I have set up a tank for some Lake Tanganyika Goby Cichlids.
Tank:
- 2ft cube – 200 litres
- Eheim 2217 canister filter (rated 1000 lph).
- Extended spray bar (usually) above water line.
- In line Hydor 200w heater
- 1 Sicce Voyager HP 7 10,500lph stream pump run from a Sicce Wave Surfer controller
- Installed the diffuser to get a broader stream
- Itsa 2ft led light
- Substrate is a mix of fine and coarse aquarium gravel
- Rocks are limestone (for buffering)
Wave making:
The wave surf controller came up on gumnuts and when I went searching for wave makers to suit a small tank and based on reviews the Sicce Nanos seemed like a good match. This turned out to be rubbish since the pumps can’t handle being on/off – even when set to the highest interval of 5 minutes one pump became very noisy, as did the other too, and which literally fell apart within 24 hours – the pump housing would vibrate off the spindle. On reassembly it would function normally again; until the next time. Spoke to the retailer and said the controller must be at fault. Spoke to Sicce and they said there is “an issue” and offered to replace the pumps with something that would be ok. To cut a long story short I ended up with the Voyager HP 7. It is acceptably quiet, you hardly notice the on/off. I can see the mulm getting a bit of movement on the substrate but it doesn’t seem too much, small pellets will almost sit there. Of course it isn’t what I think but what the gobies will think J
I noticed that both the Nanos and the HP wave maker do heat the water, by about 1 degree I reckon.
The current current:
While awaiting arrival of the Gobies I have four 7cm Clown Loaches in there. They seem fine in the current and, unusually for these guys, come out to play occasionally. My experience has been if they are in a tank on their own they will hide if they can.
I ran the wave maker for a day on a setting 25 seconds on, 10 seconds off for the full 24 hour cycle. Then I decided to give the Clowns a rest and put the pump on the P2 (night cycle) so the pump is off for 8 hours. Some current still provided by the canister filter obviously. Not sure which way I will go with this in the end. With all the rock there are some quiet spots away from the current even with the pump on.
The Rock:
I was undecided about which rock to use but decided on the limestone because it is lighter in weight and will provide buffering. I will start out with quite a bit of rock covering about 60-70% of the bottom and some taller pieces at the back, one piece almost breaking the surface; but I am wary of too much rock when new fish are introduced to a new aquarium – hiding fish can be sick fish and you might not know. Rock is something that can be experimented with as long as the changes don’t stress the fish.
The Gobies:
I had always wanted to try Goby Cichlids. Their swim style (comical due to the deflated swim bladder) and bi parental mouth brooder behaviour sounded interesting.
I tried getting some years ago when I had a bunch of Tropheus tanks but no luck. When I started up some tanks 6 months ago I started looking again. I heard of a few around Perth but no sellers. I tried importing but orders fell over at the last moment. Given the trouble I had had sourcing any and their slow growth rate I decided to bite the bullet and get six of the bigger WC Spathodus erythrodon “Kabezi”.
If I am lucky a pair will form. If this happens then I expect the aggression in the tank to be sufficient to make me remove the remaining four. These four will go into a dedicated 6ft 400 litre Tropheus tank. If another pair forms the remaining two will go into a second dedicated 6ft Tropheus tank. If I get three pairs from the original six I will go buy a lottery ticket.
I guess there is a good chance no pairs will form given they are more mature? Maybe they had already bonded in the lake and now that bond has been broken with being caught? Then again I watch Tangs breed and they will forego food when spawning, so the urge is strong.
I ordered six of the WC Spathodus erythrodon Kabezi (5-7cm).
Spathodus erythrodon Kabezi 3.jpg 63.65KB 28 downloads
Spathodus erythrodon Kabezi 2.jpg 62.51KB 29 downloads
tank.jpg 159.14KB 31 downloads
Unfortunately three didn’t make it through quarantine so I only ended up with three.
Around 6cm and too small to sex for me; besides what was I going to do if I did know?
Current setup:
- Sicce Wave Surfer controller
- Installed the diffuser to get a broader stream
- Initial setting 25 seconds on, 10 seconds off
- no night running (8 hours)
- lighting on just for 30 minutes each day
- temp 26.5
Gobies seems to be settling in ok.
They are even eating a small pinch of sera flora.
Feisty little buggers.
The four clown loaches are still in the tank with them and the gobies are giving them a bit of biff, and amongst themselves as well. Very territorial.
So everyone is nicely distracted at the moment. Me included.
Spathodus erythrodon Kabezi.jpg 79.73KB 31 downloads
Edited by BengaBoy, 04 February 2016 - 10:01 AM.