Thinking about trying Tangs

[Fishin Phil]

I have a 55g sitting around doing nothing at the moment. This summer I plan on moving some things around in the basement so that I can get it set up. I had originally thought about doing another planted tanks with Rams, but my water is so hard and alkaline I would have to use a lot of RO to do Rams justice. So, I decided to give Tanganyikans a shot. I have done Malawis in they past, and they absolutely loved my tap water, so I figured this should work.

I'm looking for stocking ideas at this point. It's a standard 4 foot 55g. Here is what I'm thinking:

1 Altolamprologus Calvus
1 Julidochromis - Open to suggestions on which specie
1 Neolamprologus leleupi
2 M/ 6F Paracyprichromis nigripinnis ????
6 Dwarf petricolas

I would be running 1 cannister filter (probably eheim 2215) and 1 AC110.

OK, that is my initial thought but again I have no prior experience with Tangs. Dig in and tell me where I've screwed up!

[sailor]

Except for the big frontosa's, Altolamprologus calvus (I like the Congo black fins)
and Altolamprologus compressiceps (I like the gold heads) are my fave tangs.
They like lots of nooks and crannies in the aquarium, They are a slow growing species so be patient. They prefer on frozen mysis shrimp, krill and brine shrimp but will also do well on a good quality flake or pellet. They require shells in the tank for spawning purposes. I would go with a total of 4.
You could also have in the mix 4 Julidochromis sp. "Kissi" (Pemba)
they are a substrate spawner who like caves their diet is basically the same as calvus and comps.
That would pretty much cover the bottom portion of the tank.
For the top I would go for a school of 8 Cyprichromis leptosoma, just stay away from the jumbo varieties. They are an open water swimmer, Tho they do like to sometimes hang around broad leaf plants, They are a mouth brooder. A diet of good quality small pellets with frozen treats will keep them colored up.

[toddnbecka]

I'd start with a group of Julies and keep a pair or two. J. transcriptus Bemba are the smallest and least troublesome of the clan, the Gombe variant are also small but a bit nastier.

[Fishin Phil]

Thanks for the replies so far! Keep those ideas coming.

One thing I should mention: I am not interested in breeding anything. The last time I did Malawis they bred like rabbits. I was up to neck in fry and grow out tanks in no time. Really not interested in going through that again.

Can the Calvus and Julies be kept as individuals, or do the need a group? I know the Cyps and Paracyps are schooling fish and should be kept in a group. I'm hoping the Calvus and the cats can clean up the fry.

[sailor]

Yes they can be kept as individuals tho like any fish would be happier with others of their own species.

[sheamurai]

Nobody has spoken for them yet, but I kept a few leleupi's and I really just adored them. If I kept a tang tank I'd definitely have a small school of them, they are such entertaining swimmers and I also liked the colour of them, yellow to rust...

[toddnbecka]

Leleupi are nasty buggers in general. No worries about Tang's running amok with fry, calvus are fry predators. Petricola not so much, Synodontis multi's are somewhat more effective for that. I keep a group of 6 P. typus (Tang moustache cats) in the 90 with 3 constantly spawning pairs of cutteri. They're so effective that out of a couple thousand fry less than a handful have grown large enough to be be off the menu. I have 2 L. cyclurus (Tang bullheads) in a 75 with peacocks and mbuna, so far only 1 perlmutt fry has made it in that tank.

[Fishin Phil]

Thanks again for all the input. As I mentioned, I'm still in the info gathering stage at this point. The fish I really want the most is the black calvus. I think when the time comes, I am leaning toward something like this now:

8 cyps
4 calvus
6 petricola

Thanks again for the info, and watch for a tank journal coming to a theater near you in Summer of 2012!

[Scrup]

My experiences with cyps taught me one very important thing- They love carpeting.

Get a good lid and close all the holes.

[FinalJenemba]

I love Calvus, but IMO they are a great Tang to be kept individually. They take a long time to get there but they actually get pretty big. Mine sits in the middle of tank just checking everyone out, like an owl. They are one of those fish that have the ability to freeze still in moving water and watch stuff, really cool.

So IMO if I had your size tank I would keep it the same but go to 1 Calvus to be a centerpiece fish when he grown up, and have a colony of Leleupi. I like Juli's as well, but I currently have one and he is a seriously nasty little bludger, not sure id want to deal with a colony lol.