for 20+ years and seem to know what they're about . I was pointed in the direction of some Julidochromis transcriptus "gombi". I was a bit skeptical due to the 3 inch adult size, so I did some looking around. It turns out Erik Olson (founder of thekrib.com, then head of the greater seatle aquarium society, etc. etc.) had no problem keeping and breeding a pair in a 10g in around '97-'98. I've spoted some other 10g J. transcriptus tanks looking around, and they seem to be breeding just fine.
I'm planning to have a grow out of some sort going by the time they're spawning and chasing off their own; probably a 10g or 20g. The aforementioned LFS said they'd give store credit for any fry/juvies, so this also takes some of the pressure off providing room.
Anyhow, I'm trying to go all biotope fanatic with this tank. I've been hitting journals and lots of the papers out of the Nyanza project from University of Arizona, digging around info on Gombe Stream National Park (You'd think for all the chimp watching, maybe Jane Goodall could stick her camera in the water just once. :wall: ) and trying to find dive logs near the area.
As it stands, I have loads of broad information, and overly specialized information on the littoral zones around the area. What I'm not getting is pictures. I can find silica content, water parameters, bacteria types, biomass evaluations, geological surveys, etc. Nothing of pictures though, so I have no clue as to what these rocky areas look like from an esthetic point of view. Anyone have any help with this? I would love a few pictures of J. transcriptus "gombi" in its natural habitat. Info on rock and sand would be most helpful for now; I can hammer out the driftwood, inverts and plants later.
I've been reading like mad, and checking out one particular LFS was very helpful. These guys have been breeding african cichlids for 20+ years and seem to know what they're about . I was pointed in the direction of some Julidochromis transcriptus "gombi". I was a bit skeptical due to the 3 inch adult size, so I did some looking around. It turns out Erik Olson (founder of thekrib.com, then head of the greater seatle aquarium society, etc. etc.) had no problem keeping and breeding a pair in a 10g in around '97-'98. I've spoted some other 10g J. transcriptus tanks looking around, and they seem to be breeding just fine.
I'm planning to have a grow out of some sort going by the time they're spawning and chasing off their own; probably a 10g or 20g. The aforementioned LFS said they'd give store credit for any fry/juvies, so this also takes some of the pressure off providing room.
Anyhow, I'm trying to go all biotope fanatic with this tank. I've been hitting journals and lots of the papers out of the Nyanza project from University of Arizona, digging around info on Gombe Stream National Park (You'd think for all the chimp watching, maybe Jane Goodall could stick her camera in the water just once. :wall: ) and trying to find dive logs near the area.
As it stands, I have loads of broad information, and overly specialized information on the littoral zones around the area. What I'm not getting is pictures. I can find silica content, water parameters, bacteria types, biomass evaluations, geological surveys, etc. Nothing of pictures though, so I have no clue as to what these rocky areas look like from an esthetic point of view. Anyone have any help with this? I would love a few pictures of J. transcriptus "gombi" in its natural habitat. Info on rock and sand would be most helpful for now; I can hammer out the driftwood, inverts and plants later.
Not sure I'm following you on the problem regarding scaping... If you can get biomass evaluations and geological surveys, I'd say just find yourself the right type of rock and species of plants listed for the area, use play sand for substrate (possibly with some plant substrate under it), and let your imagination run as far as asthetics go. As long as your research has told you what is there, however you lay it out should be based on what you want to see in the tank, not what a handful of pics of the area look like. Any pics you do find, if they turn the camera 45 degrees it would look completely different anyhow. Unless you're actually trying to duplicate a specific spot in that region, I don't think I understand the problem correctly.
The geological surveys that I've found are more concerned with the structure of the lake bed deeper down than anything. The broad classification of the type of rock is also only so helpful, which is all I get with geology; my search for good petrology reports are coming up nil. I don't know how any this rock fractures and weathers, whether the boulders are coming in from natural thrusts/folds, or rolling down from one of the mountains above. The area I'm doing crosses over two fault lines, and has rivers washing all kinds of particulate matter from different sources in to it.
Meanwhile, the area I'm trying to reproduce is within a 10 mile strech, within the rocky littoral zone of the lake, specifically within the 15-80 foot depth range. Pictures would be much easier than crunching probability theory, and relying on the physics degree that I don't have in order to guess at what it looks like in this area. Dive trip photos would be perfect since it's right within recreational diving depths, and some divers get pretty specific as to where they dip their fins.
Julidochromis live among rocky outcroppings that drop off the shore and extend to the bottom of the lake. Basically you want your tank to be a pile of rocks...as to which type is found in the lake, I am not sure as there isn't a whole lot of specific info about that. I would choose whatever is plaesing to you, whether it be slate, river rock, lace rock, or texas holey rock (I prefer the last).
Yes, they like rocky outcroppings. The problem is that I'm trying to be a purist with this tank. The 20g, 125g and 33g tanks are all ones that I keep for fun, but this one I want to get serious with. Basically what I would find pleasing is one very anal retentively accurate biotope tank.
Gombe national park gets plenty of tourists; it's Goodall's chimp refuge. The beach isn't in the park though, so tourists camp on it. I'm going to be trying to track down the ones who went for a swim. I'm a good way through my academic resources, so now I'm checking with aquarists and people who have been there.
I know, this is all horridly overblown, but I'm loving it. If I stick with researching this way, I might be able to help in a small way with biotope accuracy of lake TK. Hey, I might even give Takashi Amano a mildly disturbing dream by floating riccia in an AGA biotope entry one day. :devil:
I totally understand what you are getting at. I find it unfortuante that there isn't much info about the different specific "regions" of the lake. Not only that but I can't seem to find any pics from dives...which is odd. Hopefully your digging will help shed some light. 
Thanks for the encouragement. I've found mounds of research on the northeast of lake TK that other fish sites don't seem to have any links to. Is there a place around here to infodump biotope links?I totally understand what you are getting at. I find it unfortuante that there isn't much info about the different specific "regions" of the lake. Not only that but I can't seem to find any pics from dives...which is odd. Hopefully your digging will help shed some light.
Not specifically. You can always create a separate thread or even write your own article based on the research. Or just post the links here I guess
Whatever ya do I want to see them
Whatever ya do I want to see them
