mixing feather fins

[Jorsay]

I am wondering if feather fins will mate in a large tank if I mix the following:

Callochromis
xenotilapia
cyathopharynx
enantiopus

If so, how many square feet of sandy bottom would you think would be necessary?

[rkm.sbc]

6x2 at least

[Philippe Burnel]

I think it's not a good idea to have more than 1 sp over the sand (problem of territory) or you have a really very large tank.
You can try one Ophthalmo sp and one callo or Xeno sp but nothing more if your tank is at least 2 meters long.
Cyathgopharynx needs a large tank.
Don't forget that featherfins need to be kept in school of at least 2 males and... many... females. At least if you want to keep then in good conditions.

[Jorsay]

Thanks for the replies. I have a very large tank. I am wondering how much sand to leave open and how much to rock. I have significantly more sand bottom left than 6x2 and I have several areas, so it sounds like I am alright.

[Philippe Burnel]

If you have many sand area it's better and you can try to keep more than one sp.
If you have rocks around you can add "lamprologus" (SL), julis etc..
Philippe

[bdmminer]

I think it would be helpful if you told us how large the tank is (liters, length, width, and height) then we can help you with stocking options. To most people a 1200 liter tank would be large but I think you are alluding to something much larger.

[Jorsay]

The aquarium is about 5500 gallons. It is odd shaped, kind of like a lopsided U. It has several sand areas. I think it has about 96 sq ft or more of floor space, however, much of that is rocky. It is 5 ft deep. The U shape would fit into a rectangle of about 23 ft by 14 ft, but it is not rectangular at all.

[Philippe Burnel]

so you can do.... everything...

[Jorsay]

That was my initial thought when building the tank, but as I start putting rocks and fish into it, I realize that I cannot do "everything"; it is not infinitely large like the real lake is. For instance, I had imagined putting in Boulengerochromis, but obviously, a three foot predator that enjoys schooling is just way too large for even this tank. I am thinking about Lobochilotes and Frontosa and Benthochromis, but I am reconsidering as I realize that my feather fins may not do well in such a tank. I have little experience with feather fins and I would like some opinions.

I have decided to introduce juveniles and allow them to grow into the tank. So far, I have added five 1" calvus, seven 1.5" cylindricus, fourteen 3' cyprichromis, and four similis.

I am considering as well leleupi, sexfasciatus, tretocephalus, callocromis, enantiopus, cyathopharynx, opthalmotilapia, telmatochromis shell, Ocellatus, compressiceps, tropheus ilangi, and kendali. Are there some good choices that I am missing? Are there some that won't work? What about numbers? I want them all to mate.

It is difficult to imagine that I am limited in space, but I definitely am. BTW, once I put a fish in, it is next to impossible to remove him.

Thanks,

[Jorsay]

One of the persons who helped set up the tank created a facebook page with some pictures of the tank.

https://www.facebook.com/Lake-Tanganyik ... 908292123/

[smitty]

It looked like you really had a project going on there. I would really like to see it, but I'm limited because I'm not on Facebook. Are there any videos on YouTube.

[Jorsay]

There are no videos on Youtube. The tank isn't complete yet. Lots of problems still, like the water isn't very clear, the rock work isn't set up yet. The lighting isn't quite right. I am not on facebook either. When the tank is done, I will make some kind of page to share it with others.

[deeda]

I'm not on Facebook either but did check out some of the pics that were posted on there and WOW you have quite a project going on!!!!

There is a section at the very bottom of the main page forum for creating a Blog for ongoing pics and updates, I think you need to get it approved by a Mod first but this would be an ideal spot to post pics and updates on your project.

[smitty]

Deeda good ideal about where to post it.

[Jorsay]

As soon as it looks presentable, I will post pictures, but it really isn't in good shape yet.

[smitty]

I love to see how it gradually all come together. It is great following the progress.

[Jorsay]

Well, last week while topping it off with a hose I forgot to turn off the hose. The jokers who built the overflow cut the overflow above the top of the tank. Yes, the entire basement would have had to fill up 8.5 ft before the water would go into the overflow pipe. The tank overflowed onto my carpet and I killed the few fish that I had in it.

There was also an overflow alarm monitored by the fish keeper. He said "A week or so ago, I noticed the alarm wasn't working and I was meaning to ask you about that."

So far, it's not going great.

[Lisachromis]

Eeek. Not good!

[smitty]

Well that's a big thorn in the side, but keep you mind on the big picture at the end.