I've got a 90g tank that I'm thinking of redoing. It currently has a
bottom of the barrel, Albino Senegal Bichir. It's still just a baby, less than 6", and only a threat to small fry. I'm thinking of having a Tanganyika cichlid, but preferably one one not small enough to be eaten by the Bichir once it's fully grown.
It has to be a rock dweller. I'm currently thinking of Brichardi or Marlieri. The Brichardi would be everywhere in the tank, but I'm concerned that they'd hurt the Bichir. The Marlieri would stick to the rocks, but be less of a threat to the Bichir, and the Bichir would help to control the population of the Marlieri.
I've had Julidochromis before, had a pair of Marlieri for a year in a 20g, and they never spawned. I got a third one, a confirmed male, and they spawned within the month. That male ended up being Transcriptus, and my smaller Marlieri was female. I'd asked my
LFS about the Julies, and they claimed that they didn't stock Transcriptus. I ended up with about 68 hybrid fry, and ended up rehoming the parents as well when I needed the tank space for something else.
I've tried to start a colony of Brichardi before, but I failed. I'd replaced the Julidochromis with a half dozen Brichardi, which only spawned once, and I've got one left. That was after I upgraded them to a 60g.
Would either of those Tanganyika cichlids be a good match for a Senegal Bichir? Or is there another, larger cichlid that uses rocks and is Biotope? Bichirs are native to Lake Tanganyika, though not the Senegal, and I'd like to be Biotope.
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