New 30 gallon! W00T!

[Enki]

My friend called me up today and offered me his 30 gallon tank, glass hood and light for $20. I told him I would be right over, I know this is a good tank, it was up and running not too long ago, before my friend moved. He was going to do cichlids again when he set it up, but now has decided he is going to go reef, with a 75gallon. Since he will only allow himself one tank, he wanted to get rid of the 30 quickly, I was happy to oblige

So I think this is going to be my shellie tank! I am still going to try my DIY overflow corner wall too. I am SO excited!

 

[Allivymar]

Wish someone would offer ME a 30g with hood and lights for $20.

*jealous*

 

[William]

I paid 120 for my 30gal tank/hood/lights but I also got a stand with it.


Still, you got a better deal than me.


I'm green with envy

 

[TankGirl]

Since he will only allow himself one tank,

What? Give him my condolences....

Congratulations to you, though. This will be a perfect tank for the shellies. Which species have you decided upon?

 

[Enki]

I am going to get some Lamprologus ocellatus "Gold".
Here is an image not my own: edit: didn't work so here is the
link

There are some that have been down at the LFS for several weeks I have my eye on. They are a little pricey at ~$14 though, But I have some other fish I think I might trade in at the same time.

I ordered my filter and heater from drsfostersmith.com. Should be here early this week

 

[TankGirl]

You picked the fiesty ones! $14 does sound a bit pricey, but around here you hardly ever see a shelldweller of any type, so I would snap them up if I saw them. That tank should give them plenty of room so you can really enjoy them. What kind of substrate and shells do you have in mind?

 

[Enki]

Tankgirl your new avatar is great!

I am going to use pool filter sand, I think. It is about $10 for a cubic foot, plenty fot a 36 x 12 footprint.

Shells I don't know yet. I am hoping to find some gold mouth turbos, but I would like to spend local as much as is feasable. Relatively local to us is a sea shell shop that I am going to check out this week sometime. If no luck there, probably shellsaplenty.com

 

[TankGirl]

If you can't find anything cheaper, the best shells are the escargot shells you can get at many grocery stores, or at a gourmet market. They usually come in a plastic tube, with about a dozen of them, and they are clean and empty. I paid about $4 for the package I got here, and they are the perfect size.

I hope to have my shellies (n. multifasciatus) in about a week, and I can't wait! Next will be the tank I set up for your future ngara fry....

 

[tbonem91]

I'm sorry but what is a shellie?

 

[Enki]

Shell dwelling cichlid. They use empty snail shells for 'homes'. Lay their eggs in them, raise fry in them. They bury the shells and like to dig in the sand to 'landscape' their area to their taste.

Here is a link to a fun little video:
http://www.xdeleon.com/vatoelvis/videos/Ocellatus.wmv

 

[puffergirl]

Oh my gosh what a cute video. I sooo want some shellies now! How many can one put in a 10 gal?

 

[ferret]

You can order them online for under $5.. LFS usually charge outrageous prices for them.. The LFS derailed my plans to get some, and I never got around to ordering them online until my wife decided she wanted some goldfish.

A 10 gallon will hold an adult pair comfortably.

 

[Mr Burns]

holy crap! neat vid...i've never seen a cichlid kick up the substrate like that before! how do you keep sand like that clean? does is vacuum well? i would think that it wouldn't have enough mass to fight against the suction of a syphon....

 

[Enki]

I will tell you when I have tried it . I hear that the funk stays on the surface of the sand mostly, and that you can vacuum by hovering over the surface. It also takes practice.

I got my sand today, it looks really nice! #20 silica sand. Grains about twice the size of salt grains, mixed neutral colors blend to make a nice tan. Bag says it comes from Monterey. Test scoop looks very clean, uniform and not sharp at all. This one bag should give me almost 4 inches of sand, if I use it all.

 

[TankGirl]

You could put a male and 3 females in a 10-gal, as they are "harem" breeders. Each fish should get 2 shells.

Sand is interesting to vacuum. For the most part, the mulm stays on the top and you wave the suction end of the Python over the area and it gets sucked up, but you do get some sand down the drain if you don't trap it. I have found that when feeding algae wafers, if any wafer is on the sand at the time of vacuuming it sticks to grains of sand, which prevent the glob of leftover wafer from going up the tube. That has been my only problem with it, but in about a week I hope to get my shellies and the mollies will move out to a gravel tank, so that worry should be over. Keeping the sand stirred up is a good thing in this case, because it prevents anaerobic pockets from developing. In my other sand tank I just stir it by hand once a month or so a few minutes prior to water change. Trumpet snails help keep it aerated, as well.