# Stock Sugestions for a 8 foot 1000litre



## Dno (May 13, 2008)

Hi, i am planning on turning my 8 footer into a tang tank, this would be my first tang tank and would love some stocking suggestions for it. I would like a few Calvus to breed and i already have some Gibberosa Mpimbwe. Would love some shellies n some colour in the tank.

Any suggestions would be great.

Oh n heres a pic of the tank (background almost finished)

























Cheers Dno.


----------



## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Nice tank! :thumb:

Although fronts do not play well with others... 









I don't know who to credit the photo to anymore (Fogelhund might know), but this calvus was taken out by a frontosa. If you want to breed calvus, you'll likely need some more suitable tankmates.


----------



## NewETown (Jul 31, 2008)

I'd go with some featherfins if I had a tank that big. A school of Cyathopharynx foai would look awesome. Other options are Tropheus, Xenotilapia/Enantiopus, Cyprichromis (some of the rare jumbos!) and pretty much anything you want from the lake. Your main concern should be fish compatibility, the tank is plenty big.

If you want to do Cyphos, you're probably best off just doing them without any other fish (maybe a couple large plecos?), but you could do a cool open-water tank. In my 75 I have minimal rock, a slate background that I built similar to yours, and a white sandy bottom. I have Aulonocranus, Cyprichromis, Xenos, and a couple other fish in there and they seem to love it. The featherfins are a ton of fun to watch breed, I love the breeding color my male gets when he's building his nest.

I'm really not sure how well the C. foai do with other fish, but you could do a cool mix of Cyps (a massive school would look awesome), Xenos/Enantiopus for the bottom, and maybe some Calvus or Julis for the mid-water fish. You could even get some Goby cichlids in there...

What kind of environment do you want to make for your tank? You're going for a Tang species tank, do you want to mix fish that you'd find naturally together, or do you want to just keep everything out of one lake?

Regardless of what fish you choose, I HIGHLY recommend getting jet-black sand (sand not pea gravel or anything) and white/light gray rocks. Black sand, by far, will bring out the color way better than anything else for Tanganyikan fish.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You already have frontosa and it's your first tank? I'd probably stick with a species tank for a while and see how it goes.


----------



## Dno (May 13, 2008)

I would like to see alot of colour in the tank but also have a nice community of tangs. I would like some tropheus but iam worried about them grazing on the background n pulling it apart, id hate to see them chewing away my background n revealing the styro. I still would like some shellies because it is a deep tank i would like them to have their own patch in a corner. a few calvus for the mid water.

I do like the look of the (blue neon). How ever i have found that down here in Australia that Tangs are quite expensive here and hard to come by mainly because the majority of cichlids are new world n Malawi. if i could get my hands on some nice tangs n breed them i can sell them off to my LFS.

Any one have a similar sized tank setup for tangs and pics?

Cheers Dno.


----------



## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Neither fronts or tropheus are good community tank species... they are best kept in their own tanks, with a few exceptions (gobies with troph, for example).

For a large community tank without fronts or trophs, you have a wide variety of choices. A large school of cyprichromis would go well with calvus and shellies. Color? Look at L. occelatus "gold" with inkfin A. calvus, and one of the jumbo species... blue orchid, tri-color, etc. There's still room for a small julidochromis species (not marlieri or regani). Avoid leleupi with shellies... unless you get one of the larger, meaner shellies.

Yes, it's expensive at first, but if you are successful in breeding, then you can likely make up most of your initial investment.

Note of interest... if your goal is breeding, you would be better off with several smaller species tanks. Few if any fry will survive in the community tank.

Hope that helps...


----------



## Dno (May 13, 2008)

Hey Triscuit here is wat i was thinking i hope this should all go together well. Nothing too big

Enantiopus Melanogenys (kabogo) (maybe?)

Cyprichromic Leptosoma (large school)

Xenotilapia Bathyphilus "blue neon" (small to medium school)

Lamprologus Ocellatus "gold" (small group)

Altolamprologus sp "compressiceps shell" (5 or 6 untill i get pairs)

Altolamprologus Calvus "white" ( 4 or 5 untill i get a pair)

the substrate will be pool filter sand mixed with large river pebbles scattered about the place in small piles, shell piles at either end. As for breeding any pairs that i have form will be removed n placed n their own tank.

Cheers Dno


----------



## Dno (May 13, 2008)

I just did a search for Cichlid sellers in aus n there is one place in sydney that is selling ocellatus gold for $42 each. There is no way in **** i'll pay that much for a shelly. its ridiculous the price of tang cichlids are over here.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The occies, altos and cyps are compatable in that size tank, can't comment on the others. Only get one species of alto however as they crossbreed.


----------



## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

You can easily keep six Alto "sumbu" together in that size aquarium, regardless of sex.


----------



## CichlidWhisperer (Apr 12, 2008)

OMG... $42 a gold occie? are they wild caught or something???? I paid $9 a piece for mine and I think that is about the going price. Wish I could send you some fry.... If you come to the US you could take some home with you....


----------



## Longstocking (Aug 26, 2003)

Tropheus shoudn't eat your background... but I wouldn't combine them with frontosa.

From what I've heard, all tangs are expensive in Australia.


----------



## F8LBITEva (Nov 9, 2007)

thats a beautiful tank and I love the woodwork. :thumb: good luck.


----------



## Dno (May 13, 2008)

Longstocking said:


> From what I've heard, all tangs are expensive in Australia.


Yes they are, my 2 Gibberosa Mpimbwe cost me $59 each. i believe its because the market is flooded with malawis here. I have only been to one place here in brisbane that has had tangs but such a small selection. I am hoping i can develop a good relationship with my newly found LSF where i sold my rusty fry to, so that they can track down n possible order me in or point me in the direction to some one who breeds the tangs iam after.



F8LBITEva said:


> thats a beautiful tank and I love the woodwork. :thumb: good luck.


Thanks, i spent alot of time working on that stand sanding, staining & glossing, makes it worth it hearing compliments like that.

Is there anyone on here from Aus mainly QLD who knows of a LSF that has a good selection of Tangs.
Cheers Dno.


----------



## KATALE (Jul 25, 2008)

that is 1 gorgeous tank.. i think whatever u put in it will look awesome.. i would def put some cyps in there as long as yr mpimwe arent too big cuz fronts love to eat cyps..my 125 conists of

4 neo trets
6 old sexfaciatus
9 sm kitumba frontosa
red fin comp pr
orange comp pr
8 wc lelupi
4 wc marleiri
4 transcriptus (sm)
5 med yellow labs
7 fossochromis rostratus (5")
8 clown loaches (4")
3 kubotai loaches(4")
22 jumbo blue orchid cyps (4"+)
pr lethrinop black fin
4 wc otostigma trigs
3 sm albino taiwan reef
pr brexis kitumba
and some plecos......

they still breed and the combo looks amazing.. not done adding yet .. lol.. but the cyps are getting there own tank soon... good luck w the stocking :thumb:


----------



## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Click here for more info on my Tang community, which is the same size as your tank.

Some pictures:


----------



## Dno (May 13, 2008)

Hey thanks fmueller, i love your pics and tanks, i actually have your page bookmarked. its your tanks that have inspired me to go with tangs now. I really love your shelly tank on your desk i think it looks so natural like a tiny slice of the lake was taken. i hope to have a similar setup on my desk one day once i get this big tank up and running and some shellies taken from that tank to my desk.

Iam inspired by your 240g tank the plants look awesome. i hope to grow plants all over my background or even just some nice green alge.

I am actually now at the point where iam starting to sell off some of my malawis as i do find them beautiful to watch and their colors are beautiful, but i find that over here in Australia their just too common in all pet shops and LFS, and tend to be aggressive when ever i have new fish introduced. i have a few that i have had since i first started keeping cichlids just over 1 1/2yrs ago. *** seen my Venustus grow from just under an inch to now close to 7" and such beautiful blue shades. My rustys mature n breed non stop causing me to have a population boom in small rusty fry. And my very first 2 cichlids my electric yellow male n female finally breed.

But now looking n researching up on tangs i find them more interesting n a little more special than the common malawi that seem to have flooded the market to the point where i am finding that a few LFS around me wont stock or order any tangs because they see more money with malawis than tangs even thou tangs here are quite expensive and are harder to come by.

So at the moment my new dream tang tank may take some time to stock, but i know the wait will be worth it. and i should give some plants some time to grow. I know i can get my hands on some shellies which i might this weekend ( maybe?) and i got my first Gold head compressiceps 2 day i already find him so much more interesting to watch then my malawis.

Anyway thats just wat i was thinking just then n how ur site n tanks have inspired me to do that same.

Cheers Dno.


----------

