Chosen Biotope: Fulwe Rocks in Lake Tanganyika
Tank Dimensions: 18"x18"x12" (approx 65 litres)
Introduction: I have taken quite a bit of time to decide what I want to do. Last year, I did a planted tank and spent quite a bit of money on plants, equipment, and fish. This year I have decided to try something a bit different. I'll be going for a miniature version of a great lake setup (non-planted, and other side of Africa). I did consider doing a dwarf south american setup, and toyed with the idea of doing a blackwater setup or a planted riverine scape, but I felt that would be too similar to what I have already done. I also feel that aquascaping is a bit poofy, especially when people "name their scape". Therefore I'm going to try my hand at a biotope.
After chatting to a couple of people for ideas, I decided that fish with personality (lake tanganyika cichlids) would be the way to go. I will try and utilize the equipment that I already have to save on money.
24/6/16: Here is a photo of the tank I will use for this biotope. It's a little small, but should do the trick for what I want to achieve
![image_zpsedbbushg.jpeg](http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h459/teambubba82/PCS%20Aquascaping%20Comp/Biotope%202016%20PCS/image_zpsedbbushg.jpeg)
This tank is Aquotix built (probably 6 years old now) as well as the stand being a raw pine custom job from Aquotix (about 2 or 3 years old now). I stained it myself with some wood stain from Masters.
Tomorrow I plan to look at a couple of fish shops to get and idea on the cost of the rocks and substrate I need. I will also have a look at my books on Lake Tanganyika, as well as watch some youtube videos of underwater footage of Lake Tanganyika. I have found some good photos and basic information in the Tanganyika Magazine that I recently purchased here: CLICK ME
Fish I will look for in this tank will be either a couple of "neolamprologus brichardi fulwe rocks" or a couple of "neolamprologus pulcher". I have kept the neolamprologus pulcher before, and they're a really pretty fish with that yellow in their fins, so I would prefer to source the neolamprologus brichardi fulwe rocks if I can find them. I do know that both Vebas and Aquotix have had them in the past.
I also need to give the tank I am using a thorough clean, as well as possibly relocate it inside my house somewhere, as the heater will be on quite a bit if I leave the tank in the garage in this cooler weather. The only filtration I have for this tank (as it was my quarantine tank) is an air driven double sponge filter. I plan to get either an internal power filter or a hang-on back filter, as I don't want to run an air driven sponge filter at night. Being a light sleeper, it would keep me up at night if I were to have the tank inside the house with the air pump running. At the moment I am leaning towards an internal power filter though, as getting a HOB filter would mean having to get the lid cut.
Lighting will probably be a 12 inch LED light which I got ages ago. Kleinz sorted the aussie power adapter for me a couple of years back. Heater is a 100w Whale heater I got from Aquotix about a year ago. I like these heaters, as they are well priced and do a good job.
I'll update this journal as I go. Thanks for reading so far, and stay tuned.......