# Neolamprologus brichardi



## freshreef (May 14, 2004)

what do u think about them in the planted tank? 
are they plant safe?
are they shrimp n small tetras safe?


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

N. Brichardi are from Lake Tanganika and like really hard water with a pH near 9.0. What kind of tetras and shrimp live in water like this?? There are some plants that will work like Jungle Vals, Java Fern, Anubias, some Crypts and others. There's not much CO2 at this high of a pH for plants. They need to get their carbon sourch mainly from the water.


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

I keep many Neolamps in a heavily planted CO2 injected tank including a very close relative of the Brichardi; Neolamprologus Gracalis. First of all these fish like to dig and will do so unless you provide some rock cubby holes for them to "hotel" in. Even then, they will still dig. They will eat shrimp as fast as you can put them in the tank. I experimented with some ghost shrimp and as soon as I released them, the fish turned into pirahnas. Of the 10 I put in a 150 gallon tank, they were ALL eaten within 48 hours and most within the first 2 hours.

You can inject CO2, but I would do so and increase the quantity slowly over the course of a couple of weeks. I have hard water with a ph of 8.1 out of the tap and I inject CO2 that drives the Ph down to 7.1....very low for Tanganyikan Cichlids. You can see an old picture of my Tanganyikan tank here:

http://tropicalresources.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10759

Today there's 20 times more plants and most of the ones in the pictures have been changed out. I'm now growing:

Bacopa Carolina
Limnophila Aromatica
Sunset Hydro
Willow Leaf Hydro
Hemianthus "Pearlweed" and HC "Cuba"
Ludwigia Repens
Apon. Crispus
Anubias Nana
Corkscrew Vals
and a few Crypts

All are growing very nicely.

Here's the catch:

The fish are healthy and happy even with 30 ppm of CO2 and a Ph of 7.1. They have basically stopped spawning except for the Cyprochromis Leptosoma who do so every few weeks. I feel like I am sub-optimizing the conditions for both the fish and the plants so I'm thinking about tearing it down and changing to fish that enjoy softer water and a new plant frienly substrate such as Eco-Complete.

So, can it be done? YES!

However, you'd probably be better off creating a biotope where fish and plants and inverts all are happy instead of forcing them into an environment they were not evolved for.

Good luck!


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