tang community

[Mbuna]

Hi,

I am considering putting my pair of brichardi and a breeding colony of N. mutifasciatis in a standard 4 footer and was wandering what other species i could put in with them. Im interested in:

Julidochromis sp.

Chalinochromis sp.

Cyprichromis sp.

Xenotilapia sp. (are these readily available and what price?)

and also, would it be ok to put Neolamprologus ocellatus in with the multies?

Looking forward to any suggestions

Thanks in advance

Harry

PS. I like creating a natural tanks piled with rocks etc. Would i be able to do this or will I have to create small piles of rocks at each end and in the middle of the tank?

[anchar]

Hi,

I think you'll find that the shellies will compete/fight over territory etc. unless the tank is really large and there is a clear division between the two colonies.

merjo

[Link2Hell]

Hi Mbuna

Sounds like your tempting fate with that many species that have the same breeding strategy

N.brichardi are extremely aggressive when breeing and have been known to seriously harrass other fish especially Cyps even in a 6x2x2

julies, chalinochromis and Neolamps all breed the same

It may work, but I don't think so

: L2H

[Mbuna]

darn do you have any other suggestions for a tang community?

[Mazimbwe]

julies, chalinochromis and Neolamps all breed the same

It may work, but I don't think so

Link is right!! :o

Having seen how agro Chalinochromis get with Julies other Chalino's...and having heard horror storie about the fry from my Chalino's growing up and killing L.kendali, I would think you will have more death than one tank can bare.

[Chuckmeister]

Hey Harry, if these are the fish U like I would, If you can find them, choose the Xenotilapia over the Cyps (I doubt they would cross but they do look similar eg flavipinnis, also the Xeno's are more collectable if you can afford/find them) but the cyps are awesome too!!! , either the Julie or the Chalinochromis ( one will kill the other no matter of the tank size), and between the multies and occies is an invitation to open warfare. I'd pick one of that pair also. I think with tanganyikans,the best way to choose tankmates is to pick a rock,shell and open water fish. That way the bickering is kept to a minimum. Where the brichardi fit in I dont know as I've had no experience with them.

Cheers Charlie

[Exiledonmainstreet]

Hi mbuna. I would definitely not go with that pairing.

[Taz]

HI,

I'd stick with a single shell dweller, in a group of shells preferably away from a rocky area. Possibly either N. multifasciatus, or N. occelatus or even Brevis. I'd say multifasciatus are less aggressive than occelatus.

Then in a rocky zone at either end of the tank i'd have many rocks and caves (as the name suggests!) and this could be good for Julidochromis or Chalinochromis species or any other rock dweller, however remember to restrict this just to one type. These are territorial and often aggressive fish, especially when spawning.

Thirdly i'd pick a Cyprichromis type species for the open water.

This should give a good mix of species for a tanganyikan commmunity. And should give you more enjoyment than a mixed bag that can often lead to aggression and an unhappy hobbyist.

I hope this steers you in the right direction.

[Mbuna]

thanks for the comments everyone i think i will go with Taz's idea with multies, cyps and julies

thanks again

Harry

[fiona]

The Xenos are more sand sifting fish while the Cyps stay higher in the water column so they should be compatible. Rock/shell/open water/sand. 'Course it's only a 4ft so that might be too many. In a 6ft I reckon it would look triffic.

Oh yeah, Cyps may not be suitable, they do best in large groups with large space, a standard 4fter may be pushing it? I have not kept them though, so if someone who has would comment that would be good.

[Taz]

In a 4fter I'd stick to just the 3 types, rock dweller, shell, and open water.

The Xeno's are sand sifters but in a 4fter I would want to stick to something that is open water and wouldn't conflict too much with either the shell or rock dwellers.

A group of 5-7+ of the non jumbo type of cyps should be fine in a 4x18x18 or so.

It doesn't state if it's a standard 4fter or not.

I think this community would be safe for a 4fter. The Xeno's can get quite large (comparitive to shell, rock and open water cyps) and are territorial which could lead to aggression to and from the shell dwellers

Stick to the basic fundamentals and avoid the temptation to stick too much in and you should get a good mix that works.

Cheers,

[Mbuna]

thanks Fiona and Taz.

Yeh the tank is a standard 4 footer.

would i be able to house two pairs of julies or chalinochromis in the tank?

[trofius]

hey hows things

listen to the people everyones on the right track, and yues brichardi can be very difficult to house in a community if they wanna breed my pulchers beat up everything in my 6x2x2 their cave was right in the middle so all the other fish were crowded at each end, and to make matters worse as their progressive broods grow they help to defend so their area gets bigger and bigger and so on. They have now been split up!!

To help I have got 12 leptos"malasa", 4 regani "Kipili", and 7 cyathopharynx foai "magara" in a 6x18x18 and all is well, rock pile at one end and scattered along back, two largish rocks at other end, sand substrate, maybe putting some shellies in later if all goes well. All these fish are juvy at about 4-6cm so this may have to change as they get bigger may have to go in a 6x2x2. As other people have suggested just have fish from the different levels or areas, and have physical boundries having rocks at each end of a big tank with nothing inbetween works aswell for rock dwellers.

hope this helps

[Mazimbwe]

would i be able to house two pairs of julies or chalinochromis in the tank?

hmmm...if you can house 2 pair of Chalino's in a tank you had best be keeping an almanac...coz I think it would be miracle.

There is no way...no matter what size tank you could fit in a lounge-room...that you could house 1 pair of Chalino's and 1 pair of Juli's, let alone going for 2 pairs of chalinochromis...impossible, IMO.

You have been given plenty of advice about this, really, and if you go back and read all the responses you will learn from people who, like me, have learnt that with Tang's cross-breeding is not the problem...survival is.

Topic with lots of Tang Comm suggestion...on this forum.