Evolution of a 40 Breeder

So ive recently decided i wanted to downsize, my 125 was just too much to deal with after all these years and with a move coming up i didnt really wanna have to worry about moving it. it led me to build and setup an old favorite of mine, the Tang Shelldweller tank. Really the inspiration came from a lot of the smaller planted setups ive seen on here, Cichlid-gal had this amazing brown background w/ rocks and plants and i just loved it so much i had to copy it a bit . Only hardware i had to buy was the new light able to deal with plants (a current sattelite+ LED light, which btw i love!) everything else was pretty much scavenged off the big tank. thankfully i had some plants lying around in a growout setup after they failed in the big tank. got pics of a cpl of the scapes so far and there will be more to come when i add the group of Lamprologus Specious. please give me any feedback as its a work in progress. Thanks for reading and enjoy the pics, the sponge filters are temporary i just wanted to make sure it cycled properly.

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The set up looks great. What type of rocks are these called? They look awesome! Are you going to have rock dwellers in this set up too?

its all Lace rock, igneous rock from the deserts of utah. created when lava would surge up underneath an ancient sea. as for the rock dwellers theyre already in there, just too hidden to see most of the time lolz. 7 julidichromis transcriptus "bemba"

julidichromis transcriptus "bemba", ohhhhhhhh..... I like....

Anthraxx wrote:Really the inspiration came from a lot of the smaller planted setups ive seen on here, Cichlid-gal had this amazing brown background w/ rocks and plants and i just loved it so much i had to copy it a bit .
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Thanks Anthrax but I think your tank does a bag up job of showcasing what a really nice aquascape can do for a tank. Mine, although much loved, leaves some stuff to be desired. You have done a great job of giving height to your rocks (I have a terrible time with that as my rocks weigh like a ton each...LOL). The lacerock is lovely and I especially like the live green plants tucked into it. Can't wait to see the fish and the final setup. Looking bangin!

Ooooh, Black Occies, nice choice!! Tank looks great. I'll echo Donna's comment that you make the height of the rocks look effortless. Unless you look closely, it looks like one continuous formation, which is very cool. I'm partial to the middle pic with the large "canyon" down the center. I dunno, I just think it looks cool and gives nice variation to the "rockline", if you will!

What color is the background? White, off white, or tan (or none of the above!). I'd like to closely mimic this setup into a 40G breeder and haven't put a background on the tank yet (it's in my garage atm), and I'm considering a 3D BG from Univ Rocks, or painting it black, brown, dark green, or tan.

Really, really like it, very nicely done. Do you think you have enough room for a dither fish? In addition to the shellie and julie, I'm considering a small school of dwarf Irian red rainbows or something simliar. Know they're not tang, but cool nonetheless, and hopefully there's one that doesn't mind hard, alkaline water.

Can't wait to see the growth on your plants and fish, and the Sat+ does a great job of lighting that tank, hopefully there's enough for the plants!

i was actually going to do the same thing with rainbows myself. cory has the furcata rainbows in stock from time to time and they fit the bill perfectly, not getting larger then 2'' and enjoying a harder ph. plus they have a nice little bit of yellow which i always enjoyed. the background is a tan color that shows up better when i have the red/green spectrum better highlighted, blue tends to wash everything out. i got the idea from one of donas setups that has a much darker tan then the one i used (id go darker then you think if i were u) the sand is also a nice tan color (from the co-op, only place that had tan sand) mixed with some leftover crushed coral substrate i had from the 125 (still have a 10g full btw) as for the rocks i really liked the canyon thing too but there just isnt enough of a gap between the two rock piles for the fish to differentiate between the two, still needs some more work scaping, but overall im happy with it. if you want to go the 3d bg route make sure you find some rock that closely mimics the BG. it really helps blend it all together. Hope this has inspired some of you to take a closer look at some of the smaller cichlids     

Looking good!

its become self aware! Head for the hills! seriously tho, i think this is gonna be the hardscape.
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^   I too like the break in the rock pile. Once these ferns fill in will add a whole different look than what is seen here. It'll be a few months before that happens but I think it'll look awesome!

That's a great look, love the way you sloped it back from the middle! Where are all the Julies? I zoomed in a bit, trying to look for them on all the pics. Do they all hide under the rockpiles all the time or are they a bit more active? Love to see them if you have any snaps!

I like that last scape the best - It looks great!

Which Satellite did you get? The 24-36", or did you go with the 36-48"?

I agree this last set up for scape looks great! Can't wait to see some fish in there! I'm waiting for a tank to cycle and plants to grow in a bit then I am getting some Pseudomugil cf. Paskai, Irian Red Neon Rainbow, myself and either blue neon rasbora or green neon tetra.

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:I agree this last set up for scape looks great! Can't wait to  see some fish in there! I'm waiting for a tank to cycle and plants to grow in a bit then I am getting some Pseudomugil cf. Paskai, Irian Red Neon Rainbow, myself and either blue neon rasbora or green neon tetra.

Sweet! Love to see that tank when you get it set up and stocked!! Is that your ADA tank? Thought that was pretty good work, and those fish will look great.

Yes it's my ADA tank I got another HUGE plant order coming in probably next week so do more work with it. I'm leaning toward the green neons for it though since they are better for the high light without floating plants.

Its the 36-48'' fixture, i prefer having a light that goes the full tank length, the adjustable legs thing is cool but its honestly kinda lame at the same time. there is fish in there already, really hoping that the dither fish will help bring out all the julies and keep them on their toes. they typically dont like to go far from the rocks. once they get used to the rocks again they will go right back to punking everyone and thats when ill see a couple come out. im really hoping to just get two pairs outta this group, one for each pile, then i can start removing some of the extra rock to try and give the shellies more room. really appreciate all the compliments guys, helps make it all worth it. especially if it inspires any of you to give shellies a shot

Agree on the lighting, I like the light going the full length of the tank too!   

Anthrax I have a lone furcata now (had three that I won in a GSAS doorprise, lost one to acclimation, then had a really nice pair).  I lost my female doing the tank switchover from the 33G to the 75G planted...I think I caught her up in some of the plants I cleared out...one minute she was there then next not.  I'm not sure what happened.  Anyway...now have this lone male.  He flirts all day long with the Congo females and males.  Displaying like crazy and busy busy busy.  I really think you will like these guys.  I was hoping to beef up my group next time I was in Seattle and got to Corys if he had some.   They are cool little fish.

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What. Wow. The depth of the scape looks amazing, Anthraxx! :-) I love the hard scape lots!!

Added shells in anticipation of todays shellie arrival. my order of 6 Lamprologus Specious is currently settling into their new digs (thankfully a few ran straight into shells, these julies are vicious) will have pics up in the next few days to showcase the newcomers.

New pics ready to go, even managed to get some pics of the julies. looks like ive already got a pair in the works so there should be extras if anybody is interested.
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Looking good!

They are sooooooooo tiny.   

yup i like my fish small unlike you big fish keepers, clearly compensating

Anthraxx wrote:yup i like my fish small unlike you big fish keepers, clearly compensating

I'm with you on that my largest are my pleco and featherfin.

Anthraxx wrote:yup i like my fish small unlike you big fish keepers, clearly compensating

I consider my fish medium sized, so I dont really have any 'big' fish   

You know what they say about people with big fish, right?

Big tanks. ;-)

Those are beautiful fish Anthraxx...can't wait to see how they mature over time. Nice about the pair bonding already too....and the fact that they pair for life is amazing. Very very special.

Where did you get those Julies and shellies? And how did you get them for? Thanks.

Nice! Julies are looking good, indeed! Will you remove the others, or wait and see how they get along? Some furcata rainbows like that single Donna had in her tanks on the video would look really good in here as well!

the julies came from aquarium co-op via special order, the specious came from the wet spot in portland. shellies tend to run a high price tag due to slow growth rates, they were 15 each. the julies i snagged for a steal at 8.50 each with no shipping cuz i was in the area already. as soon as i get rid of my unwanted mbuna species (pending) ill be able to juggle the unwanted julies into a 20g to see if i can get any more pairs. more then likely ill be rehoming 5 soon, theyre a bit more aggressive then i was counting on, due in part to a mislabel in the trade name. they are passed off as a transcriptus subspecies when in reality they are from the marlieri subspecies (far more aggressive) its a common mistake so ive read, still gonna fit the need just wont be able to get two pairs like i hoped for, going to have to tear down the left rock wall and give that section to the shellies to give everyone enough space. as it sits now the julies seem to think they own everything and are trying to live in the shells definitely hoping that in time ill be able to get that dither species. as of now im going to wait until i can curb the aggression issues before adding anything else. if i were to do it all over again id probably have gotten the julie ornatus (nice yellow coloring and a timid personality) if any of you are ever curious feel free to PM me any questions or comments. i love helping others give shellies a shot, they really are one of my all time favorites.

Please sent

well good news, its a pair for sure. i took a look in their "cave" with a flashlight and spotted a hangful of eggs on top of a breeding cave i got from cory's. already setup the last empty tank i had to house some of the extras. but at this point ive got 5 julies ready to go somewhere else

Anthraxx wrote:well good news, its a pair for sure. i took a look in their "cave" with a flashlight and spotted a hangful of eggs on top of a breeding cave i got from cory's. already setup the last empty tank i had to house some of the extras. but at this point ive got 5 julies ready to go somewhere else

  - Awesome!!

Anthraxx wrote:well good news, its a pair for sure. i took a look in their "cave" with a flashlight and spotted a hangful of eggs on top of a breeding cave i got from cory's. already setup the last empty tank i had to house some of the extras. but at this point ive got 5 julies ready to go somewhere else

Are you selling?

yes i will be rehoming them soon. gonna give em a little while to settle in and see if i cant get another pair. if your seriously interested in snagging them send me a PM and we can work out details.

done quite a bit of overall over the last week or so. the julies got a complete boot from the tank, shoulda added them after shellies, they felt they owned the shells . so now ive got the pair isolated in a 20g and the 5 randoms in a 10g. everyones itching to move on to somebody else, so if anyones interested i could do a great deal on these guys. on the other side of this coin my specious are doing fantastic and looking great. also got in touch with a buddy whos going to give me a few out of his multie colony (which i sold to him years ago) well enjoy the pics, been fun keeping a "journal" of this whole process. i think i can finally leave it be now tho
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REALLY proud of this shot, really captures his coloration pattern nicely. co-op shout out! the sand doesnt bleach/wash out color on photos! WOOO   
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another scape before i dumped the julies
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What is a good size tank to insure optimal health in these fish? I love the look of these little guys!
I have two 20g just sitting empty and when I set up my classroom for the year these types might be really cool on the top of my desk

the lamprologus specsious seem to prefer more floor space then other shellies. id say at least a 20L with a few sight barriers to break up any chasing if it occurs. i like to let my shellies figure themselves out, i usually start with like 6 and let them thin down as needed. ive had success with brevis and multies in much smaller tanks. for some reason all these bulldog looking ones tend to be more aggressive lol. my group is in a 40 breeder but thats just because i wanted to do an overkill shellie tank.