My first reaction to your tank was...WOW! I like the rockwork and sandy bottom that somewhat looks like an underwater scene from Lake Tanganyika, except there the rocks are smoother but much less aesthetically appealing than your aqua scaping. Your Tanganyikan aqua scaping inspired me.
Decades ago, I specialize in keeping and breeding wild-caught Tropheus (Ilangi, Ikola, Duboisi, and Brichardi). I ventured on to keeping and breeding wild-caught blue Frontosa (Moba) for their beauty and demand, and Enantiopus Melanogenys for their shimmering iridescent colors and interesting nest-building behavior. Back then, I striped the eggs from the mouths of females and put the eggs in a multi-tumbler setup, which yielded more fry than letting nature take its course. The multi-tumbler design was a 10-gallon tank that had a sponge filter/powerhead pumping water into a PVC pipe with multiple valves flowing metered water into 10 individual tumblers. Selling F1 fry helped fund my addiction.
I also kept a 240-gallon Tanganyikan community tank with Cyprichromis occupying the mid-and upper-level water column; Lelelupi, Compressiceps, and Julis in the nooks and crannies of the rockwork; Similis and Gold Occelatus propagating in their shells at separate corners; and Melanogenys digging their nest in the open coral sand area.
It was a chore to do daily water changes for the Tropheus tanks and to periodically strip them, the Fontosas, and the Enantiopus. It was well worth it though to enjoy watching for hours the 240-gallon community tank and the hierarchy and breeding behaviors of the Tropheus and Frontosa tanks.
I'm interested in how you are progressing with your project. The Tanganyikan bug hit me again. Recently, I purchased a group of 20 F1 juvenile Tropheus Ikola from Bluechip Aquatics. They were much larger than I expected and started to breed 4 days after I received them! I just bought a 750, 500, and 375-gallon tank. I'm leaning towards keeping and breeding Ilangi in the 500 and Moba in the 375. There is a local garden rockery where I might purchase some large river stones to simulate some locations of the underwater Tanganyikan Lake.
The last time I was in the fishkeeping hobby was about 13 years ago when I kept exotic monster fish, and I'm drawn towards keeping them again in the 750. It's funny that my intention this time around was to limit this hobby by just keeping a planted, shrimp nano tank in hopes that I don't go overboard again. Not working! Every time I get back into fishkeeping I go bigger and more expensive. This addiction started with a goldfish I won at my school carnival when I was 7 years old. I didn't know decades ago that it was just a cheap feeder fish, which is my current status on this site. That is so appropriate given that I just started this addiction again. Oh well, go big, or don't go at all! I hope I don't go broke.
