Cyp heaven......

[tremper]

So here is my current set-up....

(4) J. marlieri
(5) N leleupi
(5) L. chizmulae (these guys are gonna have to go)
(2) black calvus (2")
(2) breeding pair of Neolamprologus olivaceous

Right now NOTHING happens in the middle or top of the tank and it's very tall, 36" and I really want to add a group of cyps.......

I've read AND been advised to add rockwork to close to the top to give the cyps a sense of security. THis is a huge project for mulitple reasons;

First, my tank is 36" and a bear to do anything to.....
Second, like a dolt I painted the back blue (for a change of pace) rather than black, and now, if I "glue" slate to the back and sides, I neeed to drain it, scrape the paint, and while im at it I may as well strip my floors in the living room as well so I'm looking at a 2 week project minimum, potentially a month as I travel almost weekly........

So, the q's are.....

1. Will my cyps really be unhappy in an "unrockscaped" tank?
2. Will tall plants really make them as happy as roacks?, and I'm not running CO2, so what tall plants could possibly survice.
3. How will cyps fin into my other tank mates?
4. Does anyone have any experience attaching slate to tank back and sides? What about guck behind the slate etc.....

Any pics? Any advice? Any encouragement?

Below is a pic of my sad "male hap / peacock" tank before I went to the darkside.......

Other pic is current status...... close-up only.......

 

[tremper]

new set up.....

View attachment 445

 

[Charlutz]

Joseph -

You don't need to rock the whole tank like an mbuna tank. A piece of slate leaning at an angle will do. No need to secure it with silicone or anything. Also, those pieces of driftwood will do the job, though they will drop your ph pretty significantly. My valisneria is much more full than in this pic I took a while ago, but the cyps hide in it, behind the slate, around the taller rockpile and occasionally behind the two overflow boxes. My tank is 24" tall.

 

[tremper]

Thats great news Charles, I was really not looking forward to everything entailed in my original posting.

Will valisneria grow w/o CO2

Also how will the cyps fare with the other fish I mentioned? Do you forsee any problems?

 

[Charlutz]

I grow the val with very little light. 4 x 40w T-12 tubes over a 24" deep 7 foot long tank in aragonite sand. I use some fertilizer sticks, but that's it. No CO2. I can give you some clippings. Despite their appearance, cyps are actually very tough as long as they aren't stressed. Keep them well fed, twice a day if you can, and in as large group as possible. I am not familiar with the chizumulae or olivaceous, but they'd do fine with everything else once they got to a little more than an inch. Once they are at that size, they are very fast and can handle themselves. Make sure the tank lid is tight. They are jumpers.

 

[kbeaudean]

Our cyps are in a 90g there is no rock work at the top and that's where they stay and they are out all the time. So they never hide. Right now they are with Yellow LAbs & Demisoni but before that we had them with Fronts and beleive it or not they use to dive bomb the fronts!!

 

[DonkeyFish]

Will valisneria grow w/o CO2

Uh, Vals only marginally require water. And they are great for a tall tank, as they will grow that tall (and possibly taller still). They are also pretty hardy, and (as Sonny/Bob coined the term) "cichlid resistant". They spread by runners and once they get started you'll be begging people to take the extra overgrowth. I've always found fish love swimming in/around/through it. Good stuff.

 

[tremper]

thx, everyone, off to the lfs for vals it seems........

 

[Charlutz]

Our cyps are in a 90g there is no rock work at the top and that's where they stay and they are out all the time. So they never hide. Right now they are with Yellow LAbs & Demisoni but before that we had them with Fronts and beleive it or not they use to dive bomb the fronts!!

Agreed, everyone has their own method as to what works. How many cyps do you keep in a group? How small a group have you been able to keep? When my group gets smaller they get less happy.

 

[kbeaudean]

We have 12 in the 90g, but we have had 6 fry grow up together, but we also have 8 males to 4 females so they are always showing off

 

[longstocking]

Don't tell my breeding pair that charlie lol...

In all fairness.... they are micros not that regulars.

The bigger the group the better.

Just keep the water very clean with cyps... and you should be fine.

 

[Charlutz]

LOL.

I have very good filtration and never let water changes go more than 2 weeks, so I never noticed anything about water quality. Aside from stress, the only two other ways I lost them were when they jumped and one time during a water change that I believe was done after I had run out of hot water. Nothing else in the tank seemed affected, but the cyps went belly up almost immediately. Now, the cyp tanks get their water first!