Lamprologus Similis

[Wills]

Hi there - I set up a fry tank for my HRPs about a month ago - however the parents wont let me catch them and the babies disappear into the plants and wood and ive managed to get 10 out of about 40-50 so im going to put those babies back in the main tank and let the parents care for them till they are big enough for sale which should be in about 4-5 weeks (i think)

But that leaves me with an empty 10g and was thinking about making a small shell dweller tank out of it in particular Lamprologus Similis which I saw at an LFS the other day, do you think these would be suitable? Or can you recommend me any other suitable shell dwellers? I know I can only have 1 male but I am unsure of how many females to have at a guess Im thinking maybe 3 females to the one male? Or could I go for 4 females? Or would i only be able to have a trio in there? To be honest I would prefare all female so I dont get more babies lol is this an option or do they need a male to keep them in check?

Thanks Wills

 

[Cichlid_Crazy]

Never kept shell dwellers before...(or seen them!) but a 10g tank will be a nightmare to maintain for anything IMO...but then at teh same time...when it coems to these fish i dont knwo what im talking about

 

[Wills]

nah ive had this tank years with a few different sets of inhabitants its no different than a big tank as long as you keep on weekly maintenance

 

[lalo99]

Should be fine. I would go with a pair or a trio at most. You have to allow for growth of the colony.

 

[Wills]

ah right so as they breed you keep the offspring? I had assumed I would have to get rid of them in someway?

 

[lalo99]

ah right so as they breed you keep the offspring? I had assumed I would have to get rid of them in someway?

They will form a colony and allow their young to stay with them. Just make sure there are plenty of shells. Of course you will have to sell some eventually. But you will have a while before you have to worry about getting rid of some..

I would recommend using sand as a substrate. They like to bury their shells. If you keep up on the water changes you should be fine.

 

[Wills]

Cool thankyou for all the help so far - at the moment we are debating between these or some dwarf puffers - going to visit some LFS tomorrow to decide and hopefully reserve one of the two.

With these cichlids how do we raise the Ph? I was going to use a substrate to do that but if regular sand is better will the shells do it sufficiently? My natural tap water is around 7.4 though in my other tank which is planted with lots of wood I have a Ph of around 7 or just bellow.

Thanks again Wills

 

[lalo99]

Cool thankyou for all the help so far - at the moment we are debating between these or some dwarf puffers - going to visit some LFS tomorrow to decide and hopefully reserve one of the two.

With these cichlids how do we raise the Ph? I was going to use a substrate to do that but if regular sand is better will the shells do it sufficiently? My natural tap water is around 7.4 though in my other tank which is planted with lots of wood I have a Ph of around 7 or just bellow.

Thanks again Wills

Adding crushed coral to the filter will help bring the ph up. If the tap is 7.4 then the addition of crushed coral in the filter should be enough. Even at 7.4 you should be fine. Baking soda and epsom salts will aslo help keep the water hard with a high ph. You shouldnt need much if any at all.

 

[dthoffsett]

You can also use aragonite sand as your substrate which will help raise the ph and kh.