FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Which shelldweller should I breed? I can get either for roughly the same price. Which of the two is easier to breed? Is there any major difference between the 2? Any info would be appreciated!

yea, the price for ONE may be the same, but overall the multies will cost way more, mulies are colony breeder, ocellatus pair off, so you only need 2 in a tank, multies do best with 10+

Daka<<<<

I always had heard and read that occies are harem breeders and do best with 1 male 2 females...could be wrong, though.

Multis will do fine with 4-6 to start off with. Maybe they'll cost more up front, but they're the best parents I've ever come across. The whole group will take care of the young who then will take care of the next generation of fry. Their colony is fun to watch, they dig a ton (prefer sand - all shellies do though), have a couple of shells per fish. Within one year they're going to make you a ton of money since they're not common and every LFS I know will buy them for a decent price - so you now have a fry factor! It does often take 5-6 months of settling in to produce fry.

Eric

I'd say look at your tank, too; while both can be kept in 10 gals and larger, multis will do MUCH better in a smaller space. Occies like territory room, and that goes for their fry after a point, too. Multis can live in much more cramped quarters because of the colonial lifestyle.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

OK, sounds like I'm going with Multies. My tank is a 12 gallon eclipse. I have a quick question. When they finally do breed, what do I do with the filter situation. If you're familiar with the eclipse it has a power filter similar to the emperor or penguin built into it. Do I need to switch to a sponge filter. Also, the substrate in there right now is a fine crushed coral. Does that need to be converted to sand?

Fine crushed coral should be OK (I've used it with them). As for your filter, you can always buy an Aquaclear sponge and cut it to fit over your intake tube. If the intake tube isn't too close to the sand, you should be fine anyway - the fry stay very close to the shell bed until they're strong enough to swim around well.

Eric

Thanks for the reply. Do you know where I can get a spong of that sort? Also, won't that significantly lower the filtratin rate of my filter and make the water quality worse? Oh, forgot to mention. Is 8 an ok number for my 12 gallon? Is it too many? Not right amount? Just right? Any info would be appreciated!

Last edited by Dempsey fan at 16-Feb-2005 15:50

An aquaclear sponge, cheap bulk filter floss, an extra sponge from some filter or other - anything like that will work. However, as Eric mentioned, it's probably not necessary - shellie fry are quite benthic. Just keep the intake well off the substrate and don't heavily overfilter.
Eight is too many to start with; remember they breed like crazy. If you start with a trio (another female or two would be fine, but again, they'll just take up fry room) you'll soon have a thriving colony.

Last edited by LittleMousling at 16-Feb-2005 15:56

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

UH OH....After I posted that last message I went and ordered mine....and I ordered eight.....Usually I don't make impulse decisions like that and thoroughly do my research before hand. However I got 8 F1's including shipping for 51 USD so I couldn't pass it up. Will I run into problems if I put them all in the same tank? Will they not breed? Do I need to setup another tank like a 10 gal or something? I feel kinda dumb now.

Well, it can be done, particularly with related fish, but A) Fishless cycle the tank; the ammonia spike caused by eight new multis would definitely kill them, B) provide TONS, I mean TONS (think dozens, here) of shells to minimise argument; multis in the wild live on piles of shells that may be as much as 20 feet deep, and C) if they ostracize any males - you'll know when you see a cowed multi hiding behind the filter intake or up high in the corner, who isn't allowed to eat - remove him from the tank, as they're unlikely to decide to just let him in.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

Hmm, sounds like I should be setting up a new tank. Anyway, the tank is already cycled so that's a bonus. Anything else I should know about? Oh, are escargot shells ok to use?

Escargot shells are GREAT. Ideal, IME, unless you can afford tons of Neothauma shells.
Other than "keep your water quality high and your GH higher," it sounds like you've got everything covered.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!