New Tang Tank- Filtration And Stocking

[Lufbramatt]

Just about to order my new tank- going to be getting a Seabray Dolphin, 54"x18"x24", which is the absolute biggest I can fit in my lounge Works out to 354 litres or 94 US Gallons. I have a passion for Tangs so that's what will be going in there! Helps that my water in North Kent is pH 8.2 out of the tap and very hard indeed due to the North Downs being made of chalk.

I have already purchased an almost new Eheim 2073 which is rated for up to 350 litres. Originally I was going to use this in conjunction with my Eheim 2322 (good for 35 gallons) but I'm going to keep my shellie tank going as a species tank so the 2322 has to stay on that tank. Bearing in mind that tang tanks are lightly stocked for the capacity, do you think I will be ok with the 2073 on its own, I should I invest in another external to use alongside? something like an Eheim classic 2215?

Ok now on to fish. I would like to put my excess Brevis fry (once big enough to not be eaten) in the bigger tank, and keep the breeding adults in their existing 29gal. So thats bottom dwellers decided. I would love a combination of (based on what I gat get locally) Red fin black Compressiseps OR black Calvus, Ornatus OR Dickfeldi Julies, Synodontis Multipunctatus catfish, and Cyprochrimis Nigripinnis "Mpulungu".

I appreciate that I won't be able to have all of those species, so which ones do you feel would work best? And how many of each is that size tank? I realise that with comps/calvus any fry won't last long, which is why I'm keeping my two breeding pairs of brevis separate.

 

[johnboy!]

Dickfeldi are a gorgeous species, i'd go with those as Calvus and Compressiceps are a lot more predatory, and i don't think the shell dwellers would last long at all, You could try a tanganikan eel, or even goby, just for something different too!

 

[Lufbramatt]

A female adult brevis is about 1.5-2 inches long, do you think a comp or calvus would go for something that big?

Dickfeldi are stunning, and I love the way julies don't seem to have a "right" way up, they swim at all kinds of silly angles around the rocks. I do love the look of the comps though, ugly and aggressive with their great big mouths. Is two rock dwellers (julies and altolamps) a no-go in that size tank?

I have actually found a pair of goby cichlids in a LFS and loved the look of them and the way they swim in a funny jerky motion, but after doing a bit of reading it appears they need a mainly vegetarian diet so are better of kept with tropheus?

 

[elisew]

To give you some idea of stocking for that size tank........I have a 380L tank stocked with:
11 cyprichromis leptosoma
2 black calvus
1 goldhead compressicep
1 Julidochromis dickfeldi
1 pair of Caudopunctatus
5 Ophthalmotilapia ventralis




Out of the dickfeldi and the calvus I`d say the calvus are the most docile and placid. The dickfeldi becomes aggressive around food whereas the calvus are very chilled. The comp is pretty chilled too. Both the dickfeldi and the calvus are opportunistic predators and both will eat fry if the opportunity is there so I`d say you have the same level of risk with either, a good point always made on this site is that IF a fish can fit into anothers mouth then it`s likely to get eaten.
I personally would say you`d be better off with the calvus IF you`re making a choice between them and a dickfeldi but that`s only my personal preference from experience.

Gobies can be a bad choice for a community Tang tank as some are very aggressive, so lots of research and opinions would be the way to go on that score.

As long as you get approx 8-10X your tank volume being 'filtered per hour' with the filter you should be fine with it.

 

[Lufbramatt]

hi Elise- What size is your tang tank? is it a 5 footer?

The brevis fry don't neccessarily have to go in the big tank- was just an idea- but then there's the issue of what to do with a bunch of baby brevis's!

How do you find the Ophthalmotilapia ventralis? I'm sure I saw some of those in a fish shop I popped into at the weekend- which has just been refurbished and now has about 4x as many livestock tanks as before so I was a bit overwhelmed- but didn't register them as being tangs. Thats the trouble with tangs there are no real common names in use so you have to remember a load of long latin names!

Think I will invest in another filter just for peace of mind and redundancy.

 

[elisew]

hi Elise- What size is your tang tank? is it a 5 footer?

How do you find the Ophthalmotilapia ventralis? I'm sure I saw some of those in a fish shop I popped into at the weekend- which has just been refurbished and now has about 4x as many livestock tanks as before so I was a bit overwhelmed- but didn't register them as being tangs. Thats the trouble with tangs there are no real common names in use so you have to remember a load of long latin names!

Think I will invest in another filter just for peace of mind and redundancy.

Yes it`s 5'. The ventralis imo are a nice addition, they`re very 'zippy' and busy and now that they`re breeding the male does chase the females quite vigorously so a long tank is necessary for them. They spend most of their time mid-top level so with the other fish I have it means that all levels of the tank are always busy.
I was completely lost on the names when I first thought about setting up the Tang tank but after a while I remembered most of them, but there are some that I still have to google

Although some people tend to stay away from the Tangs because they`re not as pretty and colourful as the malawi for example, the tangs behaviour is great and very entertaining. I spend as much time watching the Tangs as I do my Malawi setup

 

[Lufbramatt]

Interesting stuff. Might chck them out next time i'm over there. Defo will be sticking with tangs, I find most tropical fish incredibly boring (the novelty of pretty colours wears off pretty quick imo) so the behaviours of tangs- even what goes on in my little shellie tank- is what drew me to them in the first place.

I'll have to stock this tank gradually as Tangs arnt exactly the cheapest of fish, and I can't afford to go and splurge £300 on fish straight away. Cheapest I've seen Cyps locally is £16 each, so put ten of them in a tank and it soon mounts up! Do you think this will give me issues with territory disputes as I add more fish?

 

[bullit]

If youve got enough rocks then territory will be fine. In your size tank you will be able to have all the fish youve listed. Two rock dwellers will be fine so you can have your comps or calvus and julies. Id suggest you dont mix comps with calvus though. As for your julies id go for ornatus or transcriptus as they are the smallest. If your looking to breed later on the buy 4-6 of eack and wait for a pair to form. Sometimes with calvus/ comps you may get a harem form though. As for fry getting eaten buy your comps/calvus, anything over an inch should be fine. Take into consideration that they grow very slowly, like an inch a year, i wouldnt really worry about them. A group of cyps like you say. A dozen to fifteen would be nice in that size though you wont need all at once. Eight is a good starting point. You mention Cyprochrimis Nigripinnis "Mpulungu" but youve combined two names there, nigripinis belongs with paracyps?

As for filteration, you cant have enough plus the flow will help with deads spots in the rockwork. cheers

 

[Lufbramatt]

Yes sorry I meant cyprochromis leptosoma! Thanks for the info, really looking forward to getting it all set up now

 

[Lufbramatt]

Just been up to my lfs to see if they were opth. Ventralis and wow, they are stunning looking fish! Not cheap though at 37 quid each! I can only assume they are wild caught, but the bright blue shimmer they had was amazing. How much are other people paying for them?