Multies shell dweller tankmate

[ThomasStan]

Hi all! I'm currently trying to plan out a tank for some Multies, and I've been doing some research on potential tankmates.

A lot of the tank mates I find are other cichlids that won't fit in my 20g with the malties or livebearers which I don't want to have in that specific tank.

I'm not sure what my other options are, I'm looking for something that could serve as a centrepiece and can work well with the multies, If I am unable to find something I guess I'll have to keep it as a species-only tank.
Cheers!

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website (Water Analysis Report) or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

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I wouldn't keep common livebearers with cichlids, the livebearers are regularly infested with intestinal worms and will pass them onto the cichlids. If you deworm the fish first then that is fine but if you don't deworm them, there is a good chance they will infect the cichlids.

If the tank is big enough, you could get a group of Cyprichromis leptosoma or Paracyprichromis nigripinnis.

 

[ThomasStan]

I did some googling and found my water hardness was at 115 - 128, the unit was mg/L (On a separate website not the city analytics so it may be incorrect)
No information on KH or pH of the water in the analytics, I will have to check with a LFS later

Otherwsie, the tank dimensions are 24.125 in L x 12.5 in W x 16.75 in H.
Also for C leptosoma and P nigripinnis, my research tells me they need to be in groups of 8, I'm assuming they won't do well in that tank size with the Multies, Is there anything else that could live alone?

 

[Colin_T]

Your water is too soft for Rift Lake cichlids and you will need to add a Rift Lake water conditioner to increase the GH to 350-400ppm (mg/L).

The tank is too small for Cyprichromis and Paracyprichromis so I would just have the shell dwellers in there and leave it at that.

 

[ThomasStan]

Thank you! I’ll keep it that way + get the conditioner

 

[Beastije]

I used to have shelldwellers in a softer water with lot of calcium stones that stabilized it a bit, but it was never too hard. I had my shelldwellers with danios for few years and harlequin rasboras, bred in harder water as well for other few years. Both worked well. I used to have cyprichromis as well and they need super large schools and more than 120 cm of length. Usual fish, checked to withstand the sligthly harder water (as multies can do with slightly harder) were not a bad way to go. Multies are either too shy when alone, or too territorial, so beware, since I had them alone in the tank for 5 months and then they had big issues letting go of the upper tank space they considered "theirs" and viciously chased other fish out despite the tank being 60 cm high.