I have a 160g West African tank, that currently does, or will, house:
5 Elephantnose (may get more, I had 9, but parasites killed the others before I figured out a wormer that is safe for mormyrids... long story, but there is very little info about them online, and now thorugh trial and error I feel much more confident in how to treat them in quarentine.)
1 Pair Pelmatochromis ocellifer
2 Hemichromis lifili (supposedly, I think they are normal Jewels - they will be removed if they start to show even a hint of aggression to my ENs!)
1 Mastacembelus liberiensis (a larger west African eel)
1 Mastacembelus eth.. Fire eel (currently growing out for another tank)
4 Paretroplus dambabe (not West African, but close enough - they may not stay in the tank forever though.)
Planning to also add:
3-4 Ropefish,
a group of Buffalohead cichlids,
maybe a couple other rare West African cichlids and/or ctepnoma/leaf fish,
some Congo tetras.
What I have left to plan yet is some type of algae eater. I hate cleaning the glass, but don't mind doing WCs, so I always include an algae eater in each tank. As far as I can tell there are no readily available African algae eaters in the aquarium trade, however I have read there are African Garras, and am condsidering substituing an Asian Garra, like Garra Ruffa, to be as "authentic" as possible. What I am wondering though is if Garras are nocturnal, and if so are they aggressive eaters of non-algae food items? I am wondering because I don't want an algae eater that will outcompete my ENs, Ropefish, or eel if I feed after lights out. Thoughts on Garra in general? If not I have a BN pleco I could put in instead. Thanks!
5 Elephantnose (may get more, I had 9, but parasites killed the others before I figured out a wormer that is safe for mormyrids... long story, but there is very little info about them online, and now thorugh trial and error I feel much more confident in how to treat them in quarentine.)
1 Pair Pelmatochromis ocellifer
2 Hemichromis lifili (supposedly, I think they are normal Jewels - they will be removed if they start to show even a hint of aggression to my ENs!)
1 Mastacembelus liberiensis (a larger west African eel)
1 Mastacembelus eth.. Fire eel (currently growing out for another tank)
4 Paretroplus dambabe (not West African, but close enough - they may not stay in the tank forever though.)
Planning to also add:
3-4 Ropefish,
a group of Buffalohead cichlids,
maybe a couple other rare West African cichlids and/or ctepnoma/leaf fish,
some Congo tetras.
What I have left to plan yet is some type of algae eater. I hate cleaning the glass, but don't mind doing WCs, so I always include an algae eater in each tank. As far as I can tell there are no readily available African algae eaters in the aquarium trade, however I have read there are African Garras, and am condsidering substituing an Asian Garra, like Garra Ruffa, to be as "authentic" as possible. What I am wondering though is if Garras are nocturnal, and if so are they aggressive eaters of non-algae food items? I am wondering because I don't want an algae eater that will outcompete my ENs, Ropefish, or eel if I feed after lights out. Thoughts on Garra in general? If not I have a BN pleco I could put in instead. Thanks!