Shelldwellers in a 15 gallon

[Fella]

Hey!

For my birthday my girlfriend is buying me a tropical 15 gallon setup and after reading a few articles and being encouraged by cichlid owning friends I'm going to get a tank of shelldwellers!

I know I'm going to need crushed coral which isn't included in the kit, but is there anything else I'll need?


It contains -

Heater
Filter
Light


http/www.cichlidrecipe.com/shellweb/shell_intro.htm

The fish I plan to keep are

as my friend has some fry available. Will I be able to keep any other shelldwellers with them? And what about other tank mates, is that possible? This will be my first marine tank and I'm keen to give it a good shot.


That's the article I read on the subject, and have taken advice from others too, but I'm looking to see if there is anything else I need to know, as I'm keen to offer the best advice for my fish.

Thanks in advance!

Craig

 

[freddyk]

Crushed coral is an option, not a necessity. Any sand will work. The idea is to have a PH of 8 or higher and a KH of 10 or higher.

Mixing shelldwellers is not a good idea, give this tank to the ones you want to keep. You can go with some small top dwellers as tankmates, if you can find any good for a tank this size.

This will be my first marine tank and I'm keen to give it a good shot.

These are freshwater fish, not marine. I hope you're not planning on making this a saltwater setup!

 

[cometcattle]

Congrats!

Here's a great article on the Lamprologus ocellatus you are getting:
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/l_ocellatus.php

I have a breeding pair of Occies in a 10g (US). I use sand, and escargot shells.
As far as top dwellers, I did keep about 6 White Clouds in the tank, until the day I noticed the WCMMs were eating the fry that were just evicted from the shell.

I'm not sure of the footprint of your 15g tank, but I probably wouldn't keep more than a pair in that tank. Definitely only 1 male. If you have more than one male, the dominant male will drive the rest to the top of the tank.

 

[Fella]

Crushed coral is an option, not a necessity. Any sand will work. The idea is to have a PH of 8 or higher and a KH of 10 or higher.

Mixing shelldwellers is not a good idea, give this tank to the ones you want to keep. You can go with some small top dwellers as tankmates, if you can find any good for a tank this size.

This will be my first marine tank and I'm keen to give it a good shot.

These are freshwater fish, not marine. I hope you're not planning on making this a saltwater setup!

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Hahaha, why the hell did I say marine? I know cichlids aren't marine and it wasn't even late. My brain must have been elsewhere.

Yeah, the crushed coral is certainly intended to be a buffer, else I might have stuck with sand.

What sort of top dwelling tankmates can I have? Can I have a dwarf plec with maybe a bit more filtration?