billfish Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Ok so after some ear bashing fro. The wife about why i dont buy more colouful fish after getting some electric yellows for a mate at last weeks auction i think i may have to venture into the deep dark side.the thing that gets me is i had discus for years ! Obviously not colourful enogh for her????????????? I dont really want large versions and not sure if i want malawi or tangs already in process of setting up a shellie tank sort ofthinking along the lines of yellows salousi comps or calvus strawberry peacocks cant fit 6-8 footers am i wasting my time? any suggestions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dna Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 I went Malawi and personally think there the best looking freshwater fish money can buy, I have a 6x2x2 with a large stack of dead coral, white sand substrate and about 20 Africans. Everyone that comes to my house loves it. female salousis' are amazing aswell as maingano yellows red zebra cobalt blue venestus. You could fit 10 - 15 in a four foot easily. I aslo have a large red zebra im giving away if you want it. Here's an old photo of mine when I first set it up. ( it looks different now ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betta-Cray_z Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 first off what size tank have you got? that is the first and foremost obstacle. Peacocks are brilliant, some nice fish and show plenty of colour without getting (too) large. to be honest unless you are looking at going full tanganyikan then i would stay away from the comps/ calvus. The two lakesThe two lake are actually very different in many ways. Despite popular opinion the water of Lake Malawi isn't really all that hard. GH - 4 to 6. KH - 6 to 8. pH - 7.8 to 8.6 Conductivity - 210 - 220. Temp - 72 to 82F. The water found in Lake Tanganyika on the other hand is very different. GH - 11 to 17. KH - 16 to 19. pH - 8.6 to 9.5. Conductivity - 606 - 620. Temp - 76 to 82F. As you can see from the above stats, the water properties are quite different from the two lakes. YES you COULD house them together but i tend to not recommend it. BUT IF on the other hand you do want to go down the route of tangs you could make one hell of a tank. I'm not sure if they are more appealing to you, but its my personal preference as apposed to malawi cichlids. Your options are really only limited by tanksize, assuming that you have a four foot thats a decent size to start at. could go for some of the fish from the neolamprologus side of things. start with the tank size, then we can see. definatly not a waste of time. i have already turned to the dark side. no cookies, only tangs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfish Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 These are what i have spare atm 2x2ft cubes 1x4ft x2ftx20 h gotta check water holding capabilities on all id like to use the cubes but its probablt a bit ambitious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yodapwnsasmurf Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Go Tangerines and Dragon Bloods, they are the most stunning adult Africans of all! Oh and don't look past White Knights! PM sent man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfish Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 [MENTION=4899]Yodapwnsasmurf[/MENTION].Whats the second photo the missus loves the look of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yodapwnsasmurf Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 [MENTION=4899]Yodapwnsasmurf[/MENTION].Whats the second photo the missus loves the look of it Albino Tangerine or Dragon Blood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfish Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 first off what size tank have you got? that is the first and foremost obstacle.Peacocks are brilliant, some nice fish and show plenty of colour without getting (too) large. to be honest unless you are looking at going full tanganyikan then i would stay away from the comps/ calvus. As you can see from the above stats, the water properties are quite different from the two lakes. YES you COULD house them together but i tend to not recommend it. BUT IF on the other hand you do want to go down the route of tangs you could make one hell of a tank. I'm not sure if they are more appealing to you, but its my personal preference as apposed to malawi cichlids. Your options are really only limited by tanksize, assuming that you have a four foot thats a decent size to start at. could go for some of the fish from the neolamprologus side of things. start with the tank size, then we can see. definatly not a waste of time. i have already turned to the dark side. no cookies, only tangs. What type is this guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfish Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Looks like a full on fact finding mission coming for me i may even bore a few of you with questions so i apologise in advance dont know which lake i may try but tangs are leading the way dont want to jump in without having my head around what they need to thrive not just survive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betta-Cray_z Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Could have put it better myself. See what you like, then we can look at your options Its a neolamprologus tretocephalus Sent from my phone with a 5 min battery life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozmo Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 (edited) [MENTION=435]JWoods[/MENTION] has an amazing range of tangs and usually plenty for sale. Example... http://www.qldaf.com/forums/qld-cichlid-trader-classifieds-113/african-cichlid-fry-15-types-106039/ Edited March 30, 2014 by ozmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooder Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 IMO those albino strain bred alounacara's look sickly... The pure looking A. stuatgranti look fabulous though! (im a Tang guy but can still appreciate an impressive fish!) 4 x 2 is an excellent footprint for a mid sized colony of the smaller sand sifters. (although they are quite sensitive species and require immaculate water conditions, Shon could fill you in on the details about these. i havent had first hand experience) Species like Callochromis pluerospilus and Xenotilapia papilio should work fine. Then a nice sized colony of Cyprichromis leptosoma of choice. the Kigoma variant are particularly pretty. Then maybe a Julidochromis ornatus, transcriptus or d*ckfeldi pair to hold a rock pile? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
