I recently purchased a 55 gallon tank and I want to turn it into a Tangakyika tank.
For a substrate I'm planning on using Tahitian moon sand. I have about 300lbs of petrified wood to do a rock scape with.
So far I have 16 baby Syno Lucipinnis. I also have 6 sub adult Julidocromis Gombi. They are in holding tanks until I get my 55 gallon set up and cycled.
I had the Syno's in a 30 gallon with the Julidocromis but the Juli's were beating the snot out of them so I separated them for the time being. Although when I had them together there was no structure for anything to hide. With my 55 there should be tons of hiding spots with the rock work.
I also want to add in a group of shell dwellers to the 55 gallon.
Two things I'm worried about 1 is that if I use sand it will turn anaerobic under the rock pile. The rock pile is going to be massive. It would be a pain to take it out on a regular basis. Anyone have experience with sand and rock piles?
The 2nd thing I'm worried about the Julis attacking my Syno's. Anyone know how aggressive Julidochromis can be? Anyone had a set up like this work with fish being peaceful?
Setting up a new Synodontis tank with Tanganyika cichlids
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Deb
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Re: Setting up a new Synodontis tank with Tanganyika cichlids
jd, your proposed tank sounds almost exactly like the tank I have set up in a 56 tall tank.
The substrate is ordinary black and white cichlid sand mixed equally with pool filter sand, for a nice mushroom color. I scattered tiny Bursa gravel shells here and there, to mimic the bottom of the Lake. I went to a landscaping yard and bought pounds of chalet rocks, which were various shades of gray. The rocks were grouped to create distinct, but natural-looking, areas for the fish to establish territories in.
The first fish in the tank were Julidochromis transcriptus, adding a few at a time until there were about thirty-five. After a couple of weeks, I added a shelldweller, Neolamprologus stappersi (meleagris). I spent a long time researching shells for them, and decided on gourmet escargot shells. Both the julies and the shellies each had a devoted bonded pair, male and female.
The tank hummed along like this for a while. I did not have problems with anaerobic sand, or anything like that. First, the sand was added in a thin layer. The rocks were added on top of the thin sand layer to stabilize them. Then, more sand was added around the structures of rock piles.
I wanted to add a dwarf Synodontis, but I didn't. I had noticed that the shelldweller population was dwindling, and after close observation, I realized that the julies were raiding the shells and eating fry. The shelldwellers valliantly protected their shells, but there were many more julies and they are all so active and bold. In fact, I love them, but I didn't like my shellie fry disappearing.
The shelldwellers were not able to stand up to the julies, so I didn't get the Synodontis. I feared the same thing would happen to them, like ripped off barbels or constant bullying.
In my tank, the Julidochromis were all over the place, in the rocks, on the substrate, in the shells, just everywhere. This is why I like them so much. But it can be a problem for less boisterous fish. Since I never got the synos, I can't say they would have bullied them, but I feared it. The julies ripped snails from their shells, and hounded to death a small bristlenose (which should not have been in the tank at all.)
Here are just a few photos to illustrate the tank and to show you the layout.
1. This is a pretty good shot of the whole tank. After this was taken, I increased the size of the rock piles, making them even higher.
2. My friend's black Calvus reproduced, and he was raising the fry. He said he would give me a couple, when they were big enough. In anticipation of that, I went to the rock yard and bought tall-ish pieces of thin stone. They stood upright against the back wall to represent rock walls or ledges. Here is a photo of that:
3. And finally, these are the shelldwellers, Neolamprologus stappersi (meleagris). The big one is the male from the main bonded pair, defending his domain.
I will be interested to hear what you decide to do and will follow this thread to see how it goes.
The substrate is ordinary black and white cichlid sand mixed equally with pool filter sand, for a nice mushroom color. I scattered tiny Bursa gravel shells here and there, to mimic the bottom of the Lake. I went to a landscaping yard and bought pounds of chalet rocks, which were various shades of gray. The rocks were grouped to create distinct, but natural-looking, areas for the fish to establish territories in.
The first fish in the tank were Julidochromis transcriptus, adding a few at a time until there were about thirty-five. After a couple of weeks, I added a shelldweller, Neolamprologus stappersi (meleagris). I spent a long time researching shells for them, and decided on gourmet escargot shells. Both the julies and the shellies each had a devoted bonded pair, male and female.
The tank hummed along like this for a while. I did not have problems with anaerobic sand, or anything like that. First, the sand was added in a thin layer. The rocks were added on top of the thin sand layer to stabilize them. Then, more sand was added around the structures of rock piles.
I wanted to add a dwarf Synodontis, but I didn't. I had noticed that the shelldweller population was dwindling, and after close observation, I realized that the julies were raiding the shells and eating fry. The shelldwellers valliantly protected their shells, but there were many more julies and they are all so active and bold. In fact, I love them, but I didn't like my shellie fry disappearing.
The shelldwellers were not able to stand up to the julies, so I didn't get the Synodontis. I feared the same thing would happen to them, like ripped off barbels or constant bullying.
In my tank, the Julidochromis were all over the place, in the rocks, on the substrate, in the shells, just everywhere. This is why I like them so much. But it can be a problem for less boisterous fish. Since I never got the synos, I can't say they would have bullied them, but I feared it. The julies ripped snails from their shells, and hounded to death a small bristlenose (which should not have been in the tank at all.)
Here are just a few photos to illustrate the tank and to show you the layout.
1. This is a pretty good shot of the whole tank. After this was taken, I increased the size of the rock piles, making them even higher.
2. My friend's black Calvus reproduced, and he was raising the fry. He said he would give me a couple, when they were big enough. In anticipation of that, I went to the rock yard and bought tall-ish pieces of thin stone. They stood upright against the back wall to represent rock walls or ledges. Here is a photo of that:
3. And finally, these are the shelldwellers, Neolamprologus stappersi (meleagris). The big one is the male from the main bonded pair, defending his domain.
I will be interested to hear what you decide to do and will follow this thread to see how it goes.
Re: Setting up a new Synodontis tank with Tanganyika cichlids
Thanks for the feedback. I still have some thinking about what I'm going to do. Cool tank I'll share some pics of mine when I get it going. It's gonna be a couple weeks. Still in the planning phase. I just don't want my syno's messed with. They'rer going to be the focus of the tank.