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Lake Tanganyika Riparium

hydrophyte

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Joined
22 Aug 2009
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1,038
This is a 200 litre tank that I have had set up for a long time. I have had various riparium plantings in it and just last night I finished cleaning it up again for a new themed project. There is already a group of the Lake Tanganyika catfish, Synodontis lucipinnis, and now I am going to get it ready for a small representative cichlid community to go along with the catfish. I'm still working on my list of desired fish species, but I hope to start getting some of them soon.

Here is a shot from last night. I removed the large river cobbles in there and will replace them with angular slabs of limestone more similar to the rocky shorelines that I have seen in pictures of Lake Tanganyika. I'll also have to remove the little group of the livebearers and the Central America cichlids that are currently in there with the catfish. The riparium plants will look better when I can include some riparium trellis rafts with rooted stems to help cover up the planters and make a more natural scene.

3-I-12-tank-I-b.jpg
 
Looking forward to see what fish get in there. Do you have a short list?
 
Looking forward to see what fish get in there. Do you have a short list?

I have never kept Tanganyika cichlids before, so it will probably just be a few of the common and easy fish, such as Julidochromis or Neolamprologus.
 
Cyps are generally similarly sized or larger and alot more active than paracyps and should be kept in at least a 120cm long tank due to their swimming speed. Where as it is generally accepted paracyps are suitable for a 90cm or larger.
 
Here are a couple more shots to show the riparium foliage. The Ruellia, Asclepias and Cyperus are all growing in well. I will have flowers on the Asclepias before too long.

3-I-12-tank-III-m.jpg


3-I-12-tank-II-m.jpg
 
I like the idea but why did you leave the water level so low?
Most of your plants look like stem types, perhaps some more foliage, bushy types, would look good too?
From my experience, there seems to be a huge choice of pot plants available that will grow with their roots in water.
 
I like the idea but why did you leave the water level so low?
Most of your plants look like stem types, perhaps some more foliage, bushy types, would look good too?
From my experience, there seems to be a huge choice of pot plants available that will grow with their roots in water.

The water level is lowered a few inches because this enclosure is a DIY de-rimmed tank that formerly had a top plastic frame. The glass and seams are not strong enough to hold it full of water and they would fail if I were to fill it up. The lowered water level also improves the visual proportions of the whole thing while the several inches of glass above the water has prevented loss of fish. I hate having fish jump out of tanks.

I apologize if you do not like the plant selection but I intended the various stem plants combined with the Cyperus as a theme for this planting. It will look more full as the plants grow in.
 
Here's a quick update shot. The background plants are growing in well. I need to get more plants established on trellis rafts to start to cover up the planters. I also added this new hardscape of big limestone slabs that I dug from the snow out in our yard.

14-I-13-tank-I-b1.jpg
 
I love Tangi's, Neolamprologus Brichardi is my favorite Cichlid!! Get some barnacles especially if you plan on Neolamprologus Leleupi. You are a bit restricted with Tangi's as not many shops have them and those that do only tend to have Brichardi's, Juli's and sometimes Sexfasciatus.

Brevis are quality little things and love barnacles and are great fun to watch, If you can find them Caudopunctatus are lovely but I really struggled getting them when I was doing the Cichlids, may be easier to get now as it was going on 10 years ago now lol
 
Thanks Danny!

My current favorite idea for fish selection is to use a group of Eretmodus and/or Tanganicodus goby cichlids. I am in the US, but shops here also tend to keep a limited variety of Tanganyika species. I might be able to track these down with online orders.

Our tapwater is "liquid rock" with lots of dissolved minerals and conditioned yields pH 8.2.
 
Nicely positioned rock work. I have only kept Neolamprologus brichardi no other Tanginikans and never any Mbuna. Tank scapes never excited me, but I knew they could be better. This is looking very promising.

Hey thanks. I am trying to make a compelling hardscape layout in there. I will play around with the positioning of the stones some more.

Here's a shot of the riparium foliage. Everything is growing in well. I will have to start pruning some of it back pretty soon. The Asclepias Mexican milkweed have flower buds and they will bloom soon.

14-I-13-tank-II-m1.jpg
 
Thanks for the likes you guys. I appreciate it.

This tank will be looking better as I get the trellis raft plants into it. I also hope to track down the new fish soon.
 
How about changing the substrate for a finer white sands? I'm no Tanganyika expert but I think some species like to dig. Would be very entertaining to watch.
 
How about changing the substrate for a finer white sands? I'm no Tanganyika expert but I think some species like to dig. Would be very entertaining to watch.

I'd rather keep that gravel. It has such a mature (3 years old) biofilter in it that it keeps the tank very clean. I am more inclined to get fish (such as Tanganicodus) that will spend more time among the rocks.
 
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