CamoT Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Whats going on guys and girls.I'm currently starting the process of planning my new tank, Ill be moving into my new property first week of december and setting up a 6 x 3 x 2 tank. I got a goal for this tank and hopefully with a little bit of help and advice from you all, we should be able to pull it off. So here goes.My goal for the tank is to house a couple of colonies of fish and set the tank up to allow them to live and hopefully eventually breed in the tank without. Basically I want natural selection to occur, those that breed and survive/ survive those that are eaten do not. But I want to give them every opportunity by carefully selecting breeds that work in with each other and by putting a lot of time into the aqua scapeing to allow for plenty of nooks and cranies for fish to get in and lay eggs and hide.So lets get some suggestions going guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamoT Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 Lots of views not opinions, must have asked a stupid question haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I thought I replied to this one earlier actually... Biggest question is what 'type' of fish you want? Malawi/Tangs/South Americans/Central Americans? Do you have any favourite species that you'd like to build a tank around? Or is this completely open?If completely open - breed some nice umbriferum. Don't know how you'd go with adding a second breeding group of another species though :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucem Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I'd go for a tank based on a particular location. Pick a location in either lake or SA, research the fish that live in that location and their habitat types, and create a tank around that.I've thought about doing this for some time but have never done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuin Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 My opinion:Same as Brucem's; pick a theme, a lake, or variety and go from there. I've always gone for the lake specific option (Malawi and Tanganyika). To me it makes sense to replicate nature and makes it easier to keep fish alive ie same water conditions, same aqua scape, 'mostly' compatible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firthy13 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 3 wide or 3 high?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamoT Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 3 high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noddy Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hey CamoT,Definitely go with a theme. You could have a very nice setup from any of the locations mentioned above. Do you want to breed, display or both? For example for a stunning display you could look at a large central/south American tank with one or two fish that show a lot of character etc or you could go with a Malawi mbuna tank or a Tanganyikan tank.Keep us postedCheersTrav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamoT Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 I want the tank to be a display tank but not in the traditional terms of display.What I want is, is to display how the fish would live in there natural habitat and allow them the opportunity to grow, breed and hopefully some of the fry survive and kind of become the next generation.I dont expect all fry/ eggs to survive but thats where the natural environment/ natural selection comes into it.I'll start looking into the different lakes and catchment areas. I probably will want to go for less aggressive species and like i have seen in the other threads, split the tank kind of as follows.2 breeds of Bottom dwellers3 to 4 colonies of mid dwelling fish2 to 3 colonies of top dwelling fishHows that sound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noddy Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Sounds good to me but it will still depend on quantities of each colony. Have a look at the Tanganyikans as they are more peaceful than the Malawians. Some of the Tanganyikans have very different behaviors ie shell dwellers rock dwellers and open water swimmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillsysyd Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I have a 4x2x2 tank, which has a rock wall and replicates their naturally habitat.Things breed, sometimes I strip sometimes I don't, but I don't see your display tank as being anything unusual.But I'd go with Lake Tang, if you get sufficent rockwork and plants you could easily have cyps, paracyps, gobies, featherfins, shell dwellers and elongated lamps or julies happily going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzFish Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I'd seriously consider going 3 wide not 3 high, wet armpits suck after the 3rd or 4th time! This also gives you so much more room for aquascaping.My suggestion for a tank that was 6 x 3 x 2 would be a nice big colony of Fronnies by themselves or a nice colony of foai's with lots of rock dwelling species to fill it out with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowie Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 id go foai and cyps myself with maybe a few xenotilapiaand some occies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillsysyd Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Be prepaired to remove some species,I've got in my current tank, paracyps, leiliupi, cyps, fucifer, peraxlis, gobies, julies ragani,synos, calvusI have had to remove some species for being a bit aggressive and replace them with different species. All breeding size specimens have bred at least once in my tank, which has been set up a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firthy13 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 i agree with Azfish, thats the reason i asked. 3 feet is a long way down and does make it alot harder to do anything on the bottom half of the tank. also going 3 feet high is going to add a fair bit of cost to the tank as you will need thicker glass. if i was in your situation i would definitely go for a wider tank because a large majority of tanks use the substrate. the only ones that dont are cyps and the like. it will give you more flexibility in the species you can keep by have a larger footprint rather then height. and if you cant decide either way, go with a 6x2.5x2.5. and i agree, a big colony of wild caught frontosa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamoT Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 What compliments Frontosa's well, would I be able to run the Fronts with some Alto Comps and what would be a good bottom dweller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damoq Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I have two 6x3x2 (3wide) x (2high) and they have a sensational area for scaping!They both have frontosa in them but i will be moving them into 6x2x2 tanks as i am probably putting my foai colony in one so the male can dig a huge pit with the extra space!!!I also have a tank that is 900mm high and it is extremely hard to do anything with because you can't reach the bottom and as others have stated more width is better than more height imo!Keep us posted cause i am very interested in your project!Good luck,Damo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Three foot deep is a real hassle to clean. There is has been some great stocking suggestions but the changing to a three foot wide tank for the greater footprint followed by 6x2.5x2.5 are the pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamoT Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Thanks for the input, the problem i may run into with the 3 foot wideis the area I am putting the tank in my stick out to much.Will def look into it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucem Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I have kept leleupi and hecqui with fronts.I also have a small group of dubs with frontosa but the fronts are full grown and get to the food OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielsplakat Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 like everyone said frontosa! i believe they are the arowanas of the african cichlid world hahaha. if you dont mind some oddballs in the tank id put a few rainbowfish (m. bosemani or m. trifasciata) in there to get the shy fronnies out and about. rainbows love to swim at the top and mid range in my tanks and are really lively! i also find that my calvus seem to be more happy and eating more when there are other fish present, has anyone else had this experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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