Dimensions 60 × 60 × 50 cm

Title Intermediate Rocky Habitat in Bulu Point, East Coast of Lake Tanganyika

Volume 180L

Background The tank background its a lightblue vinyl designed by me.

Lighting As a habitat, I would like to point out that the area receives intense sunlight as it is close to the surface.Based on this situation, I installed a daylight system for the aquarium. While I provided the general lighting of the aquarium with 4x24W Aquastar fluorescent lamps, I positioned the halogen lamp at 45 degrees and 90 degrees to adapt the daylight to the aquarium

Filtration I preferred a hang on filter for filtration. Considering the volume of the aquarium, I used Haqos Expro 500. In filtering, I use substrate-based iltration to keep the pH balance and biological cycle stable

Plants N/P

Animals N. leleupi is collected from several locations along both the east and west coasts of the lake, particularly from Bulu Point, Tanzania, Bemba and Zaire. Not all leleupis are orange or yellow. Even though the yellowish orange variant is significantly more abundant in the lake, two other color morphs are not infrequently seen occupying the same habitats: silvery-beige and brownish-black.

The Daffodil Cichlid, Neolamprologus pulcher (previously Lamprologus pulcher) was described by Trewavas and Poll in 1952. These fish are endemic to Lake Tanganyika, Africa and are widespread in the southern part of the lake. They are found along the rocky coastlines of the countries of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. There are number of different geographical varieties. The variety known as the "Daffodil" is very popular and is found along the steep rocky slopes of Kantalamba and Kambwinba.

Materials : I used 45 kg rock in total I collected from nature in my design. I placed the rocks in accordance with the sample visions of rock structure of the region. As N. pulcher and N.leleupi use rock caverns as breeding nests by their very nature, this is what I paid attetention to most in my design.The rocks were large in the upper parts, smaller and flat in the middle and medium in size in the lower parts.My aim is to make the fish lay eggs between the rocks that look like caves in the middle parts of the aquarium and make the offspring feel safer in this area.When positioning the rocks in this area, I planned to make the light coming from the surface cut off in the middle area and make the fish feel safe in the dim light.The rocks I used on the ground were used to give the appearance of small fragments that were detached from the large rocks in the lake.Since there is a small amount of sand in the habitat, I obtained silica sand from a mine that has the closest appearance to the sand I saw in the visuals.

Additional Information : Tanganyika Lake in East Africa, one of the Great African Lakes, located in the East African rift zone. The lake is divided among four countries, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Zambia. It covers an area of 34400 km², is the longest freshwater lake in the world and the deepest African lake. The lake is located at an altitude of 773m above sea level. The average depth is 570 m, while the maximum reaches 1435m. The lake is located in the tropical climate zone. The average annual rainfall is 200mm. Average annual temperature around 20C. Bulu Point is located in Tanzania on the eastern shore of the lake (5 ° 27’42 “S, 29 ° 44’50” E). The described biotope is located in the zone of Litoral.

The intermediate habitat consists of sandy bottom with numerous rocks which provide shelter for the species-rich community. The rocky part can cover up to three quarters of the sandy bottom. The most important characteristic is the gradual inclination of the bottom. The biocover on the rocks is usually overlaid with a thin layer of fine sand. There is no real depth restriction for this habitat, but it is most heavily populated between 5 and 40 meters. The intermediate habitat harbours the most species rich communities of the lake.

Sources of information:

http://blog.africandivingltd.com/2017/06/neolamprologus-pulcher-and-analogy-of-n.html

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cichlid/DaffodilCichlid.php

https://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_leleupi.php

http://www.tanganyika.si/DistributionMaps/N.%20cylindricus%2C%20N.%20leleupi%2C%20N.%20longior%2C%20N.%20mustax/slides/Neolamprologus_longior.html

https://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=197

http://blog.africandivingltd.com/2017/06/neolamprologus-pulcher-and-analogy-of-n.html

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/8671