Neolamprologus Multifasciatus Tank 36Gallon

[zoopkamol]

Hello looking to make my empty 36bowfront gallon tank into and shellie tank.
 
Looking to put in coral substrate to about an 1" 
have an fluval 206 filter sitting idle so i'll use that
 
my question is how many to start with? juvies? adults?(thinkin 1M:3F ratio)
 
footprint of tank 12"wide 28"long 18"tall and widest point of bow is 18"
 
Good starting point for fish numbers? shells?
 
any help is appreciated? internet has so many different ideas/specs so just confused a bit

 

[webbie]

Sonds like you got most of it about right ,filter should be fine,sexing ratios spot on as long as they are big enough to sex,if not get 6 juvies ,but you may need to rmove excess males down the line as the males can get very aggressive to one another,the only thing I  would change is the substrate,I use pool filter sand IMO  much better and cheaper than coral substrate, and only to a depth of around 1/2",they are prolific diggers and will pile sand up to 2 or 3 inches in height , pain in the backside,shells you gonna need 20 or 30 shells,sounds a lot but they do love their shells,get escargot shells off the internet,wont cost you an arm and a leg

 

[zoopkamol]

found shells already for cheap for alot of them getting 3 types of shells aprox 75 total for around 80$ with shipping(need shells for my hermit crabs anyways)
doing coral sand to buffer my water to higher PH or i would do pool sand. Trying to find breeder/supplier in my area. tough find here. Icould do a mix of pool sand/coral too.
Im sure once I get started on these little guys I'll upgrade to a 125+ gallon tank for them.....I always say go big or dont do it hence why I got 2 huge tanks now.

 

[webbie]

Lots of differing opinions of the ability of coral sand to buffer the water,do you know the pH of your water? Kh and GH are as important to tangs as pH and both of them can be raised by adding baking soda and Epsom salts,I also add seachem African lake salts

 

[zoopkamol]

ya PH is around 7.5 and hardness i need to check still. checked a few times before but dont recall degrees of hardness...just know was classifies as moderately hard.
gonna place my  shell order next week.
 
might have found a fellow shellie in town here waiting on callback to see if has some willing to part with.