55 gallon Tang tank setup advice

[mere2442]

Updated with pics on page 3!

Hey guys,

I wanted some advice on a 55g Tang tank that my husband and I are wanting to start. We have the tank, substrate and a little rock (want to find more lace rock and holey rock). I have read several articles on what fish to start with, and looked through tons of cichlids to find what I think would be compatible. We are going to visit Alex at Ultimate on Saturday, as I have read that he has the best selection of Tanganyikan fish in the Houston area.

I am looking at these fish:
'Lamprologus' ocellatus - Carnivore, mild aggressive, shells
Julidochromis transcriptus(Pemba) - Omnivore, Substrate Spawner, Aggressive
Neolamprologus leleupi(Orange) - Rocky, carnivore, cave spawner
Altolamprologus calvus(Black) Shallow rocky, carnivore, substrate spawner
Cyp. leptosoma(Mpulungu) - Mouthbrooder, open water, carnivore

Do you see any danger in the fish that I have chosen? I think that we will get a pair of the first 4, then 10-12 of the Cyps. If you think that something would work better, or have any suggestions of tangs that you have kept and loved, due to activity or coloring, please let me know. I have just started researching this stuff, and it is consuming my every spare moment! This is all very exciting.

Oh - We are running 2 filters meant for a 55 gallon tank, they should pump 660 gallon/hour.

Again, any advice would be helpful. We bought some holeyrock last weekend at Aquarium world for $1.99/lb, only to discover that we could find it half price elsewhere, so if you have any tips on where to buy fish, as far as value and health go, I would really appreciate that as well!

Thank you,
Meredith

[mnemenoi]

All the choices are very good and it sounds like a very well thought out community. I'd be wary of the julies and Leluipis possibly competing for space, but with enough rockwork it could be doable. The altos are fry eaters, so you might eventually need a secondary fry grow out tank if anything starts breeding. As far as stock goes, Daves Rare fish (San Antonio) has a great online selection and his shipping is terrific and easy. We have some Cyps (black bees), goby (Eretmodus), Neolamp multifasciatus, and some petricolas in a community and only the petricolas have yet to breed. Glancing at the tank now and the alpha male cyp is dancing for the females, lol.

[Andrew_B]

Alex's shop is alright, it's gone downhill a lot lately so not sure what they have. He would probably have the calvus and maybe the ocellatus. If you want to be more specific with what you want, I would look into daves rare fish (www.davesfish.com) He's out of san antonio so shipping isn't an arm and a leg. Overall, even after shipping, it would be cheaper than Alex with higher quality fish imo. Or just post in the buy/sell/trade section of these forums, we have a lot of Tang keepers. I'm assuming you live on the north side?

If those are the fish you want, I would do maybe 3-4 of the ocellatus. Much more entertaining if you're able to pick out a true breeding pair. They aren't great if it's just 2 males guarding their own shells. Cyps get pretty big, 10-12 is a lot of them. People who have breeding colonies of them have maybe 5-6 so I would look into that number.

Filtration, which are you running, Marineland penguin HOBs? 2 big hang on backs should be more than sufficient, just make sure the tank is fully cycled before adding fish. Fellow boxers nearby to you will have no issue giving you established filter media to jump start the tank to turn a 2-3 week cycled time to a couple hours instead.

[tattoo]

if you are intersted in some cyps......i have cyp mirco kiriza black juvies for sale....

[mnemenoi]

+1 on a great local cyp breeder, just wish I had another tang tank...

[New_Cichlid11]

seems ok with your stock, yea never buy holey rocks from any fish store just watch the box for deals to come up. Also there are tons of people here that breed tangs so you could also find what your looking for. Otherwise, good luck and i hope everything turns out ok.

[mistahoo]

Which filters are you using? Some of the HOB aren't that great when it comes to filtration.

Ek's selling some holey rock. I could deliver sometime next week or we could meet up somewhere if you're looking to get some more holey rock.

http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/showthread.php?51713-FX5s-Heaters-Driftwood-etc

[mere2442]

Which filters are you using? Some of the HOB aren't that great when it comes to filtration.

Ek's selling some holey rock. I could deliver sometime next week or we could meet up somewhere if you're looking to get some more holey rock.

http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...-Driftwood-etc

Hey Mistahoo,

I am using the tetra 60 hang on the back filters, are they alright? One came with our fish kit, and we ordered another through Amazon.

mnemenoi,

Do you have a problem with the Goby being an herbivore? There were several herbivores that I likes, but I was worried about mixing them with the likes the meat-eaters.

We do live on the north side, Spring area.

Thank you all so much for all of your help, I did not expect such a wonderful response!

If I am looking for a particular fish, would it be better for me to post in the buy/sell/trade, or just look though the 'for sells'?

Thanks again,
Mere

[mere2442]

* correction * The filter is a Whisper60, not tetra.

Andrew_B: What does this mean? It sounds pretty phenomenal! Fellow boxers nearby to you will have no issue giving you established filter media to jump start the tank to turn a 2-3 week cycled time to a couple hours instead.

[Andrew_B]

I could help you with that. I'm in the Spring area as well. Basically I would just give you an established filter pad from one of my filters to use in your filter. It will be loaded with beneficial bacteria that is required to break down ammonia so the water is safe for fish. If you do this from scratch, it could take 3 weeks before you can add fish, this way you can add fish after a couple hours. Saves a lot of time

[mistahoo]

* correction * The filter is a Whisper60, not tetra.

Andrew_B: What does this mean? It sounds pretty phenomenal!

It's still a Tetra brand. Two of them should do good on a 55 gallon. I'm a bit biased towards Hagen AquaClear brand though. I've used a few Tetra and AquaTech HOBs and they don't compare anywhere close to AquaClear. The bio and mech filtration is so much better than most, if not all, of the HOB filter brands.

Fellow boxers nearby to you will have no issue giving you established filter media to jump start the tank to turn a 2-3 week cycled time to a couple hours instead.

You should read up a little about the nitrogen cycle. It'll help you understand what Andrew_B is talking about. Although there are some of us on here (includes me) that completely ignore the cycle and just go ahead and dump fish in our new tanks, the safest way is to let your tank "cycle" and then add fish.

[mnemenoi]

Indeed! We are in Spring as well and don't mind helping to speed your cycle with established filter media from of Tanganyikan tank. Our gobies are doing wonderful and we feed them the normal fare the rest of our fish eat without any issues. We caught them dancing yesterday in what appeared to be some sort of spawning activity so I assume they are not far off, if they did not actually go through it yesterday. Our cyps and shellies breed regularly and we usually always have a handful.

[mere2442]

It's still a Tetra brand. Two of them should do good on a 55 gallon. I'm a bit biased towards Hagen AquaClear brand though. I've used a few Tetra and AquaTech HOBs and they don't compare anywhere close to AquaClear. The bio and mech filtration is so much better than most, if not all, of the HOB filter brands.

Would it be alright to use two different filters? One Tetra and one AquaClear? I have no problem returning the new one, however, the first tetra came in my kit, so I feel like I should use it!

Andrew and mistahoo - Thank you so much for offering to let us have one of your filter pads. Is there any way that either of you are available for us (my husband and myself) to stop by or meet you somewhere tomorrow morning and pick one up? Would you like for us to go pick up a replacement filter? We would be more than happy to!

Thank you all so much!
Mere

[Ballinxalex]

I have some Holey rock if u are interested

[crazy42bmx]

Sounda good to me. If ur looking for odd tangs alex is a good source and put up a post looking for boxers who may be breeding what ur looki.g for. I breed all sorts of shellies and a few different tangs too. I know a guy whos got gold occies too!