Menagerie
Aquarium Advice Addict
My fiancé and I are up to six tanks.
Why?
Last month we bought two N. brichardi and put them in the community tank. They didn’t belong there, but I was listening to my fiancé instead of researching . Then I fell for shellies and we decided to do a Tang biotope. After purchasing the N. multifasciatus and putting them in the 29 gal with the brichardi, problems arose. The brichardi were very interested in their new tank mates and the shellies would swim around will-nilly and NOT hide in their shells. There were two shells per shellie, but these fish were more interested in being nipped by the getting-meaner-by-the-minute brichardi. If only the shellies would turn to the brichardi and tell them URAJRKPLSGOAWAY, my problem would have been solved! Not only that, one shellie took up residency on the sponge covering the filter intake (no shells up there) and one decided to live below the filter intake (again—no shells!). We put in a tank divider and hit the books. Nowhere does it say shellies will lose their minds and not hide in their shells when being chased . However, I did discover that if brichardi were mating, they would take over an entire tank. Hmmmm. How did I get so lucky (these fish were picked randomly from a larger group and there is no sexual dimorphism)? I do not keep fish so they can make babies (except the Mollies, but that is a food source and they are not territorial; heck--they haven't even lived up to their end of the bargain yet!)!!! I’m not 100% sure the brichardi are an item, but they are awfully close and do everything together.
I spent all evening moving fish around. My tanks went from:
80 Gallon Mbuna Cichlid Tank (and one confused Blue Acara)
50 Gallon Community Tank
29 Gallon Lake Tanganyika biotope
20 gal BW Tank (not yet)
10 Gallon Badis badis Hex Tank (with a lone Badis)
to the way they are listed in my sig.
Someone hit me if I ever listen to my fiancé’s advice about fish in the future (FYI--he got me into this hobby ).
Why?
Last month we bought two N. brichardi and put them in the community tank. They didn’t belong there, but I was listening to my fiancé instead of researching . Then I fell for shellies and we decided to do a Tang biotope. After purchasing the N. multifasciatus and putting them in the 29 gal with the brichardi, problems arose. The brichardi were very interested in their new tank mates and the shellies would swim around will-nilly and NOT hide in their shells. There were two shells per shellie, but these fish were more interested in being nipped by the getting-meaner-by-the-minute brichardi. If only the shellies would turn to the brichardi and tell them URAJRKPLSGOAWAY, my problem would have been solved! Not only that, one shellie took up residency on the sponge covering the filter intake (no shells up there) and one decided to live below the filter intake (again—no shells!). We put in a tank divider and hit the books. Nowhere does it say shellies will lose their minds and not hide in their shells when being chased . However, I did discover that if brichardi were mating, they would take over an entire tank. Hmmmm. How did I get so lucky (these fish were picked randomly from a larger group and there is no sexual dimorphism)? I do not keep fish so they can make babies (except the Mollies, but that is a food source and they are not territorial; heck--they haven't even lived up to their end of the bargain yet!)!!! I’m not 100% sure the brichardi are an item, but they are awfully close and do everything together.
I spent all evening moving fish around. My tanks went from:
80 Gallon Mbuna Cichlid Tank (and one confused Blue Acara)
50 Gallon Community Tank
29 Gallon Lake Tanganyika biotope
20 gal BW Tank (not yet)
10 Gallon Badis badis Hex Tank (with a lone Badis)
to the way they are listed in my sig.
Someone hit me if I ever listen to my fiancé’s advice about fish in the future (FYI--he got me into this hobby ).