Neolamprologus Multifasciatus Tank

[Always Learning]

Quite a mix of news like you said, but at least there is babies again. Would it be best to move lefty out as she might do the same to mids babies, or is it just something you are going to monitor and see how it goes?

Shame about you maybe having to give them up though too. I'd gladly buy them and keep you updated, but you're too far south for me Either way, I hope you can see the babies grow before you have to go back and claim the rewards from your hard work.

 

[kiriyama]

Sad to see you go, you'll be back on as I'm sure you'll set back up again
Would love to take the Multis, again, distance a problem, got a brand new tank just set up, I'm sure they would love it.....

Going to give the Julis to a family member who ha a larger tank, so that leaves 8 Multis and a BN Plec. Tons of excavation work again, the centre of the tank is a huge pit full of shells, some of them filled with sand(don't know if this is to stop other Multis using them?), the Murex shell is almost buried and has Escargot inide it

Hope you're feeling better now and good luck with the move and also rehoming your finned friends.........

 

[ashemely]

Quite a mix of news like you said, but at least there is babies again. Would it be best to move lefty out as she might do the same to mids babies, or is it just something you are going to monitor and see how it goes?

Shame about you maybe having to give them up though too. I'd gladly buy them and keep you updated, but you're too far south for me Either way, I hope you can see the babies grow before you have to go back and claim the rewards from your hard work.

Keep that thought, cuz I just might be willing to drive that extra way to make sure they are going to a good home with an experienced fishkeeper, and more importantly someone who will keep on takin pictures of the little ones!

Sorry Kiriyama, Scotland's a little too far for me!

 

[kiriyama]

Hi ashemely , I have asked you about identifying the sexes before, I'm still unable to do so with my ones, but can I ask you, did you notice any extra activity or aggression prior to breeding? Reason I'm asking is I have rehomed the remaining 2 Julis, the Multis have over 75% of the floor space, Plec. has a hollow log between sets of rockwork, anyways I returned home from work last night to find a HUGE pile of sand in the middle of the tank, it is covering a lot of the rockwork, to the right of this there is a HUGE pit just filled with shells, I'm guessing they must have managed to move the Escargot being lighter, to the rear and left is a really wide and deep pit all the way down to the slate and under the rockwork, also noticed they appear very aggressive to each other lately, like defending small areas etc. I picked up a fish tonic the day before, thought "what's the harm?"....
Is this sounding hopeful?

 

[ashemely]

Hi ashemely , I have asked you about identifying the sexes before, I'm still unable to do so with my ones, but can I ask you, did you notice any extra activity or aggression prior to breeding? Reason I'm asking is I have rehomed the remaining 2 Julis, the Multis have over 75% of the floor space, Plec. has a hollow log between sets of rockwork, anyways I returned home from work last night to find a HUGE pile of sand in the middle of the tank, it is covering a lot of the rockwork, to the right of this there is a HUGE pit just filled with shells, I'm guessing they must have managed to move the Escargot being lighter, to the rear and left is a really wide and deep pit all the way down to the slate and under the rockwork, also noticed they appear very aggressive to each other lately, like defending small areas etc. I picked up a fish tonic the day before, thought "what's the harm?"....
Is this sounding hopeful?

Yah, I would say that's sounding hopeful. I know I'm sounding like a broken record when I say this, but I truly believe that the multis do not like sand. I know it's fun to watch them move the sand around and what not, but once I removed the majority of the sand from my tank and the fish were able to get their shells just the way they liked them, they then felt more comfortable to start breeding, I think. After all, not having sand underneath the shells, gives a good hiding place for the little fry.

The females are territorial over their area and they will sort of nip and battle a bit. Oddly enough they nip at the male, too, but it's more of a mating ritual, I think. The difference between female battles is they will sort of flare up, like a male betta I suppose, and just stare at each other until one of the girls backs down. If they are going for a cheap shot, then they will dart into an intruding female, nip her in the side or rear and then retreat back to their home base, but not necessarily inside a shell. When the females nip the male, it's more of a nip to get the male's attention, and by the time he turns around to see who nipped him, the female is at the entrance of her shell doing a little wiggly dance. I guess if the male is interested he will then enter the shell. I would say the little wiggly dance is the next step you should be looking for.

Fingers crossed!

 

[kiriyama]

Cheers, the main activity funnily enough is the two areas where sand has been removed, i.e. the two pits, one has a pile of shels so maybe the spaces between shells could be us as hiding places like you say. Tank seems much more active since the two Julis were rehomed. I was worried as I saw lots of flicking and thought the worst but it was Multi flicking on Multi and in front of so fingers crossed. Still unable to see any physical difference, I think my Multis must have been really young when I got them, they seem to be starting to "shape up" now and have more of a shaped head, mouth etc. They were even hanging out in the Mopani wood that the Plec. lives in, bloody squatters
Got a Fishbox 48ltr , looks lovely, nice lights etc, won't be moving the Multis in there now, the big tanks theres, hopefully it will start filling up soon

 

[ashemely]

Yah, the pit with the shells in it will be their home turf. The pile of sand, will more likely be a trash dump, basically. When I very first had the multis and they used to make sand piles near the edges of the tank. Whenever I did water changes I would scoop out the big pile of sand with a fishnet. Now that the shells are on a solid surface there shouldn't be much more major landscaping, which should hopefully leave time for breeding; assuming you've got a male and female in their!

 

[kiriyama]

Yah, the pit with the shells in it will be their home turf. The pile of sand, will more likely be a trash dump, basically. When I very first had the multis and they used to make sand piles near the edges of the tank. Whenever I did water changes I would scoop out the big pile of sand with a fishnet. Now that the shells are on a solid surface there shouldn't be much more major landscaping, which should hopefully leave time for breeding; assuming you've got a male and female in their!

Spot on with the "trash dump" , lol, full of rubble and they have saved me the bother of digging out baby MTS, assasins are having a field day,

 

[ashemely]

An update, finally!

So, I know I said I would be moving to the states a long time ago, at least it feels that way, but I am finally moving in the next month. It sort of seemed like the move was going to be delayed, but then all of a sudden it was not only was the move still on, but now it's ahead of schedule! The whole tank set up is for sale, as posted in the livestock section. If I can't get any one to buy the whole set up in the next couple of weeks then, I will go ahead and just sell the fish. Sorry, but I will not post the fish, as I am uncertain on how to do so, plus I would be very concerned about the youngest batch of fry.

As for an update for the fish, all seems normal once again. Lefty is taking very good care of her fry, and they are coming along nicely. Righty is still hangin in there with her solo surviving fry, for some reason this one doesn't seem to be growing as much. Mid, on the other hand, seems to have given up on the care of her fry. For some reason, Mid decided she would move shells and pretty much ended up abandoning her fry. The fry didn't follow her to her new shell base, it's only a few inches away, but to a fry less than a quarter of an inch big, that's a long distance! I've only been able to see two at one time from Mid's batch of fry, but lately I've only counted one. My plan is to feed the powdered fry food daily, in the hopes that this will promote growth in the youngest fry, and they will survive the move when it comes.

Sorry no pics tonight, but I will take some soon.

 

[kiriyama]

Hi, have enjoyed reading and watching this thread over the last while.
I'm sure you will be able to sell up ok as more people seem to be taking an interest in Tanganyika cichlids and especially shell dwellers, moved my Multis back to the smaller tank last night and to be honest they look very happy there, am looking into another type for the main tank (only 2 or 3 though), , , .
Do you think you will get some Tangs or Multis when you are settled in and start up another journal ?