I have a new setup in a 50-gallon tank that I am working on. I have already started to journal it over in Catfish (http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286114). My original idea for the display was a riparium setup featuring Synodontis petricola. I have a group of them in there along with a few other selections too. I also planted it. Here is a shot from a little while after planting and adding the latest fish.
The tank is an Aqueon 50-gallon with the top plastic rim removed. I have it filled to about 5" from the top. I think that with the empty space above the water and displacement by substrates and so on there is maybe 32 gallons or so of water in there.
The following list summarizes the current stocking:
This combination is not working out so well. The lucipinnis are really fun to watch, but they hide and don't add much to the overall appearance of the tank. I introduced the cichlids and mollies because the display really needed some more visual interest in the vertical space. The problem now is that the red points spend a lot of time chasing the mollies, which are getting thin and beat up. I will get the mollies out of there soon. I also just don't especially like the look of the red points in there. Here is one of those fish.
Obviously, I haven't really planned this as a biotope display. The plants are probably not very good representations of the flora that you would find along the shore of Lake Tanganyika, but I think that I did put together a pretty nice layout to start out with and I like the plants. However, it occurs to me that it might be interesting to consider some other Tanganyika species as potential fish options.
Does anybody have any suggestions? The S. lucipinnis supposedly grow up to about 3.5" long. I imagine that this setup will still have some more room for a few additional small/medium-sized fish. I would really like to introduce specimens that would swim around in the middle and top area of the tank. I think that generally peaceful fish will look best in this setting. I have been reading some about Cyprichromis and wonder about those as an option. Could I still have room for a group of five or so of those along with the catfish?
If possible I'd also like to keep the cutteri. He mostly swims around near the bottom, but he is a handsome fish, and not aggressive like the red points, at least not with the current stocking combination.
The tank is an Aqueon 50-gallon with the top plastic rim removed. I have it filled to about 5" from the top. I think that with the empty space above the water and displacement by substrates and so on there is maybe 32 gallons or so of water in there.
The following list summarizes the current stocking:
- 7 Synodontis petricola
- 8 Poecilia chica mollies
- 1 Cryptoheros cutteri
- 2 Cryptoheros "Honduran red point"
This combination is not working out so well. The lucipinnis are really fun to watch, but they hide and don't add much to the overall appearance of the tank. I introduced the cichlids and mollies because the display really needed some more visual interest in the vertical space. The problem now is that the red points spend a lot of time chasing the mollies, which are getting thin and beat up. I will get the mollies out of there soon. I also just don't especially like the look of the red points in there. Here is one of those fish.
Obviously, I haven't really planned this as a biotope display. The plants are probably not very good representations of the flora that you would find along the shore of Lake Tanganyika, but I think that I did put together a pretty nice layout to start out with and I like the plants. However, it occurs to me that it might be interesting to consider some other Tanganyika species as potential fish options.
Does anybody have any suggestions? The S. lucipinnis supposedly grow up to about 3.5" long. I imagine that this setup will still have some more room for a few additional small/medium-sized fish. I would really like to introduce specimens that would swim around in the middle and top area of the tank. I think that generally peaceful fish will look best in this setting. I have been reading some about Cyprichromis and wonder about those as an option. Could I still have room for a group of five or so of those along with the catfish?
If possible I'd also like to keep the cutteri. He mostly swims around near the bottom, but he is a handsome fish, and not aggressive like the red points, at least not with the current stocking combination.
