# Slombardi's Tanganyikan community tank! (Pic Heavy)



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

Whats up guys,

I've been a member for a long time, but my old account got deleted or something. Anywho, I've slowed down on fish keeping up until recently and thought I'd share my tank :dancing: :dancing:





Its inhabitants! 



If anyone has gold occies for sale (or donation) in the Toronto area, let me know!! desperately trying to get more



Not so white, white calvus




Bonus! E. cyanostictus caught on getting funky


----------



## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

Very cool! What size tank is that? I see you have Rainbows and Killi's in there as well?


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

Its a 40 breeder, and yup good eye! I have a pair of blue gularis and some dwarf rainbows in there as well


----------



## The Dude315 (May 19, 2015)

SLombardi said:


> Its a 40 breeder, and yup good eye! I have a pair of blue gularis and some dwarf rainbows in there as well


Gorgeous tank. You have a great eye for scape. I'm sure that's a very entertaining tank. I would assume the Rainbows encourage the other fish to be out more. I'm tempted to do the same.


----------



## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Great shots of the breeding gobies - I've seen that a couple of times, but hats off to you for capturing it with a camera! Nicely done!


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

The Dude315 said:


> Gorgeous tank. You have a great eye for scape. I'm sure that's a very entertaining tank. I would assume the Rainbows encourage the other fish to be out more. I'm tempted to do the same.


Thank you! I probably need some more rainbows but they do a good job of staying out and about  I love their displays, very similar to cyprichromis



> Great shots of the breeding gobies - I've seen that a couple of times, but hats off to you for capturing it with a camera! Nicely done!


Thanks nodima! Unfortunately, I'm not sure this clutch is going to survive, my little ich episode I had a few weeks back seems to have bounced back.. I can see a few spots on my rainbows  Going to be treating the tank with some salt and heat. Fingers crossed for the embryos!

I cant seem to edit my post but heres the pic of the broken link









and a pic of my blue gularis - Hes still pretty young, gotta beef him up a bit


----------



## busterny (Feb 12, 2014)

Wow, looks great. Lots of nice looking fish. Will they all be able to stay on the 40B as they grow?


----------



## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

The tank looks bigger than its actual size. Nice scaping!

How's the fish interaction to each other?


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

Busterny: Thanks dude! The other two gobies probably wont be in the long run since the pair have begun their relentless reign but everyone else should be perfectly fine. Although I do think the xeno's would appreciate some extra room.

I plan on upgrading to a 90 gallon sometime soon and transferring my pair of buescheri in a 20G that would love to move to a bigger home


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

Hey Als, Its an extremely relaxed tank, the gobies mind their own business and dont keep territories. The killies act kind of predatory towards the occies due to their size but they have the spunk and don't let themselves get bullied. For the most part, everyone gets along really well and all hang out (pic above)

Short story about this dwarf rainbow, his name is Bruno! The only fish in my tank with a name. He was significantly larger than everyone at the pet shop and I felt bad for the guy cus it was clear nobody wanted him because he was a cyclops  I took him and some his lady friends home with me and hes been doing great!


----------



## busterny (Feb 12, 2014)

Keep the pics coming.i can only Imagine how you would scape the 90. What kind of rocks are those?


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

busterny said:


> Keep the pics coming.i can only Imagine how you would scape the 90. What kind of rocks are those?


Will do! :thumb: 
I believe the rocks are dolomite limestone, consisting of magnesium and calcium carbonate. Great for africans! I can readily find them on roadsides  

Also found a place selling gold occies woo! Now to solve my ich dilemma so I add some more buddies for my existing occies


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

Some more pics from this week


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

Another update!

Playing around with external flash, getting better but difficult and frustrating :x :x 
Mostly everyone will be moving to a 90 within a month or so. Just now picking whether I want Occies or moving my similis colony to the 90.

Picked up more occies though!


----------



## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

very beautiful and inspiring aquarium. may I ask, did you pick Rainbows because of the insane prices required to aquire a group of Cyprichromis?
I`m thinking of setting up a Tang tank and the only thing I really am apprehensive about is Cyps. I don`t really like them to begin with, and I just don`t want to pay all that money for a fish I have little interest in. to top it off I`m pretty sure you are encouraged to pick the whole group at the same time?
it had occurred to me to use Madagascan Rainbows instead, but they can be pretty pricey too, although you could increase their numbers over time.

Could you recommend any other fish that Make nice open water displays for a Tang community? you obviously have a skill at mixing species succesfully


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

Thanks rafini! Appreciate the kind words
For the rainbows, you're mostly on the ball. I love how the male cyps look and their courtship behaviour but as you said, they cost a fortune and you need a large group. Also having too many males causes problems while having too many females makes the group look dull. This is only a 40 breeder and would say its a tad bit small for a group of cyps. I'm sure its still doable, i just prefer to keep my tanks a bit more sparsely stocked

As for open water fish, I def recommend rainbows since they do prefer more alkaline water than most other community fish. Other robust tetras work as well such as Congo tetras. For my 90G that im setting up in the next couple of weeks, im planning on grabbing bosemani rainbows when they go on sale since they are a bit pricey (at least rainbowfish go on sale, unlike cyps ahaha). I like how they stay slender unlike other rainbowfish


----------



## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

You see this is why I recommend the Madagascan Rainbows, they stay very thin and they always remind me of my old Giant snakehead when he was 2" long. even if he only stayed that size for a few days lol.

No problem your tank looks amazing and the pictures definitely make it look larger. Thanks for the ideas I have found that most people are in favor of an all tang tank, and I have done that before with a 90g but I feel like something cheap and colorful to add activity near the upper reaches would make the tank a lot more interesting. I always thought that Acei cichlids from lake malawi would do a nice job as they are peaceful, active and colorful.

Anyway I don't mean to Hijack your thread I'm just happy to see someone do something I had thought about before, good job!


----------



## SLombardi (Sep 1, 2015)

haha yuup! slender rainbows are def. the most attractive! 
If your LFS has poor stock of tangs, look up spencer jack. Hes based in Winnipeg and carries a good selection.

I am a little surprised at my own scaping for this tank haha. Too bad it'll be torn down and put in the 90. Probably going to convert it into a planted tank or maybe an occie breeding op.

Just another pic... 

Occies 5 by Sean Lee, on Flickr


----------

