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I'm being given a 30 gallon tank and stand. YIPPIE!!! and I'm thinking of doing a shellie tank. I find the little shell dwellers very interesting indeed. I've even found a breeder fairly close in San Antonio (about 4 hours away....close by Texas standards. )

I have the perfect hard water (300 ppm) and my pH is 7.2, but I can up with crushed coral substrate and rocks. So, my question, how many shellies can I do comfortably in a 30? I'm looking specifically at Neolamp. brevis and I also love Lamp. stappersi check this pic: http://www.davesfish.com/images/fish/lamp_meleagris.jpg

Anway, just wondering what I need to set up other than filter, heater, rocks, shells, etc. and what my stock level will be. This is a 30 U.S. gallon tank, unsure of dimensions at the moment. Prolly a standard 30.

Anyone wanna advise?

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Wow, if you wanted Brevis in a 30 you could have quite a few... up to 6 pairs maybe! Or you could have just a few pairs, and leave room for fry instead of removing fry, and you could form a colony in that tank. A 30 gal is also [barely] large enough to house more than one species of small Tanganyikan cichlid, so you could possibly do stapps and compriceps, or brichiardi (sp?).
A large colony would be ideal, though, so start with a few pairs, and see what happens in the next several months.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Sounds pretty cool! I'm really excited about setting up this tank and not having to buy expensive lights., fets, and CO2 for plants. Can I keep two species of shellies in there without interbreeding issues? I wouldn't mind having both Brevis and Stappersi. I think their colors would compliment each other. If it is a problem I will decide between them.....reluctantly.

EDIT: wow, on second thought....look at these guys: Lamprologus ocellatus "gold" http://www.davesfish.com/images/fish/lamp_ocellatus_gold.JPG

What a honey of a fish!! thos and Stappersi would look awesome together....if it can be done.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

How about a pair of Nanochromis Transvestitus?
They are a soft water dwarf african cichlid,
that would enjoy caves and neutral shells im sure.
They need a ph of 7.2 or less though, especially
for breeding.

Male



Female



links for pictures cited:
http://www.thecichlidgallery.com/bilder_01/transvistitus_02.jpg
http://www.thecichlidgallery.com/bilder_01/transvistitus_01.jpg

Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
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They are a soft water dwarf african cichlid

I'm looking for fish that prefer hard water. My water is 300ppm gH which makes which is pretty hard.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Brevis really do have small territories, so you could easily keep them with another fish. Ocellatus can be little buggers, but with a rock dividing the tank in half they'd be fine.

Is it really a 30 gallon tank (as in 36" long) or a 29 gallon tank (30" long)? That could make a difference in stocking.

I'd not keep brichardi - they've been known to dominate a 55 gallon tank when they start forming a colony.

Oh, I forgot, you could probably do two cichlids with 3-4 Syno. petricola, too!

I'd suggest the brevis/occelatus (or meleagris) combo you suggested. Or one shellie with dwarf Julies (dickfeldi, transcriptus, or ornatus). Or, one of your shellie choices and some N. caudopunctatus (offer shells and rocks and let them choose - mine all preferred rocks). Or, A. calvus or comprecisseps with one shellie...so many great choices for either sized tank.

Eric

The smaller Julidochromis species might work ... espceially if this is a shallow and long aquarium. Your problems here break down as follows with Julies:

[1] Because they form pairs in a manner akin to CA/SA Cichlids, Julies need to be bought as a group of 6 or so juveniles in order to guarantee obtaining a pair. The trouble being that once the pair has been formed, the remaining specimens have to be rehoused FAST or the first pair to form will kill them;

[2] Once the pair has formed, disturbance is likely to have a bad effect upon the pair bond - Julies have been documented as 'divorcing' if the pair is disturbed, and so the usual trick with other Cichlids of moving them to a breeding aquarium won't work - the result of doing this is to break the pair bond, and the fireworks that ensue can be murderous.

Note also that with Julidochromis regani and Julidochromis marlieri, the FEMALES are the larger fishes!

Another point to bear in mind is that Julies like caves. However, they like a very specific type of cave - one that's too small for competitors to squeeze into. Julies don't swim head first into their caves then turn round - they reverse into the caves! This trick allows them to defend spawn ad fry clutches against predation in an environment where they are surrounded by a host of would be fry thieves - the fry tend to hug cover like infantry soldiers and bolt for caves at the slightest sign of danger.

Now of course you have an additional problem to face - the fry are tolerated until the next batch are on the way. Once the next batch is on the way, the older fry have to be removed. But ... simply diving in with a net is not a good idea, because it'll precipitate the 'divorce' that Julies are infamous for in some circles.

So, these guys pose their own management problems ... but if you can sit and think about how to solve these before obtaining the fishes, then they're rewarding to keep. Oh, and you won't find mated pairs in the shops - any Tanganyikan Cichlid keeper with a mated pair of Julies hangs on to them like grim death. If a pair DOES materialise for some reason, they cost a king's ransom compared to the juveniles.

Remember, they DON'T like being disturbed. Rearrange their rockwork during aquarium maintenance and again, you'll drive a big wedge between the happy couple, who will no longer be happy and will probably try and kill each other!

If this sounds like too much hassle, then again, perseverance pays off with these fishes. If they DO decided to split up, you have to be prepared to re-introduce the warring ex-spouses to each other (divider time) and let them pair off all over again. And hope that they will of course. But then, we ARE talking about Cichlids here, and a Genus of Cichlids that seems to take delight in making life hard for the aquarist to boot ... so you have to go into Julie keeping with your eyes well and truly open. If you do that, however, you could manage to integrate them with the Shellies, and in doing so raise a few eyebrows among people who have given up on Julies as too troublesome!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Fantastic information all!!! I'm just now getting into the size and requirements of the tangs. Very interesting indeed, and my water is perfect for them! I need to up my pH, but crushed coral should work without a problem.

Is it really a 30 gallon tank (as in 36" long) or a 29 gallon tank (30" long)? That could make a difference in stocking.

I think so. I have a 29 in my living room already and I know that it is shorter and taller than a 30.....I believe (upon eyeballing it) that this is a true 30 with 36" length. I'm really in love with the ocellatus and wither the brevis or multis. I've just got to figure out how many of each species would work in there without major problems.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

I love 36" long tanks...mine is a 33 gallon using the tank calculator on this site and I also have a 29, too. Good choice in tank sizes!

Brevis are true pair breeders from my experience, but each pair requires their own territory (it's small though). If you split the tank with a rocky formation in the middle, I'd suggest starting with 4-6 and let the pairs shake out. 2 to 3 pairs should work out in half your tank. Ocellatus like harems, so 1 male and 2 females would probably be OK on the other half the tank. With multis, 4-6 on one side is ideal. Since they're colonial, if you buy them from one source they'll all get along fine.

It sounds like a great tank no matter how you go.

Eric