# Cyathopharynx furcifer/foai what tank mates would you sugges



## jav123 (Jul 19, 2014)

Hello everyone

I need your help/expertise in choosing the right tank mates for Cyathopharynx furcifer/foai

My tank size L:102" x D:26" x H:30" and my filtration will be from a 7ft sump.

I would like to keep Cyathopharynx furcifer/foai but i am not sure what other tank mates i can keep with them successfully. This is where i need your help guys 

This is what i was thinking to keep together but i am not sure whether it will work, (this is why i need your help please as i would like to get it right first time)

A pair of Cyathopharynx furcifer/foai location not decided yet
12 Cyprichromis leptosoma not jumbo and location not decided
A pair of Enantiopus kilesa
May be a pair of Benthochromis tricot location not decided 
Some shell dwellers may be Lamprologus Ocellatus, Gold ?
A pair of goby ?

I would love to keep the above together but personally i don't think Benthochromis tricot, shell dwellers and goby's will go with Cyathopharynx furcifer/foai ?

I would appreciate all your suggestion's and opinions on what you think would be an ideal tank mates.

Thank you guys


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## jav123 (Jul 19, 2014)

Guys ? suggestions please ??


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I wouldn't use reg. cyps in such a large tank. Large tanks need large fish. I would lean more towards Cyp. Pavo or cyp Micros.
I have kept a pair of Gobies with Foai, Furcifer, Ventralis and now Nasutas. Furcifer/Foai and Kilesa are not pairing fish. They should be kept in groups consisting of at least two males, and multiple females. I would probably try Benthos also in such a large tank, but treat them as cyps as far as groups go. Three or four male Foai with a dozen females would be a good number. I personally would choose between Kilesa or Foai. I currently keep kipili gold Nasuta, cyp micro, cyp pavo, paracyps and a pair of kilesa in a 6' 210g. The Kilesa need to be moved.


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## jav123 (Jul 19, 2014)

100 views and only 1 reply ??? 
thanks for the reply by the way. much appreciated.

only post on here because I see a lot of people on here keep Tanganyika , and have or kept furcifer/faoi
and need your help !


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## jav123 (Jul 19, 2014)

noddy said:


> I wouldn't use reg. cyps in such a large tank. Large tanks need large fish. I would lean more towards Cyp. Pavo or cyp Micros.
> I have kept a pair of Gobies with Foai, Furcifer, Ventralis and now Nasutas. Furcifer/Foai and Kilesa are not pairing fish. They should be kept in groups consisting of at least two males, and multiple females. I would probably try Benthos also in such a large tank, but treat them as cyps as far as groups go. Three or four male Foai with a dozen females would be a good number. I personally would choose between Kilesa or Foai. I currently keep kipili gold Nasuta, cyp micro, cyp pavo, paracyps and a pair of kilesa in a 6' 210g. The Kilesa need to be moved.


Hi noddy, thanks for your reply.

sorry for my ignorance but im not familiar with tangs so short names mean nothing to me what does reg.cyps mean ? paracyps?

why would you not keep kilesa and foai together? - I couldn't do 1 male and 3 females for each ?


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## jav123 (Jul 19, 2014)

guys can I ask why I am not getting any reply's to this thread?? 
I need advise and help but I am not getting it? must be a reason ? can some 1 explain may be ??

im just shocked and surprised that I haven't got any advise on my question, I want to keep foai but never kept anything like them b4 or seen them in lfs in order to ask for advise

in the uk we don't have hardly any Tanganyika forums, or a lot of information about them, hence the reason why I use this forum.
*** always used this forum for Malawi profile and refrences .

to be quite blunt as I feel angry at the moment ! if we had a lot of info and forum dedicated to Tanganyika in the uk I certainly wouldn't be coming on hear asking for your help


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

jav123 said:


> noddy said:
> 
> 
> > I wouldn't use reg. cyps in such a large tank. Large tanks need large fish. I would lean more towards Cyp. Pavo or cyp Micros.
> ...


Reg. cyps are non jumbo cyprichromis. Paracyps are paracyprichromis nigripinnis. You could keep Foai and Kilesa together as you have such a large tank.
The problem being that Kilesa are a pretty skittish and gentle fish. Foai, despite also being pretty gentle (they need to be the dominant fish in the tank in order to thrive), get very large and can easily kill a Kilesa if it felt the urge (like when the Foai is spawning and the Kilesa comes into his pit). Kilesa are schooling fish and build huge nests in the sand and Foai also build huge nests in the sand. IMO, Foai need at least another male in the tank to keep them coloured up when they are not spawning. The female Foai like to school together in the mid to upper portion of the tank, and the female Kilesa school together on the sand bottom.


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## jav123 (Jul 19, 2014)

Hi noddy
thanks for you re reply.
I was thinking of keeping non jumbo cyprichromis purley because I know cyprichromis are a schooling fish and do well in a 15+ group, so a few males will be coloured up. if I went for jumbo they grow like 9" which is pretty large and cannot keep a large group. 
paracyprichromis nigripinnis = I don't like these to be honest!

As for 2 males foai it makes sense = just like Malawi cichlids , will at least keep 1 of the males fully coloured at all times, the only problem is these fish are like £60 each and to by 4 of the at the same time ... bloody expensive. and trying to add another male later on I would image will just cause chaos !! just like mbunas??

I know kilesa are also a sand nesting builders, I thought it could work because of the length of the tank foai 1 side of the tank and kilesa the other side? but if you think it wont work how about replacing kilesa with may be something like Xenotilapia ochrogenys ? or something similar but as colourful as kilesa ??


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Non jumbo cyps are great tank mates for Foai, the problem I found in a 72 x 24 x 30" tall tank was that they almost disappear. I also would not keep jumbo cyps with Foai as they are way to boisterous. That's why I suggested Cyp Microlepidotus or Cyp pavo. Both of these fish grow to the same size as Jumbo cyps but are nowhere near as aggressive. The largest a jumbo cyp will get is about 6", Foai will get to around 9".

Yes, adding another male Foai later on could end in tears.
I think due to the size of your tank (which is a similar size to mine except it's 2' longer) you probably could keep Kilesa and Foai. I just feel I have to warn you of the possible dangers. I have seen Foai dive bomb, and kill fully grown Xeno Ochregenys in my tank (Ochrogenys/Kilesa, same thing as far as behaviour is concerned).

I have just had to remove my last female Kilesa from my 210g today as the Nasutas were stressing her out to much when spawning. I'm not sure if she will survive or not, I have one pair left after starting out with three pairs. Like you say, these are expensive fish, I can't even imagine the price of Tricoti if Foai are 60 quid ea.
I have nearly always bought my fish as fry/juvies and grown them out and always try to buy at least a doz. at a time in order to end up with a few females.

Are there no local clubs in your area? Where abouts in the U.K are you? There are a few guys around on the forums from down south and up north of Gods own City


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