Thinking about a Tang Tank

[303mfk]

Well i decided Im gonna wait till i have more space to get a 180 gallon for datnoids and my birthday is coming up and im almost sure im getting a 55 gallon with just about everything. Ill pick up a few misc. things with my birthday money but i want to plan my fish list early.
I was thinking
pair/herem of Calvus
a colony of shellies
some cyps or caudopunks
and possibly a gobie or pair of gobies.

Let me know what you think or if you got any opinons let me hear them. I appreciate any and all help!
Thank you

 

[JC_P]

Sounds good, but if you're going to get gobies get more than just two. You're better off getting around 5 - 6 and trying for a pair; it's next to impossible to differentiate between sexes. Or you can just go with one, gobies are great fish. The list overall sounds pretty good.

 

[303mfk]

okay, unless i can find some gobies at a decent price i might just go with one. As far as the cyps, how many of those should i get?

 

[JC_P]

For that size aquarium, 8 is a pretty good number. Get like 3 males, and 5 Females. Go with 5 - 6 Shellies. I think you might be better off without the Calvus, They eat the fry of other cichlids. The Cyps breed pretty easily so if you want to keep the fry I wouldn't suggest Calvus. Plus they sometimes like hiding in shells, so they might actually try and invade the shellies territory if there aren't enough shells. You could always setup a fry rearing tank though, if you really want them.

 

[303mfk]

I dont really mind a little predation here and there. I figure the multis will colonize pretty fast and im sure the calvus wouldnt mind a nice little snack every now and then. I dont why but for some reason the yellow calvus has caught my eye.

 

[JC_P]

Well, they are pretty attractive fish. You have a good eye too because they are also quite hard to find. The best advice I can give is, start off with the above mentioned fish first; let the multie's get established and spawn at least once, grow the fry out a bit. Then add the Calvus, if you plan on ordering from the site link I sent you; the Calvus there are all F1 from wild caught fish, they also ship at a pretty small size at around 1.5" so there won't be too much predation if you want to just add them at the same time. You are aware that the Altolamprologus species grows very slow right?!

 

[303mfk]

You are aware that the Altolamprologus species grows very slow right?!

yes i am aware lol. But i think they are worth the wait once they are bigger. Stunning fish the yellow ones are. I also think im gonna go with just a single one of these guys http://cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1521. They should be good contrast to the yellow calvus. As for cyps i guess i can browse around and see what i can find.

 

[JC_P]

lol, just checking. The Goby you chose is a great choice, they differ slightly from the "normal" cyanostictus. This strain has mainly a stripe pattern and is spotless. It would be wise to keep just one. At one point I had 3 Kigoma's in a 29g they fought relentlessly. As for the cyps. try looking up C. Leptosoma "Mpulungu" or C. Leptosoma "Utinta" those are pretty nice starters. RSC has a pretty rare varient called "Kavalla" it was believed to be a different kind of sardine cichlid at one point due to it's unique tail structure; or so I've read.

 

[303mfk]

I just did the math and if i order all my fish from reservestockcichlids it will come to a total of 221.49$ USD
Thats for
6 yellow calvus 1.25"
5 mulifaciatus 1"
1 Erotmodus Cyano. Kigoma North 1.25"
6 Cyp. Leptosoma Bulu Points. 1.25"
Would this be a reasonable price? and how does this stock list sound? I would probably just order them all at the same time

 

[JC_P]

The price is absolutely reasonable, tangs. can get pretty expensive. As for putting them in all at once, that depends on how settled your aquarium is. Run a full water parameter test e.g Ph, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate ect.. Worst case scenario; you add all of them at once and get a nitrate spike. The Ph should be around 8.0ppm with nitrite at 0.0ppm or close to it, and ammonia & nitrate being below 20ppm. If you don't mind me asking what equipment do you have running on that tank? Also how long has it been running?