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1.60 by 90/60 by 60 (720 ltrs) left corner is 90cm'sdeep, in the right it's 60cm's
strong current and in the evenings led's are tempered
over view

nannocharax fasciatus (7 very small ones)

alestopetersius caudalis(13- up to5 cm's)

brycinus longipinnis (9- up to9 cm's)


the catfish are still very shy. no pictures here.
4 synodontis alberti and 7 synodontis flavitaeniata.

pareutropius mandeville and Acanthocleithron chapini might be coming my way as well

btw sorry for the poor camera

and Acanthocleithron chapini might be coming my way as well

I'd be very interested indeed to see these!

november, I have to say that is one very nice African tank! And I like your choice of fish.

Nice fish combo, from a fellow "Congo rapids" keeper!

I came very close to ordering some Brycinus longipinnis last autumn, but I backed out after reading about how they are capable of outcompeting many species for food, so I'd love to hear how this tank progresses over time. My group of 20 Pareutropius cf. madevillei (I must get photos to get them confirmed on here, like several of my other fish) are much bolder feeders than I expected them to be, they had no issues getting their share around my Ilyodon xantusi and Phenacogrammus nigropterus, which surprised me because Pareutropius are suggested as good tankmates for timid feeding Synodontis nigriventris. Maybe they are just simply braver than the more easily sourced Pareutropius buffei or rarer P. debauwi?

Richard B wrote:

and Acanthocleithron chapini might be coming my way as well

I'd be very interested indeed to see these!

Me too .

Very nice tank!

thank you for all comments.

i'm quite curious for the A.chapini too,fingers crossed.
after i bought the brycinus and tiny darters last week the owner of the lfs asked me to be mail him so he can sent me the list of fish he's expecting to have pretty soon.

the brycinus' are big eaters indeed and i must therefore feed more times a day, especially before the light goes down (catfish time).

N0body Of The Goat wrote:My group of 20 Pareutropius cf. madevillei are much bolder feeders than I expected them to be, they had no issues getting their share around my Ilyodon xantusi and Phenacogrammus nigropterus, which surprised me

this is just what i needed for i was a bit worried.
schilbeidae are very interesting fish and these small ones are found in malebo pool as well which makes them a perfect fit after all.

unfortunately both syno species are still a bit shy, i'm afraid i'll have to be patient on them.

@ N.O.t.G: later on i'll keep you posted.

My group of 20 Pareutropius cf. mandevillei are much bolder feeders than I expected them to be

That is good to hear...it is the large group that makes a difference, they become alot braver.

Birger

busy night life syno style these young men (?) were squeeking alot



huh?

the albertis aren't shy at all if it comes to flashing cameras by night, not to mention the other synos......

now we are a bit further i can tell (NotG) the brycinus are big eaters indeed. at night they're still hungry and even pick particles from the bottom.
besides all this,the other tetras were quite skinny wen bought are in top condition now.

tank seems to do just fine

2 forgotten ones......



i'm obviously not a photographer but it's about the share.....

Nice looking setup! Seeing those last pics really makes me miss the S. alberti I used to keep. I had a group of six adults in a 125gal tank. They were very entertaining to watch at night--I used to use a red lens on my headlamp so as not to disturb them.

thanks.

i've just replaced the 2 blue & 2 white led's for 3 red ones.
see what happens tonight after i've come back home from night shift.

November
For some reason your pictures will not show for me. If you have plants get rid of the B.longipinnis. My school of 6 thrashed the Anubias in my West African set up before I could get them out. They especially love to eat the new growth leaves while they are still soft.
-Shane

hi shane.
i've got some V.spiralis, eleocharis and pistias on the surface and never caught them nipping bits off. all what's green seems to be left alone so far. fish are adults btw.

about not seeing the photo's i don't have a clue

new one arrived today. anaspidoglanis macrostoma

soon enough it's whisker will be fine again

anyone an idea about keeping more in this tank?? i know bigger giraffes can be quite nasty when kept with more than one only

still waiting for ##pareutropius mandeville and Acanthocleithron chapini might be coming my way as well## btw

Lovely new "Giraffes" you have in the latest update!

If you plan to have these Anaspidoglanis macrostoma in the community tank, a telling line is the profile suggests Pareutropius (at least the small slender mandevillei) and Acanthocleithron should be off your menu, because they will be on the menu of these Giraffes...
"Tends to be territorial and with it's predatory nature, not suited for the general community tank. Fares much better in an African concept tank with other robust fish. Not suitable with small fish."
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=102

I have two in a mixed species tank. They are about 8" in size. Rarely see them. The tank is 300 liter, and have lots of hiding spaces. They each have their own hiding space. As far as I can tell, they are not (very much) predatory. I have , which aren't that big in the tank. They have been together for well over a year now, and still doing fine.

--
Mats

after both the tetras had some serious infections (lost quite a few) all fish went on quarantaine and medication.

in the mean while i had time to re-decorate the tank.

since the beginning of this tank (keeping catfish is new to me) i had the feeling i decorated it not good enough, the bottom was too clean which was,i thought, one of the reasons they were so shy.

all fish are back now but still i'm loosing tetras (both the brycinus/alestopetersius)there are 7 left only....

a couple of nannochromis parilus was added as well as an elephant fish (gnatonemus petersii).

but the cats are doing just fine!
both the synos and the mini-giraffe are visible during the day.

after the tank was completely empty i left many rocks out, creating less hiding spaces. the bottom is much more natural due to branches and smaller rocks all over.

when in quarantaine i finally had a chance to make some photos from the flavitaeniatus.




i'm too busy at the moment but soon i'll post some photos from the tank and it's fish nowadays

oops, forgot one...



better pics in a better set-up with clean glass will follow

Love the Synodontis flavitaeniatus, one of my favourites.

The brycinus/alestopetersius are usually quite durable don't understand why you are losing them.

Your have now changed genus name....see here http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 31#p266307

Birger

on the back, second one from below.

once you see this (mostly the same place or the pelvic fins) it's too late.

the folowing days the fish are are very red underneath their scales and die. one by one.
last week a male brycinus had popped eyes and its head was red, the first one died this way weeks ago.

it looks like a very agressive infection which affects the tetras only.
cichlids cats mormyrid and darter-likes are the other inhabitants.

the 7 ones left are eating, looking brilliant and do not show any signs of stress.
weekly i change a bit over a third.
water chemistry is fine.

i was told on a dutch forum they're somewhat fragile if it comes to waterchemistry.

The mark on your Alestopetersius caudalis is bringing back memories of ~2.5 years ago...

I had a group of 12 males and 1 poor female that died on the first night. All went well after that until the males matured, but then they began having mass jousting battles, spiralling around each other in split-second battles.

Those battles create nasty flank wounds, no amount of water changes and anti-bacterial meds saved any males that got injured.

that's funny.
-my group contained mostly males too
-the first one died here was also a female (after swimming around with a massive infection, looking back í should've noticed she was already poorly when taken from the lfs
-and once they're infected there's no way back

but never ever i've seen them fighting and the brycinus are dying as well...

on the other hand, this might've indicated an offensive male

i've seen more males like this.......

leaving the cause, injured tetras ment in both ways,yours and mine, a certain death.

maybe some other shoaling fish then?

yesterday a second notoglanidium macrostoma was added to the tank, a give-away fromthe local pet shop. hoping it'll be (more or less)accepted by the bigger one.

luckally there is lots of hiding places.

the chapter congo tetras is nearly finished, 2 out of 4 are pretty bad now leaving one brycinus and an alestopetersius.

How are things now in this inspiring and beautiful tank?

hi martijn.
the cats and nanno's are doing just fine,not to mention the tetras, one of each is left only.
another group is something for later when the new (bigger) tank is ready.

i bought a couple of steatocranus casuarius 2 weeks ago and enjoying their clownesk behavior. i was a bit worried after the female was pretty messed-up during the way back home which took about 90 minutes, the water contained some of her scales, she was bitten quite nasty but it's ok now and the first nest will be coming soon i guess.

the notoglanidium are doing well. i introduced the smaller second one not knowing what to expect but i see them together while feeding sometimes.
time will tell,they're still only youngsters.

welcome to africa btw

november wrote: welcome to africa btw

hahahaha thanks mate!
Although I was already there with Lake Tanganyika

Can't wait to see some pics or videos from your tank ;)

details








over view









shooting moving fish in dimmed light with this camera is going to be a toughie

Wow. Great looking tank.

Nice, natural looking tank!

How was your experience with the skittishness of the Alestopetersius? Mine (i have a shoal of 7 males and 5 females) are extremely skittish and dissappear in a small corner of the tank as soon as someone approaches the tank. A shame, since they are beautiful animals. The tank is moderately planted, has decent cover and a lot of floating plants.

the last one died yesterday leaving 1 brycinus only.

but that wasn't the question. "skittish" i had to look this one up

they were never shy, nervous or what so ever.
nothing to be mentioned here but every time i noticed a wound the fish died within a couple of days. over and over again.
nearly all wounds were located on the upper lip or a side on it's back (see photos).

maybe your tank is too small, size does matter sometimes.