# 75 Gallon Tanganyika Community Tank



## Mike_B (Jul 27, 2011)

Hey all....

Am starting a new 75 gallon Tang. tank. About 15 yrs ago I had a lot of N. brichardis (8 tanks worth!). I really love those fish, so my new tank will have to have at least one pair. Here's my stocking list, in the order I'll put them in the tank. Any and all suggestions/feedback/advice is very much appreciated....

-Starting off with a group of multis (shellies). Would 6 be a good number? (at least 3 escargot shells per fish.
-A school of cyps (utina). 6 of these as well?
-A couple of bristlenose plecos.
-A pair of leleupis.
-And of course the pair of brichardis....

-Also, a couple of julis would be nice, but I'm afraid that might be too many cave dwellers. I would put them in before the leleupis....

The tank will have 1-1.5 inches of aragonite sand and at least 2 large, separate stacks of slate rock. Also some artificial plants for color.... I'll be using 2 Aquaclear 70 filters.

I have just set up a 30 tall for my quarantine tank. This will be used to develop my pairs of the cave dwellers. I figured starting with 5 or 6 would give me a good chance at ending up with at least one pair each...


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Did you ever mix your brichardi with other species? When they get to breeding, they can be hard on others, particularly in a four foot tank.

I see some problems with your stock list. The leleupi and multis may not work together from what I've read of others experiences, and the cyps and brichardi are a bad mix too. Tank isn't big enough for cyps to have space once the brichardi colonize a rock pile. They'll take the open water above it. Not to mention that cyps do best in larger numbers than 6.

If going with brichardi, then I'd suggest a rock pile at one end for them and shells at the other for the multi's. I think I'd stop there. There'll be clashes between the brichardi and any other rock dweller. I've mixed them (pulcher daffodils) with t. temporalis sp. shell. Escargot shells are really bigger than multi's need. I'd go for something smaller like maybe whale eyes.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

I've actually seen Cyps and brichardi doing well together in a tank, but it could be hit and miss. Don't pile the rocks very high though... give them a shell with a few rocks, or a flower pot. Most certainly the shell dwellers will not mix with the others. If you bought large leleupi, and they started breeding before the brichardi did, the mix could work there too. If you decide to go with the Cyps, I would recommend at least 12.


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## Mike_B (Jul 27, 2011)

Ok- sounds like my plan as it was will not really work. I guess a better approach might be to solicit advice on how to stock a Tanganyika community tank (75 gallon) around a pair of brichardis. I would like to have the max # of different species, some different colors, maximizing interesting behavior, with no deaths due to aggression. Not much to ask for, huh?

It was a long time ago, when I didn't know what I know now- but my first brichardis were in a general freshwater tank. I think I had some angels, some swordtails, corys, tetras, a red tail shark, and a couple kribs in with them. I lucked out and ended up with the brichardis paired. I don't remember an undue amount of aggression. When I saw the brichardis spawn, I moved them to a separate tank. That's how I ended up with 8 tanks of brichardis! Shortly after that life got in the way of my hobby and it's been years since I had a serious tank set up. Now I've got the bug again.

Here's links to pics of the 30 gallon I just set up-

http://s1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff4 ... 225548.jpg

http://s1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff4 ... 225531.jpg

That's generally how I would like the 75 to look. Maybe with 3 piles of slate with 2 groups of shells in between them. I also thought of trying to isolate the rock groups by placing tall plants in between the different sections.

Anyway- I really appreciate the above responses. And thanks in advance to anyone else who could point me in the right direction....


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

N. brichardi aren't a good community fish. I would put them in the 30 gallon, and setup a community tank without them.


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## Mike_B (Jul 27, 2011)

Figures- my favorite fish has to have his own tank. Ok- I've got 4 multis now. Now I'm thinking in a couple of weeks I'll get some julis. They should be ok with the shellies, shouldn't they? Thanks again for the help here, there's nothing worse than investing a lot of time and money in a tank, getting to love it, then have it all go wrong. Like everything else, I had to learn that the hard way!


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Which Julidochromis? I wouldn't mix shellies with marlieri or regani.


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## Norm66 (Mar 3, 2005)

Mike, for what it's worthy brichardi species tank is one of my all time favorites. Very cool tank.


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## Mike_B (Jul 27, 2011)

Would like to go with Julidochromis ornatus. More than just one pair, if that would work....


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

ornatus r small enough to make it work. *** got a pair of transcriptus in with my multies. been fine throughout everything just make sure to give seperate rock piles for each "pair" so say u get 8 fish get like 3-4 rock piles. then shells just where-ever. u may even be able to sneak a cpl passive singles in along with it. i have a random calvus that nobody really messes with. (they dont view him as a fish... idk lol its funny to watch)


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