Dimensions 50 × 35 × 30 cm
Title Coast of Bwassa
Volume 52.5L
Background A plain black card.
Lighting Led lamp from 7 watts to 6500 K.
Filtration The tank is without traditional filter, after a long maturation, which lasted 6 months, it is the tank itself that acts as a filter.
I use this technique in all my tanks.
Plants None
Animals Couple of Neolamprologus meleagris
Materials The layout is made up of fine sand with a grain size below 1 mm, rocks collected in nature and shells always taken in nature.
Additional Information The tank wants to reproduce the places of origin of the neolamprologus, Bwassa, 65 km south of Moba on the Congolese coast (ex Zaire) of Lake Tanganyika.Along the sandy expanses of Lake Tanganyika, at depths of 10 - 15 meters and 30 - 35 meters, vast areas can be found entirely covered by dead gastropod shells.
These beds can be several centimeters thick.
Thanks to the large quantity of carbonates in solution and the high alkalinity of the water, the shells of the shells can remain intact for very long periods. Thanks also to the precipitation of calcite salts, which caused the shells to concretize, an expanse, even of a hundred square meters, of small dens was formed, available to the small cichlids that populate this area of the lake.
The chemistry of water
The average water temperature, measured along the coast, varies from 24 ° C to 28 ° C.
The water of this lake is very clear and oxygenated. It is alkaline and has a pH ranging from 8.6 to 9.5.
The water of Lake Tanganyika is slightly hard, with a total hardness of 7 ° - 15 ° dGH.
The carbonate hardness varies from 16 ° to 19 ° KH.
The conductivity is about 600 microSiemems / cmq
