The Girlfriends Tanganyikan Community

[dave_oddballs]

thanks!

yeah they are nice, i have wrote down the name of the xenotilapia and will take it to the lfs when i go today, will see what he can find!!
will be adding some more fish at some point, she will take her time stocking it, especially since she saw the price of tanganyikans! haha

im going to the lfs today anyway to sort out some frontosa's, getting 6! going to grow them on for my big tank, in which i have been slowly but surely been highering the ph, can't go too high because of the rays but if we meet half way and slowly get the frontosa used to it we could be getting somewhere!!

 

[doresy]

OMG! I have glanced through this thread a couple of times and thought I was going mad

I read the title and of course I was immediately drawn to it BUT I missed the opening sentence and went straight to the photos and thought Tanganyikan?? Then I read through a couple of posts and thought....is no one noticing that there are a serious lack of Tanganyikanas. But then I caught a glimpse of the 'changing to'.......

Now I see I am liking.........love the sand with little bits of rock as substrate.......may copy one day


both of you to the Tang-club

 

[dave_oddballs]

thanks doresy, well i know, at first i was just going to show pictures of the tank before it was taken apart, but thought id just carry it on through the change!
the substrate is made by carib-sea its african cichlid substrate, it has bits of rock and little shells, thought it looked very natural and different! plus it has all the trace minerals and stabalises the ph which is what made us get it, it did the job and looks brilliant.
only yesterday i was looking at your moonlights on your tank and i told the girlfriend she should invest in some! its the same tank as yours but the 125 version.
thanks for the nice comments, Dave

 

[dave_oddballs]

picked up lots of new fish this weekend, so will get lots of pictures up in the morning!

 

[SchottayB]

I also have a hillstream loach that my LFS advised me to buy!

I've been told so many differnt things about them. Mine lives with guppy, molly, platy and doing fine since i've had him.

Mine isn't as bright as yours though... mines alot darker.

Have you ever seen yours eat food that you have put in the tank lol?

 

[dave_oddballs]

yeah the hillstream loach used to eat everything, bloodworms, prawns, krill, all sorts. yours may be the spotted kind if its darker, they tend to have a much darker appearance.

right, got lots of new tanganyikan fish this weekend also a couple of nice malawi's, went to a guy in southport, he breeds loads, and his fish house was amazing, i would highly recommend him to anyone wanting tanganyikan or malawi cichlids!

well we will start with the little altolamprologus compressiceps 'gold'
only alittle chap but should colour up nice.

the cyprochromis leptisoma 'utinta flourescent'

1 of 5 julidochromis marlieri

the male neolamprologus leleupi 'orange'

this is the male and female, they are both full grown, the male at 4" and the female at about 3"

neolamprologus sexfasciatus,

neolamprologus tretocephalus

tropheus kaiser, best picture i could get as its always swimming around!

some of the neolamprologus brichardi, theres 6 altogether.

group of 6 neolamprologus caudopunctatus.

just a single lamprologus occelatus, the guy gave us this free as it was left on its own in the tank of caudopunctatus!

not a tanganyikan but the girlfriend loves these so we got a pair, this male is about 4", not coloured back up properly yet, seems to be a lot shyer than the tanganyikans, the female still hides and is about 3".
alounocara 'fire fish'

there is also 2 malawi red/orange zebras and a pair of yellow labs but these will probably go as the other fish grow.
these are just a few pictures of tank and a full shot so you can see what it looks like, added a few more rocks since the last photo's!

i never really appreciated tanganyikan cichlids before my girlfriend wanted to set up this tank but the fish look fantastic as individuals and the whole set up is stunning!

thanks for looking and hope you like it!

oh, if anyone else is keeping tanganyikans, the pair of cyprochromis leptisoma will be for sale in the classified section later on as they are far too boisterous for this tank and i think they could do with being in a group, the female is quite placid but the male terrorises everyone!

Dave

 

[Littlemonkey]

Really nice Dave, is there a backing on that tank? I'm just waiting for a black one to arrive.

 

[dave_oddballs]

yeah the backing is just blue, well its metallic blue, the girlfriend liked it, i think she has gone off it now and wants a plain blue (non metallic) back ground.

 

[Littlemonkey]

yeah the backing is just blue, well its metallic blue, the girlfriend liked it, i think she has gone off it now and wants a plain blue (non metallic) back ground.

I was toying with the blue myself, took advice from peeps on here, so black it is, postman still hasn't arrived yet. Always the way when your waiting for something.

 

[dave_oddballs]

yeah well you should really go off your own instinct, i prefer the dark blue backgrounds, hence why my 7 footer has blue and i advised the other half to go for blue, i just think it looks more natural and reflects the water and light better. just a personal preference.

 

[kiriyama]

Pictures look awesome, really nice tank, shame about the Leptosoma but I think the're best kept in a small shoal, like the caudopunks, I still miss my one, I had to rehome it 'cos it terrorised my Multis. How big do the firefish get, really vibrant colours on them
2 Multis and 3 Julies arriving tomorrow, can't wait

 

[dave_oddballs]

i love these julidochromis marlieri, they are stunning! yeah the caudo's seem to settle in well and look gorgeous in the group!
he had some Cunningtonia longiventralis for sale, they are stunning and not seen to often, but she had said she wasn't going to spend more than £60 but i gave her a tenner and stretched it to £70 and for that she got the pair of alounocara fire fish, the pair of leleupi (which are a breeding pair), 6 neolamprologus caudopunctatus, 5 julidochromis marlieri, 1 lamprologu occelatus 'blue', which is about half what they would cost in the shops, if you find them!
the fire fish max at 5" i think the female stays a bit smaller? not sure, but that male in the picture is 4" now, the female is about 3" but doesn't come out, im contemplating getting another couple of females so she settles in!

well on saturday im off to bas in bolton to pick up a stingray, so i will go in and see how many multi's they have left and see if they will do a deal on a group, if they aren't too bad we will get some.
wouldn't mind some more of the occellatus blue, its really nice, it was left behind by accident and was in the tank with the caudo's so he gave us it for free, they were a tenner each in maidenhead aquatics so thats alright!

that fire fish was really nice in the tank, hasn't coloured up properly yet but is eating and coming out bossing others around so is settling in eventually, it is an orange/red but all the scales are outlined in pink/violet and all what looks white in the picture, on the tail and dorsal was a really vibrant metallic blue!

your cheque for the shells is on its way to you by the way, when they come they are going into the front left hand corner of the tank, will give little homes to the shell dwellers when we get some, and the occellatus, also the caudo's breed in shells so thats good, might spread them into two piles incase the multi's claim a whole pile!

 

[Littlemonkey]

yeah well you should really go off your own instinct, i prefer the dark blue backgrounds, hence why my 7 footer has blue and i advised the other half to go for blue, i just think it looks more natural and reflects the water and light better. just a personal preference.

abit late now, guess what has just turned up. Gonner be busy tonight fitting it on. Most of my fish are silver/light coloured, so it should show them off alot better.

 

[kiriyama]

Littlemonkey Black background will show up the fish colours nice. I have Multis and a lot of people think the're drab, against the black background all the subtle hies show up nice, mind the creases and the bubbles now

dave_oddballs That was some deal you got on all the fish , think I paid about 8 or 9 quid each for mine, the group of Caudopunks must make great viewing, always patrolling with fins erect all the time, do they shoal?
Shells all packed and ready to go, will open the box and try squeeze in a clam shell or two if you like, I used to stick them in the sand at an angle and the Caudopunk would burrow under and dig for ages..... don't know if he ever found what he was looking for

 

[dave_oddballs]

yeah, if i was to recommend a small tanganyikan fish for a nice small simple tank it would be the caudopunktatus! they are always at the front and swim at most levels, and like you say nearly always have their bright yellow dorsal fins erect, stunning little fish, yeah they do shoal, sometimses split up though, but hardly ever on their own.
its funny actually the smallest one of the lot, by a good cm or so, claimed the barnacle we have, dug right underneath it, theres only a bit of shell, from the substrate, holding it up, it was like it was trying to make it fall into the hole, like the multi's do to bury the shells, and it was chasing the rest off. it is fatter than the rest, round the anal fin area, at first i thought it may have been carrying eggs, but then i thought it would be the males claiming territories, don't know really, have to wait and see!
did you just have the 1 caudo? they look brilliant in a group!
if you look at he tank it is way over stocked but its over filtered, at 125 litre and fluval 05 filter, for a 300 litre tank. but i think it lessens the violence when it is more busy. everything seems to have slotted into place, well apart from the leptisoma which will have to go. the big male leleupi nicked the home from the sexfasciatus, which took him ages to build under the rock! but im thinking if the leptisoma are going to breed its best them having the home! its a hard life, the sexfasciatus sulks in the corner now!
the guy has some stunning Cunningtonia longiventralis, could of got a pair for £20, but didn't want to spend much more and the tanks pretty full