Best Choice for Single Species Rift Lake 55g

joel.uejio

joel.uejio

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Jun 1, 2009
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Joel
Hello all. It occurs to me that I could move some things around and make space to set up a new 55g aquarium (or maybe a 40g long if that looks sufficient). I would like to do a rift lake set up, but preferably something simple. So..

Q1: What would be the best single species to choose for a 4' tank? I think I might like tangs best, but am open to others... no shellies though, I have land hermit crabs which is enough shell action for me.

Q2: Is a 40g long sufficient for most setups, or should I really be looking at a 55g?

Q3 (tricky one): I have other fish that could need shuffling down the road if problems arise. Are there any single species set ups that could tolerate any of these fish: severum, polleni, salvini, rainbowfish?

Thanks for the help!
 
Well footprint or length of tank will be your best choice for Rifties, if a 40gal is as long as a 55gal and you want to save some bucks go for it but you may not have any top water fishes so to say, as for Rifties and the fish you mentioned above down the road probably wont fare so well due to different water perimeters and space requirements..

As for a specie setup i would consider Julidochromis, Lelupi, Brichardi, Buescheri, or a colony of Sand sifters one of these groups will fascinate your taste buds for a Tanganyika setup but the possibilities are numerous research and see what will be great for you..
 
Thanks for the comments! I like the brichardi and julies.....what about a calvus tank? I've seen some calvus locally that look pretty neat.
 
One of my favorite fishes for a single species tank of that size is N. brichardi, because you will see their interesting colonial behavior with all the fishes protecting every new fry; even the older siblings.
If you like a Malawi mbuna tank, Pseudotropheus saulosi is a nice choice; with 2 brightly colored fishes in one species: females are bright yellow and males are bright blue with black vertical bars. I have seen saulosis in one species only tanks and they look awesome!
 
I would second the saulosi recommendation. It's like having p. demasonii and yellow labs together in one species in terms of color. Interesting behavior. They also stay fairly small. Great aquarium fish.

On the other hand, they are not good community tank fish, as I have seen much aggression against other species. IME, synodontis catfish are about the only good tankmates.

So, highly recommended for a single species tank.
 
BTW, I think you will regret a 40 long or even a 55 for 4 foot tank.

You will end up wishing you got a 75 gallon or even a 90.
 
In response to you question about tankmates, no I would not put the fish you listed in an African tank.

Another way to go with a 55 gallon would be a breeding colony of peacocks -- the German/ruby red is a favorite of mine. It would be fine in a 55 with 1 male and four females. Or you could do a big group of labs with one stand out male peacock of some sort . . .
 
More thanks to all for the comments! Like I said at the start, I'm interested in rifties, but also have some potential issues down the road with my other tanks, so I'm trying to decide between....

[A] Set up a 40g-55g rift lake tank, deal with issues in my other tanks in other ways
Set up a 29g-40g tank, soley dedicated to dealing with other tank issues, hold off on rifties
[C] Set up a 6' tank (!!!!!), move in my new worldies from the 75g, move my predators from the 55g into the 75g, use the vacated 55g for rifties

If I do [A], I'll definitely check out the N. brichardi. [C]'s kind of a crazy thought, but I'll probably start keeping an eye out for a 6' 80g tank....
 
i know you said no shellies, but theres one species that has came to my attention latly that would make a great species tank. the telmatochromis dhonti is ab extrodinary shelly, with the males being to large to enter the shell. they are highly aggressive and seem to be alot more interesting than the other species of shelly by a long shot.


on another note the neolamprologus christyi would certainly make an interesting pair to keep. however i dont know if they could be kept in those size tanksProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 0to me, although i dont see the problem behind just a single pair.
 
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