Where can I get some multis?

[unmphysics]

Hi all, Im new to the forum, but have been reading things for several weeks now. Ive been a fish guy for over a year now, but recently decided to try for a cichlid tank. As of right now my 30gal tank has a biowheel170 with a 50-50 mix of sand and some "african cichlid rock" substrate. I also have about 40 lbs of rocks for some decoration. there is a ~2.5" red zebra, a 2" pseudotropheus ____, a 1.5" n. tret., a 2" pleco, and a half dozen .75" tiger barbs (for dithering).

Now for the question (thanks for bearing with me)... I want to add some shell-dwellers to the tank and have decided on multis. The problem is where can i get these fish? I went to my local pet store and they said they could order them for me, but it is going to cost $25-$30 per fish...and i want 6-8 of them. Of course I would like to get F0 or F1 fish..preferrably from different colonies (for diversity). If anyone has any suggestions or a weblink to an online cichlid store, I would really appreciate it!

-Jason
Albuquerque, NM

Picture of the tank with the first fish....red zebra

 

[Flippin'thing bit me eye]

You sure you wanna mix Malawi's with Tanganyikans

 

[unmphysics]

Well Ive already mixed some so im not worried about it now...i have the tret in the tank. the red zebra i already have in the tank is from my gf. she has had the zebra for 6 months and needed to find a bigger tank for her.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Hate to tell you, but you are going to pay between $20-25.00 for FO multies.

.5" fry go for around $6-8.00 each and the price for those go up for F1.

Try doing a search using Tanganyikan shelldwellers and you should be bombarded with links to online retailers who carry these.

If not let me know and I will dig out some of my old suppliers lists and see what's in the general area which will help cut down on shipping costs.

CM

 

[unmphysics]

Well i found several places online to purchase them...but of course the minimum order is somewhere around $150. I found one place in texas (one state over) that is selling Neolamprologus multifasciatus Chaitika F0 medium sized for 12.50, and small F1 for 7.50. Im not sure of this subspecies (didnt even know there was one)...can anyone tell me something about it. btw, the this is where they are selling them.

 

[cichlidmaster]

That is a very good price!! I don't remember Armke's minimum being that high....they must have raised it.

Of course I haven't checked the African trade much lately either so............

One of the drawbacks is most of the online retailers have such a minimum. The amounts however vary from $50.00 on up.

We do not have a minimum, however we do not deal in Africans any longer.

Good luck and I hope you find your fish.

Hey....if I am not mistaken a member here who goes by "Letters" I think is breeding multies.

Why not send him a PM and see. Can't hurt.

CM

 

[juanveldez]

I don't even remember them having a minimum price that high either I got some fish from them and when everything was all done I spent 131 dollars, they are good to deal with I am very pleased with the fish that I have.

PS: I just went to armkes and they say right on the site that they don't have a minimmum order.

 

[cichlidpersonality]

you guys are getting ripped off, my cichlid dealer has f0 1"+ multis for 8.50 each, and he has AMAZING shipping rates, and no minimum order that i know of.

i can talk to him if you want. he has really nice quality fish, i stalked my whole 55 from him and all the fish are great.

 

[unmphysics]

Sorry about the confusion, but you guys are right. Armkes doesnt have a minimum, but every other place i could find...did have a minimum. thats why i only posted the armkes prices ... theyre the only ones in my grad student income price range

and ill be sure to PM "letters"

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

sorry cm i'm all sold out of multi's at the moment can u beleive that, lol multi's w/ NO MORE FRY, lol. actually the only shell dweller fry that i even have at the moment are about 20 n. caudo. im still tryin to get them WC brevis to give me some fry but just when i thought i had it we lost power for 8 LONG DAYS cause of isabella!!! and i think 8 days w/ no lights, food, or filters kinda killed the mood well if i see some fry i'll let u know and see if u found them yet. It took me a good 4 months to get my colony. but it was well worth it!!!! peace......

 

[cichlidmaster]

Just thought I would try to throw some biz your way letters!!

CM

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

lol no CM i don't mind at all, in fact i am personally giving u permission to throw as much bussiness my way as u see fit i appreciate it and trust me, nobody is more SHOCKED than me that i don't have multi fry!!!! 3 pairs of adult multifasciatus and NO FRY sigh. everything was goin good untill that stupid hurricane. The stress on the fish from 8 days pretty much ended any chances of fry any time soon. I had SOOOO much algae growing in my multifasciatus tank that i just left because they seemed to like it, and becase everytime i ever bred my multi's i would just suddenly see a couple quater in fry out of nowhere so the algae gave them something to eat untill they were spotted and well algae requires light too and after 8 days of no light in a tank where 3 sides of glass and pretty much all 40some shells were covered in green algae, well i think u can figure it out i had to re-do the entire tank completely!!! and JUST WHEN THEY WERE SETTLING IN they had just moved all the shells into 3 piles touching the glass w/ sand mounds separating ea. pair, and pile. I hated to do it, but, well, the condition it was in i think it was for the best Hopefully i'll have some fry soon, and i'd be glad to let u know. One thing i'd like to add tho about mixing tangs and malawi, although i don't make a habit of doing so myself, if ANY shelldweller can make out in a tank w/ some mbuna i'd definately have to say a colony of n. multifasciatus could, lol, cause when they are fully settled into the tank and have nice defined territories i worry about losing a finger or two during cleanings peace..........

 

[unmphysics]

Thanks for the help guys. cichlidpersonality pointed me to another place that has F0 multis for for a low price...plus have low shipping...ill have to check into it more closely. seems too good to be true. how is neptuneaquatics.com? anyone else ordered from them?

well i hope the multis i do end up getting ARE macho enough to handle the two malawis (which i might say are quite timid) . In fact the red zebra and tret seem like pals Ill have to move some rocks around to give me area on the bottom for the multis.

btw, how much area (like in sq. inches) do multis like for a colony of ~10 or so. i hope to eventually have two colonies going strong


and one more fun note: i just fed live brine shrimp to my guys for the first time ever! (ive always used frozen) They loved the stuff...it was cool to see them hunting the brine shrimp that made it to the caves