hemingwaygt

dither fish will help - like rainbows - but the previous posts are right - minimum 75 gallon (idealy 6ft 125 gal) with lots of caves. I'd trade the duboisi for other tanganykans that do well in a smaller tank before you lose more.

you are brave to put that much stuff in a tank - after six months your nitrates will be sky high unless you thoroughly clean under those ornaments. hats off to ya mate.

previous suggestion is a good one. however, i've been cycling a new 75 for a month - i bought about 20 Danio's over a week period (cheap and good dither fish after cycling) - lost them all due to skyrocketing ammonia and nitrite levels. finally, after about 6 weeks my ammonia level is safe and nitrite level mediocre. just a heads up - i'd hate to see you lose expensive fish quickly. And I too used established media from another tank and some live plants. good luck! j

dither fish is always a good idea. Tiger barbs I find can be a bit aggressive for the meeker cichlids - I would go with some giant danio's. Fast enough to avoid predators, and very tame. There's a gold variety I just bought that are quite striking.

Personally, with a 45 i'd go with some smaller shell/cave dwellers, with a synodontis or two for a bottom feeder. your suggestions are beautiful fish but very territorial - they need space and hiding spots to avoid killing each other (or at least the female(s). i wouldn't put them in any less than a 4ft or 75 gal. tank. This website is a fantastic source - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/index.php jimbob22

awesome info - thx! I think I'll forgo the undergravel and rely on a powerhead and a couple of AC300's. For mid swimmers though undergravel is the way to go. I've been cycling this new tank for about 10 days with 12 lg. danio's - I lost 4 after a week then all but one after day 10 - oddly, there's not a fish remain to be seen - it's like they spontaneously combusted. there's little room to jump out, and no dead fish in the filter or anywher in the tank (only gravel in the tank). Kind of freaky as I'm planning to put Calvus in it ~ November 1. Any suggestions as to what happened???? I suppose I better check my water before putting in expensive fish. jimbob22

Hey, I'm curious if anyone has tried to setup under gravel jets to keep the gravel clean, while housing shallow rock dwellers? I'm cycling a new 75 gallon with giant danio's to eventaully house some Calvus (and whatever other Tanganykans I can afford without selling a body part). The under gravel jet setup (aka: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ug_jets.php) seems like it will make the water flow quite disruptive to habitats. On the other hand, it sure beats removing all the rocks periodically to clean the gravel properly. Any thoughts or suggestions on the mattter are greatly appreciated - hopefully i'll have some Calvus fry to sell eventually. - jimbob22