I've got no personal experience but I believe shell dwelling cichlids are pretty easy to breed, stay small, and are attractive and interesting fish on top of it all. I personally bred White cloud mountain minnows on accident once.
Sometimes they can grow big, it depends on the size of their tank. If it is a bigger tank, you will get bigger fish, if it is a smaller tank, the fish will stay smaller.
yeah just like my sister's pleco only growing to ten inches because he couldn't freakin fit in the ten gallon he lived in. I do not approve of stunting fish.