30g tanganyikan tank
- Thread starter gourami
- Start date
Note. Not all these fish can go in the tank, and some can't be kept together... I'm just giving some species that may work 
Julidochromis species
N. leleupi/cyndrilicus(sp?)
A. calvus/compressicepps
Shellies
Chalinochromis
Telmatochromis
Also Check out http://cichlidae.com ; under their articles check out "African Dwarf Cichlids, the Lake Tanganyikan Species" (both part one and two).
Julidochromis species
N. leleupi/cyndrilicus(sp?)
A. calvus/compressicepps
Shellies
Chalinochromis
Telmatochromis
Also Check out http://cichlidae.com ; under their articles check out "African Dwarf Cichlids, the Lake Tanganyikan Species" (both part one and two).
just to add a couple, the neolamprologus brichardi or pulcher/daffodil groups and even tropheus moori would be good choices for a 30 but do much research on moori before purchase, can't go with anyone else and have specialized diet. Do you have a 30 high, long, cube, hex? that plays a big factor on what works with what best. IF you have a 30 long, I would put some shells on one end and put a shelldweller (neolamp. multi, lamp. occy, or lamp. meleagris in my opinions) and a rockdweller on the other end like a brichardi or daffodil or maybe even a leleupi or nigriventis (I think that's the one, looks like leleupi only black/white). Some other up and coming tang's are the L.helianthus, L.caudopunctatus and the telmatochromis "orange scribble". You can also check into some lamprichthys tanganyicanus. Not a cichlid but a lampeye that is a schooling fish. They are a bit hard to find, a little pricey and cannot be taken out of the water (cannot touch air) but they are an awesome fish. you've got quite a few options really. Brichardi/daffodil are very popular because they will form a colony where the older siblings will help raise and protect the younger ones. shellies have a world all of their own but can and will take over and rule the bottom of the tank unless you separate the shells and rocks and attempt to keep them apart until territories are set. Kyle
i'd disagree with that one. Tropheus are quite difficult:
1. they cannot tolerate poor water quality and neither can they adapt quickly to significant changes in their tanks water chemistry. this means that large water changes cause problems. frequent, small changes in the neighborhood of 10 percent are a must. this makes nitrogen waste management difficult since a group of Tropheus feeds almost constantly and contribute a high waste load to any tank.
2. the Tropheus intestinal tract is designed for slow, constant bacterial processing of the large quantities of algae they consume. therefor, unless you have a heavy load of algae in your tank, they must be fed small amounts of spirulina, often. 6 times daily would be about right.
3. Tropheus species maintain a strict but evolving heirarchy. they therefor need to be maintained in large groups of twelve to fifteen fish at a minimum. not doing so will allow the dominant fish to pick on lesser Tropheus tank mates if there are fewer fish. the aggression can’t be spread around unless you have enough fish.
4. 12-15 fish dictates a tank sizes of 75 gallons minimum. you simply cannot keep Tropheus successfully in anything smaller. a smaller tank does not allow the chased fish to have room to escape the aggresion of dominant fish and eventually the dominant fish will do serious injury or kill the lesser tank mates.
5. Tropheus cannot tolerate stress. you need to change the water the same day of each week and in the same amount each time. turn your light on and off at the same time each day. feed them the same food sequence each time you feed them. basically do the same thing all the time every time.
6. all Tropheus digest their food in a similar manner, bacteria breaking down the food in a long intestinal tract. when a Tropheus cannot digest food properly it stops eating and attempts to discharge whatever is causing the irritation. "Bloat" is the result and left untreated, it will continue to attack the fish until several if not all the Tropheus in the tank die. it's a difficult disease to treat and more Tropheus are lost to this disease than all others combined.
i could go on, but i think you get the idea.
I stand corrected. I was merely going by the advice of several of my close cichlid friends who have been keeping these fish for years. I checked into some tropheus about a year ago but the local prices changed my mind. most of the people I had talked to were keeping 3-4 in smaller tanks. Their main recommendations was watching the diet and keeping the water cleaned. I have no problem keeping up with water quality on my smaller tanks, it's the ones over 50 gallons I struggle with. KYle
, J. transcriptus... I can't stop them from breeding in my 30g. Nice thing about them is they aren't so prolific as to overrun the tank.