Tang advice

[Joshuakahan]

For the 55 g I would go with Julidochromis ornatus, transcriptus, marksmithi or dickfeldi. I would always try to start with 6-8 juveniles if possible because Julidochromis tend break even the longest lasting pair bond when moved. And you never know if they will find back together.
J. regani and malieri can work in this tank size too once a stable pair is established but I don't recommend trying it because if it doesn't work it often ends with dead fish. If you want to try them I would always go with the 90 g.


For the shell dwellers it's always the question if you want a colony or several breeding pairs or a harem or only one single pair. You should also ask yourself what you want from the fish. If you want them to be visible and not shy when you approach the tank you should go for a colony. But you may see less specific breeding behaviour though the group behaviour is also very interesting.
Except N. calipterus all the shell dwellers could be an option.

Colony is easy. Just start with a handful of multifasciatus or similis and add enough shells.

N. caudopunctatus and N. leloupi (not to be confused with leleupi) breed in pairs but the different pairs can live so close to each other that it might look like a colony.
I really like caudopunctatus because they are the easiest to keep and breed from all Lamprologini and compared to many others they still are somewhat easy to sell. And like multifasciatus and similis they are visible all the time except for females guarding eggs

For two breeding pairs my favourite is L. ornatipinnis. They are not too aggressive and are just beautiful and they show a huge variety in mating and breeding behaviour.
If you want a bit different look N. brevis is also quite mellow and you can keep more than one pair.

A bit more aggressive option could be L. ocellatus, meleagris or kungweensis. Here it depends which catch location you choose. Especially the gold ocellatus is way more peaceful than some of the silver varieties and more than one breeding pair is possible.

With the 90 g you could even go for a pair of Lepidiolamprologus boulengeri or meeli.



My suggestion for the 55 would be one of the smaller Julidochromis species + a colony of multifasciatus or similis. Or a Julidochromis + a pair shell dwellers + a pair caudopunctatus if you want three species in the tank.

For the 90 g you could go with
A Julidochromis of your choice + a pair building shell dweller + two or three pair of N. caudopunctatus. The Julidochromis will live in the rocks, the shell dwellers in the shells and the caudopunctatus will fill the free territories. They don't care much if they place their eggs in a shell, a cave, under the filter or even just on the side panel of the tank
This needs a lot of rocks but will get you the most colour and behaviour spectrum as possible with only keeping Lamprologini.

Thank you!!
You’ve given me a lot to think about and some awesome info. I like the idea of shellies n the shells and Julie’s in the rocks. I have fish in the 55 and 90, so it just depends on which tank I decide to sell off the stock from. I’ll most likely go with the 90 since then fish in there will outgrow it in a year anyway
Once again I appreciate all the great information!

 

[fishguy1978]

Thanks, how many of each do you have and in what size tank?

Unknow number of N. multifasciatus, 5 regani, 1 gold head calvus and a synodontis multipunctatus in a 60in x 18in x 22in 100g. I had 6 regani but somebody killed the largest one a couple days ago. It very well could have been several male N. multi' ganging up on it.

 

[PhishMon84]

Gold occelatus were my favorite shelly to keep. i also mixed in a tang spiny eel M. elipsifer with syno petricola, j. regani and leleupi. it was a 56 column. i even kept 3 t. schoudenti puffers in this same setup for a number of years before trying to spawn the puffers and keeping them solo

 

[Joshuakahan]

Hi

For the 55 g I would go with Julidochromis ornatus, transcriptus, marksmithi or dickfeldi. I would always try to start with 6-8 juveniles if possible because Julidochromis tend break even the longest lasting pair bond when moved. And you never know if they will find back together.
J. regani and malieri can work in this tank size too once a stable pair is established but I don't recommend trying it because if it doesn't work it often ends with dead fish. If you want to try them I would always go with the 90 g.


For the shell dwellers it's always the question if you want a colony or several breeding pairs or a harem or only one single pair. You should also ask yourself what you want from the fish. If you want them to be visible and not shy when you approach the tank you should go for a colony. But you may see less specific breeding behaviour though the group behaviour is also very interesting.
Except N. calipterus all the shell dwellers could be an option.

Colony is easy. Just start with a handful of multifasciatus or similis and add enough shells.

N. caudopunctatus and N. leloupi (not to be confused with leleupi) breed in pairs but the different pairs can live so close to each other that it might look like a colony.
I really like caudopunctatus because they are the easiest to keep and breed from all Lamprologini and compared to many others they still are somewhat easy to sell. And like multifasciatus and similis they are visible all the time except for females guarding eggs

For two breeding pairs my favourite is L. ornatipinnis. They are not too aggressive and are just beautiful and they show a huge variety in mating and breeding behaviour.
If you want a bit different look N. brevis is also quite mellow and you can keep more than one pair.

A bit more aggressive option could be L. ocellatus, meleagris or kungweensis. Here it depends which catch location you choose. Especially the gold ocellatus is way more peaceful than some of the silver varieties and more than one breeding pair is possible.

With the 90 g you could even go for a pair of Lepidiolamprologus boulengeri or meeli.



My suggestion for the 55 would be one of the smaller Julidochromis species + a colony of multifasciatus or similis. Or a Julidochromis + a pair shell dwellers + a pair caudopunctatus if you want three species in the tank.

For the 90 g you could go with
A Julidochromis of your choice + a pair building shell dweller + two or three pair of N. caudopunctatus. The Julidochromis will live in the rocks, the shell dwellers in the shells and the caudopunctatus will fill the free territories. They don't care much if they place their eggs in a shell, a cave, under the filter or even just on the side panel of the tank
This needs a lot of rocks but will get you the most colour and behaviour spectrum as possible with only keeping Lamprologini.

Hi, I’m also considering a 55 Victorian tank, I’ve always wanted to do 1 tank based on each lake and I now have a Malawi and a tang. Do you think I should do a heavily stocked all male or a species with one male and a group of females? I like hippo point salmon and Nyererei and Kenya golds and tricolor fulu and would love to have them all but im not sure if that would work out n a 55. That’s why im torn between the two options. I do have some experience with a breeding group of Xmas fulu
Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[Milingu]

My approach with lake Victoria cichlids was always about species conservation which means one species per tank only. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to more than one species per tank. I know some people keep more than one species per tank without issues but I don't know the details.
With only one species per tank I would go for 6 or more males. The more males the better the aggression is spread. And when you have enough males the number of females doesn't matter much. For example 7/3 nyererei works totally fine and also looks good. Most males will show colours and at least one will be always in full breeding dress. The females will not be bothered too much. Actually they can even choose which male to mate with. My impression is that the females are better than any breeder at selecting the right male to produce healthy offspring. Which is really important given the geneticall bottle neck most of the lake Victoria cichlids in captivity went through.

Your tank is on the smaller end for hippo point salmon and nyererei but given enough structure one species could work. About Kenya gold and tricolor fulu I have no idea.

 

[Joshuakahan]

My approach with lake Victoria cichlids was always about species conservation which means one species per tank only. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to more than one species per tank. I know some people keep more than one species per tank without issues but I don't know the details.
With only one species per tank I would go for 6 or more males. The more males the better the aggression is spread. And when you have enough males the number of females doesn't matter much. For example 7/3 nyererei works totally fine and also looks good. Most males will show colours and at least one will be always in full breeding dress. The females will not be bothered too much. Actually they can even choose which male to mate with. My impression is that the females are better than any breeder at selecting the right male to produce healthy offspring. Which is really important given the geneticall bottle neck most of the lake Victoria cichlids in captivity went through.

Your tank is on the smaller end for hippo point salmon and nyererei but given enough structure one species could work. About Kenya gold and tricolor fulu I have no idea.

Thank you! I actually like the 7/3 species only idea. I may go that route. The conservation is also appealing since I know how these are endangered I forgot to mention sp44 and zebra Os are others I like. It won’t be for a bit if I do it but I’ll be sure to post what I decide on. Thanks for all the help with my rift tanks!

 

[Joshuakahan]

My approach with lake Victoria cichlids was always about species conservation which means one species per tank only. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to more than one species per tank. I know some people keep more than one species per tank without issues but I don't know the details.
With only one species per tank I would go for 6 or more males. The more males the better the aggression is spread. And when you have enough males the number of females doesn't matter much. For example 7/3 nyererei works totally fine and also looks good. Most males will show colours and at least one will be always in full breeding dress. The females will not be bothered too much. Actually they can even choose which male to mate with. My impression is that the females are better than any breeder at selecting the right male to produce healthy offspring. Which is really important given the geneticall bottle neck most of the lake Victoria cichlids in captivity went through.

Your tank is on the smaller end for hippo point salmon and nyererei but given enough structure one species could work. About Kenya gold and tricolor fulu I have no idea.

I can ended up going with Pundamilia sp. Crimson tide. The breeder I know had limited stock so I went with 2m 4f but it seems to be working well

 

[Joshuakahan]

My approach with lake Victoria cichlids was always about species conservation which means one species per tank only. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to more than one species per tank. I know some people keep more than one species per tank without issues but I don't know the details.
With only one species per tank I would go for 6 or more males. The more males the better the aggression is spread. And when you have enough males the number of females doesn't matter much. For example 7/3 nyererei works totally fine and also looks good. Most males will show colours and at least one will be always in full breeding dress. The females will not be bothered too much. Actually they can even choose which male to mate with. My impression is that the females are better than any breeder at selecting the right male to produce healthy offspring. Which is really important given the geneticall bottle neck most of the lake Victoria cichlids in captivity went through.

Your tank is on the smaller end for hippo point salmon and nyererei but given enough structure one species could work. About Kenya gold and tricolor fulu I have no idea.

 

[Joshuakahan]

For the 55 g I would go with Julidochromis ornatus, transcriptus, marksmithi or dickfeldi. I would always try to start with 6-8 juveniles if possible because Julidochromis tend break even the longest lasting pair bond when moved. And you never know if they will find back together.
J. regani and malieri can work in this tank size too once a stable pair is established but I don't recommend trying it because if it doesn't work it often ends with dead fish. If you want to try them I would always go with the 90 g.


For the shell dwellers it's always the question if you want a colony or several breeding pairs or a harem or only one single pair. You should also ask yourself what you want from the fish. If you want them to be visible and not shy when you approach the tank you should go for a colony. But you may see less specific breeding behaviour though the group behaviour is also very interesting.
Except N. calipterus all the shell dwellers could be an option.

Colony is easy. Just start with a handful of multifasciatus or similis and add enough shells.

N. caudopunctatus and N. leloupi (not to be confused with leleupi) breed in pairs but the different pairs can live so close to each other that it might look like a colony.
I really like caudopunctatus because they are the easiest to keep and breed from all Lamprologini and compared to many others they still are somewhat easy to sell. And like multifasciatus and similis they are visible all the time except for females guarding eggs

For two breeding pairs my favourite is L. ornatipinnis. They are not too aggressive and are just beautiful and they show a huge variety in mating and breeding behaviour.
If you want a bit different look N. brevis is also quite mellow and you can keep more than one pair.

A bit more aggressive option could be L. ocellatus, meleagris or kungweensis. Here it depends which catch location you choose. Especially the gold ocellatus is way more peaceful than some of the silver varieties and more than one breeding pair is possible.

With the 90 g you could even go for a pair of Lepidiolamprologus boulengeri or meeli.



My suggestion for the 55 would be one of the smaller Julidochromis species + a colony of multifasciatus or similis. Or a Julidochromis + a pair shell dwellers + a pair caudopunctatus if you want three species in the tank.

For the 90 g you could go with
A Julidochromis of your choice + a pair building shell dweller + two or three pair of N. caudopunctatus. The Julidochromis will live in the rocks, the shell dwellers in the shells and the caudopunctatus will fill the free territories. They don't care much if they place their eggs in a shell, a cave, under the filter or even just on the side panel of the tank
This needs a lot of rocks but will get you the most colour and behaviour spectrum as possible with only keeping Lamprologini.

I decided to take your advice and I moved the tangs from the 55 to the 90. I also ordered a group of caudopuntatus. So it’s gonna me a group of Julie’s, Similis shellies and caudopuntatus ( the caudos will arrive Tuesday)

 

[Milingu]

Bigger tank is always better
I would add more rocks for the Julidochromis.