Planning Tanganyika Tank- Please review stocking plan.

H

Hooked Newbie

Today will be yesterday tomorrow
May 25, 2007
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Georgia
Real Name
Len
I'll be new to Africans with this tank so I've been reading ALOT and wanted to run my intial plan by the experts.

Tank is 125G Tall (5'). I'm going to do some styro "rock work to create a couple of large "ledges" within the tank. I will have 2 to 3" of sand in the top of them with a bunch of shells (2-3 per fish). These will be in the lower-mid level. I am also going to make a couple caves the same way for the bottom.

My current stocking plans are...

6 L. Brevis
6 L. Meleagris
6 L. Ocellatus (Gold)
and 6 L. Hecqui if / when I can acuire them.

6 C. Leptosoma

2-3 Xenotilapia if / when I can acquire.


What do you think? Any problems suspected?
 
Hooked, sounds like this is going to be an awesome tank. I know you were considering a few biotope options; looks like you settled on a great choice! Congrats :D

I will defer to the more expereinced here re: your stocking, but I am intrigued by your plans for the styro rockwork and caving. Very ambitious! Were you planning on piecing together commercially avialable foam insert layout or will you DIY? If so, what general manufacturing technique were you going to follow?

Congrats again.... we expect to see a construction thread, naturally!
 
I'm going to DIY it. Not sure what "technique" I'll use other than trial and error so it may be awhile before it's set up! lol

I'm reading up on DIY in addition to the fish needs. I'm trying to do something similar to this http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_background.php for the background and on a larger scale for the ledges.
 
If I had a single creative bone in my body, I would tackle something like this in a heartbeat (I bailed out and used an AquaTerra commercial 3D background for my SE Asia biotope). I have no personal experience with but this, have seem some local tanks that used this method:

http://westerncichlids.com.au/diy-aquarium-background-part-1/

http://westerncichlids.com.au/diy-aquarium-background-part-2/

It seems to be a very appropriate technique, since your vision includes multiple levels. The results were very impressive and the cichlids seemed to really appreciate the in/outs and caving.

Alas, my Tangan. tank will need to make due with interesting rock for its maximum visual impact. I think your level proposal could look spectacular in a 125 tall. I'm very lightly stocked right now (including 3 juvenille gold head comps) but based on the research I did in advance, I don't see any red flags for your stocking list. However, let's let the pros weigh in on this one LOL.
 
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Thanks for the links! Those are very similar to the pics in my head. The bad part is that I'm not necessarily the "creative" / "artistic" sort so this will definitely be an adventure.

Where are Pappy and Coler?!
 
Regardless of Coler and Pappy, this tank is going to ROCK.:) Combine the links I sent you with the others, and you're golden. Take your time. I have. And for god's sake, don't cement anything you are not totally satisfied with!!!!! lol
 
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wow i have to admit i like the styro plan i have always wanted to do something like that but i am lazy aye, so if i can find it already prefabbed i would buy it, but most def a cool concept as for the stocking level well with tangs anything is poss you just have to do it and see what happens aye its your decision as for me i guess you could say i am a tangie rebel i have fronts lelupi brichardi buscheri in a 120gal and all seem fine now and my 55gal i have multi's brevis small lelupi juvies gold comps juvies and blk calvus juvies all seems fine but i know i will have to move some in the future but hey its my tank and its cool the thing about our hobby is that we get to control what we want so enjoy buddy i know i would, take some photos it sounds cool..
 
Sandsifters and shellies are a no-go IMO, even with a large footprint. While not the most aggressive cichlid they definitely will want to rule the open areas which may create problems. I recommend them as species-only-tank fish.

I would choose a rock-dwelling species. Leleupi, julies, calvus, comps, etc. all fit the bill and would work perfectly in your tank.

I would also add to the cyp number as they really feel best in groups larger than 10.

THIS IS GOING TO BE AN AWESOME TANK I AM SO JEALOUS!!!!
 
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