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Ah, those are cuties, and high up on my wish list.

-Molly
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In a 10 gal, I would highly recomend against any other fish in the tank, unless they were top swimmers only. As when these little guys breed, they are extremely agresive towards intruders that come too close to their shells. They will even bite the hand of the feeder if you place it to close to them and their shells. Though it does not hurt you or I, other fish will not feel the same way. I highly suggest you get at least a 20 gal if you are thinking about keeping these fish with other fish. And then, place all their shells over in one corner of the tank, so their territory only expands there.

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There is always a bigger fish...

not sure if it will be 10 or 20 gallons, I am tryin to talk them into a 20 but they are trying to convince me "oh we dont really need a big tank 10 is fine..."

I was like "10 is SO limiting!"

i'm working on it

In 10 or 20 gallons? It's certainly possible, but I wouldn't highly recommend it. However, a tank of, say, L. ocellatus "gold" is pretty eye-catching.

-Molly
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while we're on the topic of shellies, is there anything you can keep with them in a 10-20 gal tank? I am looking to set up a tank for my mom at her cat boarding place, so the size depends on what I can talk them into... only thing is while a shellie tank would certainly be interesting, its not the most eye-catching thing i could do for her.

thanks.

OK, I just see Trets much more and they look a lot more like Fronts. In any case, of course neither would work, I think we've covered that point.

They could live in caves, but I don't recommend it. They're built to live in shells; keeping them without means they can't use have of their behaviors, so you miss those behaviors and they don't function as efficiently. It would be rather like keeping mbuna in a tank with no rocks; people do it, but that doesn't make it right.

-Molly
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Some will. Many breeders actually don't like the shells and use small PVC with an end cap on it. They use the elbows. The reason some don't like the shells, as the fish can actually, if scared, shoot into the shells so quickly and hard, that they get too far up into it, and they get stuck and die.

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There is always a bigger fish...

cool, thanks for helping.

What would happen if I put the shellies in the tank with no shells? Would they breed and hide in little rock caves?

Mousling, he said the ones he was asking about, kinda looked like the ones in the link, not that those where the ones he was looking for


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There is always a bigger fish...

Hey guys.

I have a 10g tank with a sand substrate.

I have seen posts with people who have shell dwellers in 10g tanks.

I want to do this, but i know nothing about those little guys.

What kind of shells do they like? Do they like salt in their tanks?

Can I keep them in complete FW?

I like the ones that look like mini frontosa chiclids, how many of them can I fit in a 10g? (if they can even fit)

Thanks, im sure there are more ?'s comming up.

Actually my favorites are the L signatus. I had a breeding pair for a long time, and loved these little guys. Waiting on a friend to breed some he got from me, so I can start up another little happy family. The odd thing is, the irrodescent colors look more like they should be west Africans instead of rift lake fish.

The female is just under the male;


a female


fry;


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There is always a bigger fish...

But the link was for Trets, not sexfasciatus, although I admit I've seen the latter advertised as a shellie and not the former.

(Not that Trets are by any means appropriate for a 10 gal but I mentioned that above).

Last edited by LittleMousling at 14-Nov-2004 18:38

-Molly
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As I figured, you were thinking of the Lamprologus sexfasciatis;



Gold veriety;


Either way, these fish will not go into a 10 gal tank.

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There is always a bigger fish...

See, similis are just the best. A pair of similis would do very well in a ten. I warn you, however, they're not as easy to find.

-Molly
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I think that similis looks nice.

[font color="#C00000"]WHOA! Sorry, I though you meant Multis!

Trets DEFINITELY cannot go in a 10.[/font]

But, multis are cute little fish:


And there's a closely related similis that's even cuter, IMO:


Other popular species that can go in 10 gals (pick one species only, of course) include ocellatus:


Brevis:


And meleagris:


Among others.[/font][/font][/font][/font][/font]

Last edited by LittleMousling at 14-Nov-2004 17:56

-Molly
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the fish kinda look like this:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=965

Are there any shell dwellers that look like that but can fit in a 10 gallon tank?

Acually, if the list isnt long, what shell dwellers can fit in a 10g?

My LFS has things that look like clams, but they are more oval shaped, and have kinda irridescent colors.

Do shell dwellers just spend their time in the shells, and never come out?

Also, what if I dont provide shells? Do they ABSOLUTLY need them? I could probably bild a cave for them.

I just hope you are meaning Lamprologus multifasciatis as the ones that look like the mini fronts. Because if you are looking at the Lamprologus sexfaciatus (Look exactly like small fronts) because their genus name is Lamprologus, then no, they will not go well in a 10 gal tank, for multiple reasons. Not all Lamprologus, nor Neolamprologus genus are "shellies".

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There is always a bigger fish...

10g with sand sounds like a great shellie tank waiting to happen.
They like all kinds of shells; personally I like escargot shells, which gourmet shops and upscale groceries often carry, but other choices include empty apple snail shells, hermit crab turbo shells, and even PVC elbows with caps on the end.
Salt, no. However, if you naturally have acidic, soft water, cichlid salts may be the safest bet to keep the pH, gh, and kh up. If your water is fairly hard and basic, crushed coral in the filter out to be enough.
They're freshwater fish, so complete freshwater is ideal, yup.
I think you mean multifasciatus with the "mini frontosa" thing - multis are a GREAT choice for a ten gal. If you start with a trio, they'll soon fill the tank with fry.

-Molly
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