Callatya Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 OK, so here's the deal. For the last 12 months or so I have had black algae and some pretty nasty disease in my FW tanks. It has managed to get through 3 of them without so much as trying. I was getting so completely disheartened with the carcasses and wasting away that I just gave the fish to a friend (who insisted on trying to fix them) and have decided to bleach and start again with all new stock. There is a bit of a plan to diversify between tanks, not just bettas in all of them Hopefully having an established community or two will help with being able to keep quarantine protocols in place (no switching fish between tanks) Anyway, I have an AR380 tank that I'd like to pop some shellies in. From what I've read, it should be fine for a small number of multies or brevis, and out of the two, the multies seem most colourful. As luck would have it, a guy is selling some locally at $6 each. I have no idea if this is a good price, or if I should take 2 or 3 or what. A few places suggested 2 males and a female, but that sounds so wrong to me after coming from standard trops, so I really need a bit of confirmation on that. Also, are they strong swimmers? I do have larger tanks should they be needed later down the line if the population explodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 12, 2007 Report Share Posted May 12, 2007 *bump* Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2007 Well, executive decision! YES! I'm going to do it! And log it so people can yell at me if I get it wrong. I'm cleaning the tank out today, and picking up the fish next week (yay for bacterial starters!) because I've found some locally at a very good price. I'm still not sure on which way the trio should go, but I guess I'll just wing it with a bit more googling. Piccies soon :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Washing shellgrit sucks. I'm picking the fishlets up this arvo from some lovely fellow called John. I'm going to do my best impression of a helpless female and hope that he'll walk me through the whole thing So excited! my first real cichlids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 (see if he has any occelatus for sale ) Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 How'd u go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 PICTURES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 BIG LEARNING CURVE! Went out, got my grit, washed my grit, and put my grit in the tank. Went to get fish, they were in close on neutral pH with sydney sand and in with a colony of er.. somethings that breed in pots. Got back, and the tank stunk like wet chalk, so I had to strip it down again, and get sand from my SW tank, and redo the lot. 3 hours later, and three little multies are hiding in their shells Pictures tomorrow, I think they've had a big enough day today (plus I have no background yet, it looks lousy!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 What sort of grit did u get? Grit is usually just crushed shells isnt it? mabey u could try abit of coral sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Apparently they like to dig and renovate, and sand is better because of their size. Very tempted to hunt down some of that Tahitian moon sand stuff, I think Onyx will be a bit big, but black sand'd be awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 The onyx sand on special in Penrith is so fine its almost dust, i think that would be perfect and they wouldnt mind the slight raise in pH. Another thing you have to consider is not allowing these ones to get sick cause it is hard to treat tanlanikans, they are very sensitive to medicines and can just die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 *goes out to tell the fish not to get sick* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 One of them was flashing yesterday, so cross your fingers and toes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 27, 2007 Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 they are great! so, is it 2 boys and a girl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 Absolutely no idea. To me, I think it is two boys ad a juvie, but the bloke i got them from said it was a pair and a juvie, probably a male. I guess we'll know soon enough if they don't get a wriggle-on with the breeding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted May 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2007 making a black background for the setup today. Does anyone know if you can have plants with these guys? presumably they'd dig up the roots, so it'd need to be floating or weighted, but do they eat them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 28, 2007 Report Share Posted May 28, 2007 don't know, but I assume not. I have some narrow val I can split off for you, if that's the kind of stuff you're after. I also have copious duckweed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacefunk Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Absolutely no idea. To me, I think it is two boys ad a juvie, but the bloke i got them from said it was a pair and a juvie, probably a male. I guess we'll know soon enough if they don't get a wriggle-on with the breeding! How big are the fish? Generally, males grow to a max size of 1.5 - 2inches, where as the females are around the .75 - 1inch mark. Question, I noticed you're from Sydney aswell.. do you mind if I ask where you purchased the multies from? And do you know if the guy had many other shell dwellers there? I tried to PM you and ask but it didn't let me .. maybe cos im new here. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 The two larger ones are about 1.5" and the smaller one is pushing 1". They all flare and posture and carry on, but there hasn't been any actual scrapping for a while. Is there a behaviour difference? I got these from a guy in Blacktown called John that I found on ACE (the old SCP forum) which is crawling with cichlid breeders from around Sydney. He only had these and some other mid-sized cichlid colony. Pet shop wise, I think Lams and Parramatta have the multies, and I think St George probably has ocellatus, but otherwise I'm not sure. There is a breeder out at St Marys that has meleagris and black ocellatus that would be worth tracking down, he's on ACE too :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 <<< did not know someone local had meleagris. Oh well - I love my tetracanthus! And I can always make one of the other tanks a shellie tank, down the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 I told you about 8 months back when I found him, because I was looking for those for you and not me Gawd, please don't say that I did that and didn't mention, that'd be so bad Apparently he still does them, the John guy knew of him. Can't for the life of me remember his name, but I'll have a PM sitting there somewhere. *shuffles off* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 I probably just have an appalling memory. sorry Abbey!!!! *ashamed that I made Abbey feel bad* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 The two larger ones are about 1.5" and the smaller one is pushing 1". They all flare and posture and carry on, but there hasn't been any actual scrapping for a while. Is there a behaviour difference? I got these from a guy in Blacktown called John that I found on ACE (the old SCP forum) which is crawling with cichlid breeders from around Sydney. He only had these and some other mid-sized cichlid colony. Pet shop wise, I think Lams and Parramatta have the multies, and I think St George probably has ocellatus, but otherwise I'm not sure. There is a breeder out at St Marys that has meleagris and black ocellatus that would be worth tracking down, he's on ACE too I'd say it is unlikely the 2 larger ones are a pair.....pairs normally share a shell/shells...or if you give them lots of shells they will build a nest of several shells. Best give them lots of shells to play with....old mystery snail shells are best because they are relatively light and they can move them around....my lfs give me the old ones as they usually just throw them out. You don't need a lot of substrate with multies....they will just move it out of the way. Fine crushed coral/shell grit is best because it also buffers the water. I would say 6 is a good number to start with They quickly build a colony with several generations of fish so picking big ones and small ones isn't reliable way to sex juvies....but all you need is one pair to start the ball rolling! Occies are great little fish but much more aggressive than multies.....different personality and habits. www.shelldwellers.com is a great site for detailed info on shellies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted July 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Ta Rod I tend to agree, they all have very defined territories and with the toothmarks that were on #2, I'd bet they are both boys. I don't think I can fit 6. I'd like to, but floorspace doesn't really permit it. I know I should have gone with brevis, but I couldn't find any and I checked and double checked that these guys would do OK. Am already over on Mouseling's site, but haven't posted for a veeeery long time She's done a great job of it :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacefunk Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 >.< Since this thead I bought 3 more shellies (1m/2f) so I have 5 in my tanks atm (2m/3f) and they are all going pretty good. It is so frustrating though not being able to find anywhere that sells a decent range of tangs, and when you call an aquarium and they have occellatus for 50$ each, man what do they think I am seriously? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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