Who Gives A Fish Forums

Hey Guys, I'm getting a bit bored with one of my 6 foot tanks in the shed and I've decided it's time for a change - I'm going Tanganyikan. I've kept Malawi cichlids for a while now, but I want to mix things up a bit. I've mentioned this before, but this time it's definitely happening.

I've done my research, read some books and looked online, but I haven't spoken to any Tang keepers yet, so I'd love to hear from you guys. I've got a rough idea of what I want to stock, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get them all - fingers crossed my contacts can help out.

Here's my rough list:
Open Water: 12 Cyprichromis leptosoma, 20 Cyp. sp. leptosoma Jumbo - not sure if I can get these, but I've got some good leads.
Rocks & Caves: 2 Eretmodus cyanostictus, 2 Julidochromis ornatus, 2 Chalinochromis sp. Ndobhoi, 2 Neolamprologus leleupi (Yellow), 8 Tanganicodus irsacae, 4 Julidochromis regani, 2 Altolamprologus calvus (Black).
Shells: 3 Lamprologus occelatus, 2 Neolamprologus brevis, 3 Neolamprologus calliurus, 5 Lamprologus meleagris.
Open Sand: 6 Xenotilapia ochrygenys, 8 Enantiopus melanogenys, 4 Cyathopharynx furcifer.

Couple of questions - can I use my existing cycled Malawi tank and just add the Tangs, or is that a recipe for disaster? And what's the best food for Tangs?

Sounds like a fascinating project, I've got to admit I'm no expert on tangs, but I think adding them to a cycled Malawi tank could work. Just be sure to do a larger water change to get things stable, and you might need to tweak the water parameters slightly - I'm pretty sure tangs prefer a slightly higher pH, GH, and KH.

Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together, so don't forget to share some pics when you've got it up and running.

I think a 6 footer's a big tank, but not big enough for your whole list, mate. Tangs need loads of space to form territories, and I just can't see how you'd fit in all that rockwork and still leave enough open sand for the shellies and sandsifters. You'd probably cram them all in, but they wouldn't have the space to show off their natural behaviours, which is half the fun of keeping tangs, right? It'd be like one of those livestock tanks in a shop, just packed to the brim with fish.

I'd say, keep it simple, and don't overdo it with the shellies - one or two types max. And, to be honest, I wouldn't keep brevis and calliurus together, they can hybridise, and that's a whole other can of worms. Occies can be little terrors, too, and would probably bully the other shelldwellers. Same with the juliies, stick to one sort, or they'll just fight.

Twenty jumbo cyps? No way, mate, 6 feet isn't enough for that. They grow huge, up to 7 inches, and with all the rockwork for the others, they just wouldn't have the space to swim. I'd give them a miss, and go for a big shoal of cyp. leptosoma instead - 4-5 males and 20 females would be something else.

Your tank's going to be amazing, but, in my opinion, you need to scale things back a bit, maybe cut the number of species in half.

Cheers for the feedback guys, I've taken it on board and I'm having another think about the stock list. I did lift the original list from another site and swapped out a few for ones I fancied, so maybe that's where the issues are. Appreciate the advice, especially about the shellies and jumbos - didn't know they could get that big. What would you guys keep in a tank like this, be interesting to hear your thoughts on it.

Open Water:
8 Cyprichromis leptosoma
6 Paraciprichromis nigripinnis Blue neon - dropped the number of cyps, still want a decent shoal but not too big

Rocks & Caves:
2 Julidochromis ornatus
2 Chalinochromis sp. Ndobhoi
2 Neolamprologus leleupi (Yellow)
6 Tanganicodus irsacae - cut back on the tanganicodus, don't want to overstock the rocks
1 Altolamprologus calvus (Black) - only one of these guys, they can be quite dominant

Shells:
3 Lamprologus meleagris - dropped the calliurus, don't want them hybridising with other shelldwellers

Open Sand:
6 Xenotilapia ochrygenys
4 Enantiopus melanogenys
4 Cyathopharynx furcifer - cut back on the open sand dwellers, want to give them some room to move

I'd probably go with:

Open water, I'd do 25 Cyprichromis leptosoma, 5 males and 20 females, beautiful sight to see.

For rocks, 4-6 Julidochromis dickfeldi would be great, or I'd consider 4-6 Altolamprologus compressiceps - those gold heads are stunning, if you can find them. Alternatively, Altolamprologus sumbu "shell" are a great dwarf shell dwelling option, really cute.

Shells, I'd stick with 4-6 Lamprologus ocellatus gold, lovely fish.

Sand, 6-8 Opthalmotilapia ventralis, 2 males and 6 females would be a good mix.

And for catfish, 4-8 Synodontis lucipinnis or Synodontis petricola would be great.

I'd start with this and see how it goes, then maybe add more later if it looks like they'd fit in ok. Some great fish on your list, but I'd avoid Tanganicodus irsacae, they're vegetarians and do well with Tropheus. Enantiopus melanogenys are probably best in a single species tank.

Thanks again mizonix, really appreciate your input. Do you keep tangs yourself? What's your go-to food for them?

I've taken your advice on board and slimmed down the list a bit. Here's my revised stock:

Open Water:
12 Cyprichromis leptosoma
12 Paraciprichromis nigripinnis Blue neon - these are must-haves for me

Rocks & Caves:
2 Julidochromis ornatus
2 Chalinochromis sp. Ndobhoi - love these, gotta have 'em
2 Neolamprologus leleupi (Yellow)
2 Altolamprologus calvus (Black)

Shells:
3 Neolamprologus calliurus
5 Lamprologus meleagris

Open Sand:
6 Xenotilapia ochrygenys
4 Cyathopharynx furcifer

And I'm thinking of adding some catfish too - Poli whites sound cool, what do you think?

My Tangs aren't fussy eaters, they'll take pretty much anything I give them - Tetra Prima, Tetra Wafers, Spirulina tablets, cooked veggies like peas, cucumber, and courgette, plus frozen treats like brine shrimp and daphnia. They even try to nick the catfish pellets. Only thing they're not keen on is flake food, their mouths just aren't suited for surface feeding. I'm keen to try them on live food, saw a juvenile brevis going crazy for a fly on the outside of the glass. Even got the tank-born juvies taking food from my fingers, was pretty amusing.

New list is looking good, should be a cracking tank. What's the plan for aquascaping it?

At the moment, I've got the tank laid out with a rough idea of how I want it to look. The current setup is probably going to change a fair bit, I'm thinking of swapping out the sand for silversand. I'd like to build up the rockwork on the right-hand side, and add some shells to the front right and left.

I'm seriously lusting after a 6 footer tank, but it's gotta wait till I've got my own place. Considering a species-only tank, what do you guys think? Definitely leaning towards multipunctatus or petricola for the catfish though.