PlanetCatfish.com

Sort of along the lines of Bob Villa's "This Old House" I thought I would post some fun pics. These are all the same 55 gallon tank over the last six years. If you look closely, there is one piece of driftwood that is in every configuration

In Venezuela


In Colombia


In Mexico
(to be added)

In its newest South African incarnation

Step 1) Rocks and driftwood


Step 2) Gravel


Step 3) Add plants


Step 4) Finished!


-Shane

that is sooooo cool, a tank that has travelled further than me!! lol. all excellent set ups shane, what you putting in the new one?

Sweetness.

Hey Shane,
Your work sure takes you to great aquarist locales. Did I detect Copella species in setup #1? They are a favorite group of fishes of mine. Really an under appreciated group in the USA. I have breed several species but not the more readily available splash tetra.
Are you going to join the darkside(killiefish keepers) now that you live in Africa?
Best wishes,
Larry

Beutifull setups,all of them
I hope you wont lose your interest for South American catfishes now that you are in Africa

all excellent set ups shane, what you putting in the new one?

It is the only "display" tank I plan to set up. Since it is in the living room, the wife gets a say in how it looks and she wants a school of nice Congo tetras. You can not tell from the pics, but there are two 295 gph powerheads each attached to a 40 gallon sponge filter behind the driftwood. With 590 gph total turnover, there is some serious current in the tank. I have four Lamprologus sp. "Congo" that came in through a local exporter. I need to get them identified as they match nothing in any of my resources. Any central African cichlid experts out there? The tank will be finished off with a few lowveld Chiloglanis that can withstand the higher temps. The goal is for an attractive, lightly stocked, easy to take care of display.

Did I detect Copella species in setup #1

Yes, they were collected in Delta Amacuro, Venezuela (Orinoco) by Whitepine and I.

I hope you wont lose your interest for South American catfishes now that you are in Africa

I doubt it. Those that have known me longest know that I am actually still an Asian catfish guy at heart. I just keep moving everywhere but Asia!

-Shane

This is the "Lamp" sp exported from the Congo. Anyone have a clue? Thanks.



-Shane[/img]

L.congoensis ?

Lovely fish by the way.

How about some Synodontis brichardi to top it it all off?

If you wish, I can ask at the Swedish Cichliade association.
Somebody there will probably know!

There is some lak of interest in Cichliades here I think, probably depends one all the sweet catfishes!

Regards
Cristoffer

racoll wrote:L.congoensis ?

Lovely fish by the way.

How about some Synodontis brichardi to top it it all off?

They propose a Lamprologus congoensis... they seemes to be quite sure!


So we have a Cichliade expert here after all!

Regards
Cristoffer

I thought what a lovely looking Cichlid, even if it is African. Love my SA tropicals.
Your stocking plan is going to be a beautiful display having some of the most beautiful and interesting fishes Africa offers the aquarist.And the plants your selection of fish allows for, perfect.

Shane wrote:This is the "Lamp" sp exported from the Congo. Anyone have a clue? Thanks.



-Shane[/img]

I asked a friend Dave (http://www.davesfish.com/) and he replied..........

That is one awesome fish!!! I don't recognize it for sure, but it
looks like it could be Lamprologus tigripictilis, which is a fish I
would love to get my hands on! Tell him he may want to check with
Melanie Stiassney. She described the fish.

Dave,
Please thank your friend Dave for pointing me in the right direction. He seems to import a lot of African cichlids and probably knows his fish.

I checked Schelly and Stiassny (2004) Revision of the Congo River Lamprologus Schilthuis, 1891, with descriptions of two new spp.

This a very well done paper and a must for Congo River cichlidiots:
http://diglib1.amnh.org/novitates/i0003 ... 1-0001.pdf

I am no cichlid guy, but it looks like L. werneri Poll, 1959 to me. With L. tigripictilis being a close second. L. congoensis is a much more robust sp with plainer markings.

Thanks all.
-Shane

cichlidiots

By the way, there is a superfluous . on the end of the link to the pdf.

Shane,
How is the tank doing without the center bracing on the tank stand? I've heard folks say the center bracing is a "must-have" underneath. Others say no. What's your experience?
Thanks,
Amanda

I am not sure what you mean Amanada?
-Shane

Shane, I think Amanda is asking about some sort of brace on the stand.

Amanda,
I'm sure you're aware that the same problem can be solved in many different ways - a brace is a good way to strengthen a design, but there are other ways to achieve the same strength:
- Use larger profile material
- Use "thicker" material
- Use stronger (more high-tech) material.

The key to a good stand is that the surface that the tank rests on is flat and does not bend under load.

In this case, it looks like some angle-iron has been used for the platform - and I'm pretty sure it's strong enough to hold the 400 odd pounds that the tank loads the stand with.

--
Mats

That's exactly what I mean, Mats. On some 55 gallon stands, there's a center brace(usually the wooden stands). Some folks don't like the metal stands, since there isn't a center brace. How has this metal stand worked for you over the years? I don't see any bowing at all!
Amanda

I presume by center brace you mean a piece going horizontally around midway up the legs to prevent the legs from splaying?

If the legs are sufficient strength and the attaching to the top (base for the tank) is strong enough, you don't need a brace.

Wood is in some respects stronger and in other ways weaker than steel, which means that you have to do things differently. Wood tends to bend and distort more than steel, which makes it more important to put a brace between the legs/sides to prevent them from moving too much.

I'm pretty amazed with the design of the Juwel stands - it's just chipboard with a hard coating, and it's strong enough to hold a 400L tank with a decent content... It is indeed good quality chipboard (not the stuff that Ikea [the internationally availabel Swedish furniture store that invented "flat packing"] uses for it's low-cost furniture, for example), but still. [But you'd get PLENTY of Ikea furniture for the price of a Juwel stand, of course...]

Any bowing on a stand would be "fatal", so I doubt that Shane would still be using the stand if it had that problem...

--
Mats

How has this metal stand worked for you over the years? I don't see any bowing at all!

Well Amanda, that stand is about 13 years old and has seen service on three continents now. It has had heavy tanks on it and been mis-handled by moving companies in 5 countries. I am pretty sure my daughter will someday have to figure out a way to get rid of it when I am gone.

All of my stands are metal. Metal is cheap, light to move, and lasts for ever. Every few years they just get washed up and retouched with black spray paint.
-Shane

13 years-that answers that question! Thanks, Shane.
Amanda

Shane wrote:This is the "Lamp" sp exported from the Congo. Anyone have a clue? Thanks.

http://www.dignall.com/gallery/d/54519-1/DSC01871.JPG

-Shane

This is L. werneri. L. tigripictilis has a greater number of bars.

Just an update now that the tank has settled a bit.

In Nov 2006


As of 16 Jan 2007


This is the 45 gal for Chiloglanis in my fishroom. You can see a few on the back wall.


-Shane

[/img]

Beautiful tnkas. Very natural looking.
Lovely fish too.
Great planting and aquascaping as well. Well done!

Very beautifull tanks Especially the one with Chiloglanis...
Those Chiloglanis...i like them very much but cant find any...Lucky you

Hi Shane,
Do you know whether your Congo Tets are TR or collected wild? I am guessing they are from the normal supply of SE Asian farmed but some wild ones would be intersting to see if Congos have lost or gained anything when compared to wild fish. They are so nice when caught by indirect morning sunlight.

I think some vals or similar plant in the back corners would look awesome. I can't wait to see the tank grow out and a large shoal of congo tetras.

Larry,
As sad as it sounds, I am in Africa and the Congos come in from SE Asia. SE Asia is the major supplier to the South African hobby from what I have seen in stores with very small amounts of fishes coming over from Brazil. Small amounts of west African and SE Asian wild caught stuff come in rarely.
Justy,
I agree I could go full bore with the plants, but I wanted something very easy to maintain. The substrate is too shallow for most plants. I guess I could always add more though if the desire strikes.
Anubias are very cheap here (less than $2.00 per plants). Foe a few bucks I could also lay down an entire ground cover of A. "nana."
-Shane

Anyone have any additional info on the above L. werneri? There is not a lot on the web and what I have found says the fish grows to 12.4 cm or about 5". The above pictured male is now approaching 8" (20cm) TL. When will this thing stop growing? He almost ate a female krib tankmate the other day, but she escaped with some damage to her head.
He looks even more spectacular then the above photo, but is no longer fitting in well with thecommunity. The female appears to have reached max length at circa 3" TL and is just dwarfed by the male.
-Shane

Just thought I would post some one year later pics. The tank is a bit more "lived in" now. First shot is with extra lighting for the photo. 2nd Sojpat the Krib of Tain. Purchased in the UK and now returned to Africa. 3rd one year ago. Last is the tank with its normal lighting configuration. Tank population is
1 pair Pelvicachromis pulcher
1 pair Pelvicachromis sp aff subocellatus
3 Arnoldichthys spilopterus
3 Phenacogrammus interruptus
1 Ancistrus sp. 3
-Shane