Shell Dwellers

[Ron]

Alright,
Well, on a differant site somebody told me to get some shell dwellers for my 15 gallon tank. Well, the 15 gallon didn't work out, it had a leak and silicone couldn't fix it. So I bought a 10 gallon instead. Now I was on Aquabid the other day and saw Shell Dwellers for sale. (N. Multis) I gave the seller an email asking some quetions and he said that my set up would be great! So I bidded on them. $5 a piece + $14 for shipping. The seller told me that I could get up to 20 in my 10 gallon tank, but recomended 8 or 10 to start out with. Do you have any suggestions on how many I should get? Also, can you tell me a little more about them? I have a general idea, but it's still kinda fuzzy. I hope to breed them then sell the fry. What foods do they eat, what kind of filteration do they like, what temps do they like, ext ext. Thanks so much, I can't wait to get these guys!!

 

[fish_r_great]

1. I feed mine special cichlid food but they will eat lots of other stuff such as algae tablets and algae they will also eat brine shrimp and lots of other food. They aren'y picky.
2. All you really need for filtration is a penguin for a 10 gallon
3. 78 degrees for the temp
4. 7.5 - 8.5 for the Ph and they like hard water
5. Probably only 4-5 but you might want a 2nd opinion

 

[fish_r_great]

Oh yeah
Its full name is Neolamprologus multifasciatus
If you wanted to stay true to the inch per gallon rule you'd only be able to keep 7 but I read about people keeping 50 in a 10 gallon with no problems.

HTH and Good Luck

 

[Ron]

Thanks a lot!! You've been a great help! I think I'm going to go with 8 and let the colony grow from there. After I get too many fry I want to sell them on Aquabid. Also, I hear they don't need decor in the tank, just shells. is this correct? Could I put a few live plants in there or would they destroy the root systems with all their digging? Thanks,
Ronald

 

[fish_r_great]

Use shells that are not coated with anything harmful to fish and they should be an 1" wide and 2" deep. They don't really need anything but shells but you might want to add other decor for your veiwing pleasure. Also use sand because they prefer this to gravel and you'll be able to get the whole feel of this fish. As far as plants go maybe just get a few cheap plants to try it out.

HTH You live in Wisconsin too who else does? Anybody?

 

[Ron]

Cool, Cheeseheads! I live in Stevens Point, where do you live? I'm getting Gold Mouth Turbo Snail Shells from the seller at $.75 a piece. I'll try some live plants, see how it goes. Thanks

 

[fish_r_great]

Rhinelander. I'm getting shelldwellers too but can't find any shells. Hermit Crab shells?
I'm ordering the Africans in my sig

Goodluck!!

 

[Ron]

Rhinelander? Aesome! My Uncle and Aunt both teach there! (and live there) My uncle teaches at the High School and Aunt at Cresent Elementry. I go there all the time.
I just emailed the seller. If I buy 8 of them he'll throw in 2 for free. Also, he'll sell me 20 shells fro $10.

 

[fish_r_great]

I went to crescent what are there last names?
Great deal!! I'm ordering mine from Foster and Smith since I work there and get a 33% discount in June

 

[JeremyD]

I would not put that many in a 10g.........Stick to 3-5 of them. More then that and you are definately asking for problems.

As for shells, escargot shells work excellent!

 

[fish_r_great]

Males only get to 1.5 inches and females get to 1" out of the 5 articles I read about them in 5 minutes 3 said more than 10 was okay in a 10 gallon.

 

[Ron]

Yea, this seller had 20 of them in there. If I only get 1 or 2 males I think It's be fine.

 

[JeremyD]

Males only get to 1.5 inches and females get to 1" out of the 5 articles I read about them in 5 minutes 3 said more than 10 was okay in a 10 gallon.

You can beleive what you read in articles, or follow other peoples expereince. I have kept many different species of shell dwellers over the years; everything from neolam. multifasciatus, neolam. brichardi, neolamp. occellatus, etc. I would NEVER keep more than 5 in a 10g. Even with multi's, the smallest of them all, any more than 2 males with 2 breeding territories is going to cause some major fighting. Even with 2 pairs or trios in a tank, I've often had to seperate out a male.


Do what you will though, its not my money.......

 

[Ron]

A friend of mine that I've known for a while on another board has almost 50 multifasciatus in his 10 gallon tank. A mixture of newly hatched fry, older fry and adults. The seller has more than 20 multi's in his tank. And I've read where somebody has kept 6 multi's in a 3 gallon. I'm getting 10 to start off and just let the fry grow up in there. Plus, 10 gallon and 15 gallon tanks are less than $10 so I can easily get more for when I get too much fry.

 

[JeremyD]

A friend of mine that I've known for a while on another board has almost 50 multifasciatus in his 10 gallon tank. A mixture of newly hatched fry, older fry and adults. The seller has more than 20 multi's in his tank. And I've read where somebody has kept 6 multi's in a 3 gallon. I'm getting 10 to start off and just let the fry grow up in there. Plus, 10 gallon and 15 gallon tanks are less than $10 so I can easily get more for when I get too much fry.

50 is just insane. Thats over stocking no matter what species you are talking about.





If you insist on getting a bunch, there are a few things you should do...

#1. Make sure you have enough filtration. A typical filter made to handle a 10g tank will not be enough. There will be a heavy bio-load and you need to be prepared to handle it.

#2. Make sure you divide up the tank well enough. Group the shells together in different places, clearly divided with plantings and large rocks. The fish that get picked on are gonna need places to hide and get away. Not to mention defending males will fight to the death of their territories are too close together and not clearly enough divided.