Shellies Question

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Gavilb

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I have just bought 4 brevis shellies. They are in a large tank by themselves. The problem is I think 3 are male and only 1 female - and the female wont come out from hiding amongst a pile of rocks. Will she ever come out? or do i need to buy a couple more females?

thanks
 
i dont no anything about them but i would buy a couple more females so she isnt getting harrased by all 3 males im not an expert on them though mind but that is what i would do
 
did you just buy them in a batch out of a tank?

buying only 3 is no way to get better male to female ratios. it's kinda common sense.
buy about 4-5 more making sure of course you also have a HUGE amount of shells for all of them.
you DO have shells right?
 
ive got 4 in total - just bought randomly from a store. Turns out that 3 are male and 1 female - i have about 30 escargot shells scattered around with rocks at either end, sand substrate. will 3m 1f be a problem??
 
sounds like an excellent shell number!!!!! shell condos! LOL sometimes they'll share a shell, sometimes they wont.

as for male to female ratio....if their in a large tank (you haven said how big) then perhaps you could buy 2 more little girls to even up the numbers, the ones that dont pair off i'd take back as they will get beat up if and when spawning begins.
 
the tank is 100 cm long, 40 cm deep and 50 cm high. Its 180 litres (UK). I will go back tomorrow and see if i can get a couple of females. The problem is the shopkeeper isnt sure which is which! and im not an expert.

thanks for your help :hyper:
 
I believe that these are sexually monomorphic, ie male and female look the same. In a 180l you could have quite a large colony as they only reach 2inches. What else are you planning on adding to the tank?
 
Each fish should have 2-3 shells so they have a choice.
I actually am in the same situation as you,
For brevis the males will grow alot larger than the females abour 3 inches Vs 1.5.
One of my smaller fish turned out to be a male, hes currently separated because the two big males were beating him up.

I wouldn't worry about the female getting beaten up, because they should pair up (when they do the male and female might share a shell, or live in shells next to each other, usually something like that). Once they pair up the male will defend the female and his territory from the other males.

And when i say defend i also mean kidnapp and control. My male will push the female into their shell at the slighest sign of danger. It'll take a couple days for your couple to be comfortable enough for the female to come out often. I've had mine for about a month now, and the female is out a lot of the time, but the slightest sign of motion by someone else (lol they get to recognise their owner) and she disappears. Just give them time to settle in.
 
thanks for all the info!

I will leave them a week or so and see if the female settles in....
I was planning on getting something like cyps for the top half of the tank - unless anyone has a better idea?!
 
thanks for all the info!

I will leave them a week or so and see if the female settles in....
I was planning on getting something like cyps for the top half of the tank - unless anyone has a better idea?!

How can you be sure that you have 3 males and 1 female? Just from the one hiding? Let the m settle in and I'm sure all will become clearer. You may only be able to end up with two pairs at each end once they pair off.

For a 100cm tank I would get a small group of Paracyps (nigrippinis or brieni). Say 6 or 7. (2m 5f if poss) Cyps really need a 4ft tank or larger as they need more swimming room. Also one or two bristlenose would be good.

SHould be an interesting tank! :good:
 

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