My Shell Dweller Journey

[Salam]

Just a quick update - No more fish deaths and the two occies are as happy as ever, each in their own shell bed It confirmed that it isn't the water or anything else, but them two being the most aggressive ones who killed the others by stressing them out. I will return them this week for sure.

So, back to the drawing board. Lufbramatt has really sold me Brevis on the first page of this thread. I really like to try them instead. Do I need shells or are my 15 enough? Should I get six again and see who pairs up so I hopefully end up with two pairs?

On the juli side - all four are still fine and I think I am having a pair develop. There is one very large one, one small one and two medium sized ones. The two medium sized ones seem to be together every time I see them. How do I know for sure that they have paired up? Any particular behaviour to look out for? If they are a definite pair I will also return the other two as I only wanted one juli pair.

 

[Lufbramatt]

Shame the occies didn't work out Brevis only use one shell per fish, with mine, even if there was a shell next to the "main" shell, they will never go in it . . . and when they pair they only use one shell per pair, with the female always going in first and the male second.

I had 2 males and 2 females in a 29gallon tank and the males were ok with each other, little bit of sparring now and then but never actually injured each other. It seems you're better off with more males than females with brevis, as the males can look after themselves but the excess females get picked on by paired males and females who don't want them in their territory.

I've moved one of the pairs back into the 29 from the big tank to see if I can get some more babies- I'm sure they were breeding in the big tank but I think the syno catfish were taking the eggs+ fry as the male brevis would get mysterious injuries every 10-14 days, which I can only put down to him fighting away the catfish in the night.

Also its pretty easy to tell male and female brevis apart once they get to about 1.5 inches long- if they are the same age, males are significantly bigger than females- my males are twice the size of the females- and males have a more vertical jaw line and chunkier features.

 

[Salam]

That sounds promising regarding brevis. The problem is going to be that they are probably still young and they won't be able to sex them for me. Should I just get 4 then and hope for the best?

 

[gregswimm]

I think you might have the same problem with the brevis.... Its not about the amount of shells they use its about the size territory they require. You really cannot go wrong with multies.

 

[Salam]

Looks like it is going to be multis anyway. Just spoke to the fish dealer and he can get me multis no problem, but no brevis. So, how many shells would I need?

 

[gregswimm]

Multies are a lot of fun. They are skidish to external tank movement for the first wk i had mine, but the warm up nicely. You could probably fit 6-10 easy in that tank. But you will need more shells, they like a 'shell bed'. natural multi habitat

 

[Salam]

Blimmin heck! That's a lot of shells
Will get some more for them. He could get them for next Tuesday so I got time to return the others. I think I will go with 8.

 

[Salam]

Blimmin heck! That's a lot of shells
Will get some more for them. He could get them for next Tuesday so I got time to return the others and get more shells. I think I will go with 8 multis.

 

[Salam]

I got 15 shells at the moment, bought from here: http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15-X-LARGE-ESCARGOT-SHELLS-FOR-CICHLIDS-AQUARIUM-/270998178035?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3f18c008f3#shId

How many more should I get? 15 - 30 - 45?

 

[Lufbramatt]

My 29 has the same footprint as a 20 long and they were fine in there, which is smaller than this tank. They just flared at each other with a bit of push and shove now and then, never saw any real fights. Tbh they're a bit boring now they're not in the same tank! Lol

 

[gregswimm]

45

 

[Salam]

Thanks! Will get some more shells then.

 

[Salam]

Occies are returned Shame it didn't work out, but after reading that link that I posted I didn't want to get any more of them.

I ordered more shells on ebay which were marked as dispatched yesterday and my multis should also be here by the weekend, so a fresh start.

 

[Salam]

Occies are returned Shame it didn't work out, but after reading that link that I posted I didn't want to get any more of them.

I ordered more shells on ebay which were marked as dispatched yesterday and my multis should also be here by the weekend, so a fresh start.

 

[Salam]

So, I got a fresh start to my tank. The shells arrived yesterday and in the evening I picked up my multis. I got 7 of them, there weren't any more, but I am sure they will start breeding soon and I will be overrun with fry in no time.

They have settled in well. There was a bit of aggression (but nothing compared to the occellatus) between the big julii and a couple of the multis, but generally it is much more peaceful now. The multis are definitely so much calmer with each other, but still nice to watch. Will try and snap some pictures of the updated tank later.