How many in a 29?

[crazyred]

I'm getting ready to start setting up my 29 gallon shellie tank and I was wondering....how many L. occellatus could I comfortably put in there? Anyone with experience want to chime in?

I also plan to scape it with plenty of shells and some rocks, and mabe java fern attached to the rocks, but really nothing else. I'm going to go with a simple cannister filter set-up like the Eheim ECCO 2234 so as to limit the stuff in the tank.

Any advice would help. I saw 12 occies for auction on Aquabid and I didn't know if that would be too much for a standard 29.

 

[spence0416]

Basically you will need to give each male a shell with about 6 inces of area around it. They usually are pretty peaceful, but they will protect their area. I would say 3 pairs would be great. This would allow each some territory. You may want to consider adding a second 'shelf' to the tank and that would allow for more. They will not use all the top tank space so adding a level will not cause any problems with territories. I've never done this, but have seen tank with an eggcrate shelf. It looks pretty good with java fern and moss growing over it.

 

[Gillie]

Actually it would be best to have 2 shells per fish for the most peaceful set-up.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Just to be on the safe side, I'd only try two pairs; that should be more than enough territory.