Last month I thought of taking a break from planted tanks and made my mind to make a small tanganyikan tank with some shell dwellers.
After some reading and research I finally decided which fish I want to keep. I wanted Altolamprologus compressiceps 'Sumbu dwarf' (Or as some people like to call them Altolamprologus sp. compressiceps 'Sumbu dwarf' because they haven't been described yet) for my 20G tank.
Then began the quest to find these beautiful shell dwellers. I emailed every single website that I knew, sells african fishes: bluegrassaquatics, Segrets farm, littleafrica and what not... But I couldn't find them.
A great guy Chris (frontosa express) had an adult trio for sale but I was looking for like a group of 5-6. So finally Jon from Riftfish emailed me saying he has a colony of 6. Everything worked out well and so there I was to recieve my fish at the Fedex office
I had already setup my tank with "countless times washed and still making water cloudy" play sand and lace rocks. I did the acclimatisation process for 7-8 hours and then finally added them in the tank. My filter was already cycled from my planted tank and I had also put some seachem stability in the sand bed.
Jon also sent me some shells. I added some shells that I got at petco. I know they dont look great and look out of place. I will soon buy a big set of escargot snail shell and will replace all the weird shells with them.
2 questions though-
1. I totally failed to understand which is the male and which is the female. Sometimes a fish will have white body and stripes and them sometime the same fish will become all gray! Can anyone help me in identifying the male and female here?
2. Jon has sent me some food that they have been eating with him. Its about to get finished now. Which would be the best food that I can give them? NLS cichlid formula? Or mix it with NLS Thera +A? They also love to eat SDFF's nano krill mix.
Also, what are your views on feeding frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp to them?
Enough talking. Now my favorite part- Time for some pictures
Sumbu shell-
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Altolamprologus sp compressisceps "Sumbu shell" by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Multies-
Before I saw this picture, I did not know they have such sharp teeth.
Neolamprologus multifasciatus by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Neolamprologus multifasciatus by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Neolamprologus multifasciatus by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Neolamprologus multifasciatus by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Neolamprologus multifasciatus by sumertiwari, on Flickr
Neolamprologus multifasciatus by sumertiwari, on Flickr
And here is a FTS-
IMG_4984 by sumertiwari, on Flickr
I also made a small video of my tank. Watch it here-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QthDqKV8Zc
Hope you all liked the pictures and videos.
Comments, suggestions, constructive criticism is most welcome
Thanks,
Sumer.
