TheCommunityCichlid
Aquarium Advice Addict
Last GCCA swap here in chicago someone donated these guys to the silent auction. They were labeled as Malawi Shell Dweller, which instantly had my attention. So I bid and kept a watchful eye and no one else bid.... So I won five of them for $3!!! Well that day I bought a bunch of fish and put the dwellers into my show tank and they did just fine with the big boys in there, but my plan for my 36 gallon didn't work out so I transformed it into a "tanganyikan" tank.
But I decided to put these guys in the 36 and see how they did without the bigger peacocks and mbuna from my mixed 125 gallon, so I guess its not truly a tang tank since the shellies are Malawian. I was unsure of taking them out since I confused them with Metriaclima Lanisticola which grow bigger but are also known as malawi shell dweller. The pictures weren't matching though so I kept looking.
Turns out they are the rarer Maylandia Livingstonii! I tried to find info on these guys but they are not very popular and a lot of the info is not good. Many people say they are the same as the lanisticola but they look totally different. Finally found some sources and these guys are awesome. The max out at around 2.5" and do inhabit shells. Their dorsal fin at the right angel lights up yellow like a highlighter. From my understanding this helps tell others that the shell is occupied. Their behavior is very interesting they are very active but not aggressive to tankmates at all and pretty tolerant of each other too. They love the shells but do not stick to them like tanganyikans do, they have no problem exploring the open water or hanging in the rocks. Also they are not diggers like the tang cousins, not a single grain of sand has been moved around.
Tank is at 80 degrees, ph 8.0, feeding no problem on 1mm Thera A, so far these guys are making a promising start to one of my favorite cichlids.
But I decided to put these guys in the 36 and see how they did without the bigger peacocks and mbuna from my mixed 125 gallon, so I guess its not truly a tang tank since the shellies are Malawian. I was unsure of taking them out since I confused them with Metriaclima Lanisticola which grow bigger but are also known as malawi shell dweller. The pictures weren't matching though so I kept looking.
Turns out they are the rarer Maylandia Livingstonii! I tried to find info on these guys but they are not very popular and a lot of the info is not good. Many people say they are the same as the lanisticola but they look totally different. Finally found some sources and these guys are awesome. The max out at around 2.5" and do inhabit shells. Their dorsal fin at the right angel lights up yellow like a highlighter. From my understanding this helps tell others that the shell is occupied. Their behavior is very interesting they are very active but not aggressive to tankmates at all and pretty tolerant of each other too. They love the shells but do not stick to them like tanganyikans do, they have no problem exploring the open water or hanging in the rocks. Also they are not diggers like the tang cousins, not a single grain of sand has been moved around.
Tank is at 80 degrees, ph 8.0, feeding no problem on 1mm Thera A, so far these guys are making a promising start to one of my favorite cichlids.
