shellie 75

Tank has only had plants in it for a week now
There are Neolamprologus similis in two different shell beds and 9 Cyprichromis Leptosoma

I like that black sand with shells.

I still need to put a background on the tank, just don't know what I want to put there

Snake1oz wrote:

I still need to put a background on the tank, just don't know what I want to put there

Paint it black. I've done that on all my tanks, love it.

If your cyps are behaving OK, I would not change a thing. When breeding Cyps create a 3 dimensional box in open water. To accomplish this, the male must orient himself to something unique like a tall plant or in Lake Tanganyika rocks that are up in water column where invisible 3 D box is. When male is oriented, he will show female the confines of box.

The cyps are hovering right over the top on one of my shell beds that has fry so the male Simils is constantly having to chase them away. I could move them to a different tank to calm the tank down a bit.

I would not move the Cyps. I would place taller structures in the tank, like pieces of slate that are 18" tall or rocks that are about that height, either one rock or a pile of rocks. At that point, Cyps can hide under slate or on opposite side of a rock pile. I doubt male L. similus would chase them there as he could not see them and he would not want to leave shell bed to search for them.
The downside is your tank has a nice look now and adding structures inside the tank will change the look. That would be a good reason to move the Cyps.

Thanks for the reply I will probably move the cyps to a different 75, is there some other fish you would recommend to go with them. I did some research but seems like there is so many ideas of what to keep with them and what not to keep.

Keep Tanganyika cichlids with Cyps.

Altolamprologus calvus and compressiceps are not as territoral as Neolamprologus or Lepidolamprologus species. Smaller Neolamprologus would probably be OK.

I like Julidochromis and they are not so expensive, any species in this genus should work. When breeding, a Julie male from the larger Julie species could harass Cyps, depends on the individual male. Dwarf Julies be a safer choice.

Maybe the best would be sand sifters like Xenotilapia species and other species that stick to the sand bottom. X. melanogenys are my favorite but there are many species. They are not territorial like Neolamps but males will clash over breeding grounds. Lots of colors then. Unfortunately, these species are usually expensive.