After An Interesting Fish

[ant0]

The tank: 24X12X12 60 litres (15 gallons)

Present stocking:
9X neon tetra
2X molly
1X guppy
1X freshwater shrimp

I'm using a mixtures of sand/ gravel with driftwood and plants. There is also a decent ammount of swimming space. The tank has been up and running for 2-3months now

I was thinking of the Lamprologus similis, as shown here

I have a couple of Qs:

1.) Do these have to be kept in a group?
2.) Would my tank house 2-3 of these?
3.) Has anyone owned them before, how much do they dig?
4.) Would they get on okay with my shrimp?

I've done some research and they seem suited to my water conditions - PH 7.5, hard, 25 degrees C

Thanks for any help

 

[jamie2010]

iv got a breeding pair of pelvicachrimis taeniatue(nigerian red) iv been trying to re-home.i bet you want those instead.

 

[ant0]

what about one of these: link

 

[dwarfgourami]

I am not at all a cichlid person, so please stop me if I'm totally wrong, but I would have thought that the shellies would be far too aggressive for a guppy, mollies and neons to coexist happily with. I have heard of people keeping them successfully with Ameca splendens, but then the goodeid is quite a big tough fish and guppies aren't. Also, livebearers and neons appreciate some plant cover, which would be difficult to combine with ideal shellie setup. And I doubt if neons would really enjoy the same water conditions as shellies. Still, it's the aggression that would worry me.

Besides, isn't that tank pretty well fully stocked already?

 

[Ferris]

dwarfgourami is spot on, shellies are not community fish and should be kept in a species only tank. Shellies may be small but they are still cichlids and therefore still too aggressive for neon's etc, not to mention the different water condtions and dietary requirements.

It's a non-starter i'm afraid.

 

[Griz]

I completely agree. Similis (or any shell dweller) in that tank has exacty 0% chance of success.

Take a look at dwarf New World cichlids instead for something that would be compatable. Although I'm not sure you have the space to be honest.