keeping ornatipinnis and cyprichromis

[swiftfly]

Last week I picked up some ornatipinnis for my 10g, but that was a mistake - they need way more space. Luckily I had an old tank collecting dust in my garage, so they'll be moving in there. I'm planning to add a school of cyprichromis for some color and dithering. Still thinking about a third species, but can't decide on one that'll play nice with these guys from Lake T.

Stocking list:
6 ornatipinnis
10 cyprichromis

Plants:
Java Fern
Assorted Anubias
Some Vals and Crypts - we'll see how long they last with these diggers around

The Rockscape is still a work in progress...

My Ornatipinnis are getting a new home.

None of the equipment has arrived yet, just using that light for a decent pic.

[swiftfly]

Got the Java Fern and Anubias mounted, tank's filled with water now. Waiting for it to clear up a bit, then I'll post some pics.

[swiftfly]

Filter arrived on Friday, so I've decided to go ahead with a fish-in cycle. I know it's not ideal, but I'm just too impatient to wait.

[swiftfly]

Gonna plant some Vals, but I'm gonna bury some pots first to keep 'em from gettin' dug up.

[swiftfly]

Added some terracotta pots, think they'll add some nice color to the tank. Pics will be up as soon as I get my camera batteries sorted.
Tentative stocking list so far:
6x Lamprologus ornatipinnis
1x Neolamprologus leleupi
8x Paracyprichromis (waiting on a price)

[swiftfly]

Just got the light in, and I also picked up that leleupi I was thinking about. Did some re-scaping too. Had a bit of a scare though - I had a T8 lamp sitting on top of the tank to check it out, and it fell in. I'm talking full-on, no-thinking 'dive' into the tank to grab it. Fingers still killing me lol. Still messing with the stocking list, not sure if I'm gonna go with the cyps... they're just too pricey.

[mizonix]

Honestly, don't risk a fish-in cycle with cyps, they're way too delicate and pricey. Those frequent, large water changes will be a nightmare for them. The tank's looking good, but the pots seem a bit off to me, they stick out like a sore thumb.

[swiftfly]

No worries, mizonix, cyps aren't going in just yet. Still on the hunt for a good dealer, but the tank's doing great - 0 ammo, 0 nitrite. I've reworked the design, and the new plan is 2 Julidochromis Marlieri, 6 Ornatipinnis Kigoma, and 3 Comps. The current setup's pretty close to this, with a few tweaks since the pic was taken.

[swiftfly]

I totally spaced this thread existed, lol. Here's the update. Got a pair of julies, they spawned like crazy. Found out they were different species, huge pain. Took them back to the LFS, culled the fry, and returned the julies just last Saturday. Had to tear down the rock to get to them, so now the tank's pretty bare. Looking for a smaller julie species, maybe J.ornatus, J.transcriptus, or J.marlieri 'gombe'.

My L.ornatipinnis spawned a bunch too, 1" juvies are doing great. Moved the spawning pair to a 29, and 4 L.ornatipinnis got displaced. They're back in the 55, hoping to form another pair or two. Got some new comps, they're still small, not much to say.

Also, I got 11 cyps, but my LFS had no idea what region they're from. They actually told me the different variations come from line breeding, lol. Needless to say, I won't be going back there. The good news is they weren't bred in-house, and the colors are consistent with a single region. I think I've narrowed it down to Utinta, also known as "Utinta fluorescent" or "Blue Flash".