Opinions on this tanganyika combination?

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the420buzz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 17, 2010
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I am beginning to turn my 60 gallon tank (36x18x21) into africans, specifically lake tanganyika, and I was wondering if anyone would be able to offer some opinions on whether this combination of fish will work together. Note that if I was to purchase these, they would all be in the 1"-2" range, so for some, they'll have some growing to do.

2 Altolamprologus calvus Congo 'Black'
1 Altolamprologus compressiceps Kambwimba 'Yellow'
1 Altolamprologus compressiceps Muzi 'Gold Head'
1 Lamprologus similis (shell dweller)
2 Lamprologus meleagris 'Pearly Ocellatus' (shell dweller)
1 Lamprologus multifasciatus (shell dweller)
1 Julidochromis marlieri (rock dweller)
2 Neolamprologus tretocephalus (rock dweller)
1 Neolamprologus marunguensis Kapampa 'Blue Fin' (rock dweller)
 
After a bit more research, I've read that you shouldn't keep altolamprologus with shellies as they eat them in the wild, which is unfortunate as I was interested in the shellies nearly as much as the altos. Has anyone had success keeping shellies with alto's, or will I be destined for failure with that setup. I'm not against dropping the shellies, however I might like to keep them if its a possibility.
 
I have kept altolamprologus with shellies in the past and had No problems granted I had plenty of shells around and I kept my fish well fed. your List sounds good. You may want to look at the Julidochromis family as well I really like the Regani or the Neolamprologus sexfaciatus Looks like a mini frontosa .
 
Altos are cool but lack the personality of the shellies....Neo. sexfaciatus dont get all that big and are really nice looking fish that would go with the shell dwellers. The congo black would be safer than either of the the compressicepts, however, thats just my experience...all fish could be hard to "family" if you dont do it right...starting with them all very young and in a substantial tank, I dont think you will have many issues.
Good luck.
My .02
 
Thanks for the great replies guys, definitely got me more excited and less worried about that setup.

I really like the suggestions of regani and sexfaciatus as well, especially the sexfaciatus (gorgeous fish). Unfortunately, the list I'm looking at to buy off of doesn't have sexfaciatus available, but there is regani however. I may just swap the 1 Neo. marunguensis Kapampa for a regani, hmm.. :P

EDIT: But on the other hand, the Kapampa is F1, big hmm..
 
fishmastermike;4152163; said:
Someone told me not to mix calvus and comps
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Probably because they could potentially hybridize/crossbreed with each other. I'll be ready for that if it does happen, and I think it'd be an interested experience to have. Kind of look forward to it in a way to see how they'd turn out.
 
looks like a good list to me maybe rethink the neolamps and replace them with some juli's. You'll will need a lot of rock work (I like lace rock for these setups) and your fish will prefer sand to gravel. Make sure you have lots of shells also, apple snail shells work well.

PS:You may need to upgrade eventually and be sure to pay special attention to the comps and calvus they can be verry passive when it comes to food especially non-live food
 
dpk2313;4152673; said:
looks like a good list to me maybe rethink the neolamps and replace them with some juli's. You'll will need a lot of rock work (I like lace rock for these setups) and your fish will prefer sand to gravel. Make sure you have lots of shells also, apple snail shells work well.

PS:You may need to upgrade eventually and be sure to pay special attention to the comps and calvus they can be verry passive when it comes to food especially non-live food
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, and I gotta say, you've been reading my mind or something.

I've been doing more and more research on my list, and like you said, I'm rethinking the Neolamps, as the Treto I've read is really aggressive, however some have said its only aggressive towards its own species, and not too bad on its own. The Kapampa, after looking at some more pictures, doesn't seem as appealing to me as it did at first, either, so I think I may swap him as well.

My 60 already has sand for substrate (though I do need to add a bit more), so they should love that. I plan to get more rockwork ASAP, and I've been browsing plenty of african tank setups for ideas. I've read the Calvus and Comps. grow pretty slow, but eventually if I need to I'll get an upgrade.

Thanks for the lace rock suggestion, it looks awesome. I may have to pick up some of that if the price is right. Apple snail shell suggestion is great too, and thanks for the heads up on the potential feeding issues with the Comps./Calvus, I will definitely keep an eye if I do go with this deal.
 
Hey guys...been awhile since I was on but..420buzz.. I've been doing the exact same research. Tangs are my favorite, so I've been looking into em and redo my tank. I have a 125... putting my flowerhorn somewhere else, have a female that kills everything. Anyway...what do you think of my ideas? Been wanting the alto's and shellies too. I figure if I can set it up where I can divide the territories I can keep alot of what I want on my list:

alto comp (black, yellow, or goldhead)
neo multi
neo meleagris
neo nigriventris
neo pulcher (daffodil)
neo leleupi
chalinochromis brichardi
telmatochromis sp temporalis shell (new one I was checkin out)
cypochromis (not sure of species yet...even thought of bosemani rainbows b/c friend of mine is getting rid of his stock. know theyre not tangs but they like higher alkalinity and cool dither fish)

Any ideas....questions....problems are welcome???
 
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