Question: Tanganyika Tank

[Mr. Namazu]

Hello. I am thinking about trying to create a Tanganyika theme based tank for my synodontis petricola. Can anyone provide some suggestions for what specific plants and substrates are best suited for the tank? thank you.

[sidguppy]

main plants in the lake are algae.

Synodontis petricola is a bit of a grazer, so it likes green and paintbrush-algae to graze.

the best substrate is sand or fine gravel; mixed up is even better. lots of rocks for hiding places.

plants:
if you can get Hydrilla verticillata, this is a fast growing native of East Africa and its' lakes. it thrives on hard water and lots of light, it really soaks up nitrates too.
another good plant is Vallisneria spiralis, wich also is native to the lake (it's cosmopolitic).
Floating plants give shading and use up nitrates fast. the best two are Duckweed (Lemna minor) and Floating Water Lettuce (Pistia stratoides). other floaters often don't do well on the high pH and the hardness of Rifttanks.

I wouldn't keep them without dither-fish. without any other fish in there, they tend to get the feeling something's "wrong" and often end up really reclusive.

if your tank is about 1m or a bit more I suggest Paracyprichromis. This is a very peaceful shoaling cichlid that doesn't claim any floorspace. It's captive-bred (and known as "The Blue Neon"), so getting those shouldn't be hard. Keep at least 8 or so; 2-3 males, rest females.

if your tank is minimum 4 feet or bigger -better- Cyprichromis leptosoma is a possibility. These are similar sized (4" max) but much more active, hence larger tank.

A smaller tank (80 cm or so) isn't big enough for these. although not native, very good ditherfish for petricola's are Livebearers! their peaceful nature (if you pic the right ones), their activity-level and their constant mating (pheromones!) are well-suited. I breed petricola's by adding livebearers, and several other Rift Syno's can be 'boosted' as well with this trick.
good species: Limia nigrofasciata, Limia perugiae, Limia melanogaster, Poecilia reticulata (guppy), Endler Guppies, P mexicana and sphenops (Mollies), Xiphophorus spp, Girardinus metallicus, Phalloceros spp, Ilyodon furcidens and Characodon spp.
other livebearers can be nippy (like Pseudoxiphophorus or Gambusia) or need brackish water (like Poecilia laipinna and velifera).
domestic bred Platy's or Sworttails can also be used of course.

[Mr. Namazu]

thank you for all the great suggestions, Sidguppy!!

[worton[pl]]

Hello,

<a href="http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =">here</a> is also very interesting topic about setting up a Tanganyika tank :) and few other interesting things can be found there :).


Regards.