'Lamprologus' multifasciatus build!

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jwh0818

jwh0818

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
5,563
Location
Harlingen, TX
Whats up everyone, I have decided to redo my 20g long for multis. Anyone else have multis that can offer me advice on these little guys? The tank size is 30"Lx12"Wx12"H.
 
Maybe I will search for a few reputable breeders and locate some males and females. Why do you say 2 males 8 females?
 
I have adult multis and can barely sex them lol

DO:
Use sand
Have 3-4 shells PER fish
Add everyone at the same time, they tend to not like newcomers once the colony is
Have a good sized colony, 6-8 fish at least. Sounds like a lot, it's not. They are harem breeders, not pair bonded, so you won't see pairs forming.
Have patience with them. They are incredibly shy for a while. Mine rarely go into their shells anymore except to breed and sleep. But my colony is a year and a half old now.

DON'T:
Add other species of Shellie, shellies can't be mixed and matched
Add other species of fish, they will typically kill them. My colony has killed 2 bristlenose now and beat on the juvie male I have in there, the BNP like to try and clean the shell.
Expect the tank to look awesome. They'll redecorate for you, and I mean move several pounds of sand in a matter of a week or two.
Lack in shells, you will stress them literally to death
Add plant, they'll typically end up burying them anyway
 
Freakgecko91 said:
I have adult multis and can barely sex them lol

DO:
Use sand
Have 3-4 shells PER fish
Add everyone at the same time, they tend to not like newcomers once the colony is
Have a good sized colony, 6-8 fish at least. Sounds like a lot, it's not. They are harem breeders, not pair bonded, so you won't see pairs forming.
Have patience with them. They are incredibly shy for a while. Mine rarely go into their shells anymore except to breed and sleep. But my colony is a year and a half old now.

DON'T:
Add other species of Shellie, shellies can't be mixed and matched
Add other species of fish, they will typically kill them. My colony has killed 2 bristlenose now and beat on the juvie male I have in there, the BNP like to try and clean the shell.
Expect the tank to look awesome. They'll redecorate for you, and I mean move several pounds of sand in a matter of a week or two.
Lack in shells, you will stress them literally to death
Add plant, they'll typically end up burying them anyway
Click to expand...

Thanks freakgecko! That helped a bunch. Is there a way to get algae to start growing faster on the shells or what? I never attempted to grow algae just remove it!! Would like a play sand work? And can I add low lying rocks? Just to give me a view other than shells!
 
Why would you want to try and grow algae? I add the BNP to combat the algae lol

You can add rocks, but make sure that you have egg crate on the bottom otherwise they will dig it to the glass. Honestly, just sand and shells works the best, and add a piece of Holey rock to one side to let them hide away from the shells if need be. My subdominant male isn't allowed in the shells, he lives behind my Holey rock. He's a second generation though
 
Freakgecko91 said:
Why would you want to try and grow algae? I add the BNP to combat the algae lol

You can add rocks, but make sure that you have egg crate on the bottom otherwise they will dig it to the glass. Honestly, just sand and shells works the best, and add a piece of Holey rock to one side to let them hide away from the shells if need be. My subdominant male isn't allowed in the shells, he lives behind my Holey rock. He's a second generation though
Click to expand...

Haha that sounds cool! The banished him! Yes rock work would be on too of eggcrate and in moveable for sure. I never really like holy rock. It did always seem to attract algae. My ph is a constant 8.0 from tap so no worries there. What about water movement? I think I'm gonna pick up an AC20 for this tank
 
Also, some of those rules I made are appropriate only for your size tank, like colony size and tankmates, a bigger tank means more possibilities. Here is some pics of my little weirdos. They are seriously one of my favorite fish, as they are extremely quirky and are easily like the chihuahuas of the cichlid world: tiny with a big fish attitude. Btw, the two piles of shells on the right were all together at one point and I had smoothed the sand to be level. That was a week ago. There was fry on the left side, but I think my tanganyikan bullhead cats got into the shells again (they go on raids often and steal fry) ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1392481767.244193.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1392481777.680246.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1392481801.483383.jpg
 
jwh0818 said:
Haha that sounds cool! The banished him! Yes rock work would be on too of eggcrate and in moveable for sure. I never really like holy rock. It did always seem to attract algae. My ph is a constant 8.0 from tap so no worries there. What about water movement? I think I'm gonna pick up an AC20 for this tank
Click to expand...

Larg is always better, I'd go with an ac50 personally, just keep the flow a bit down. These are seriously the hardiest fish I've ever owned, and the lowest upkeep
 
Freakgecko91 said:
Larg is always better, I'd go with an ac50 personally, just keep the flow a bit down. These are seriously the hardiest fish I've ever owned, and the lowest upkeep
Click to expand...

Sounds like they have a failsafe built in for new owners! The AC50 may be a bit too big intake wise
 
Obviously it's all up to you, I just cover my intake with a sponge whenever I had fry too close. In my tank now it's tall enough that the fry are never anywhere close to the intake
 
Freakgecko91 said:
Obviously it's all up to you, I just cover my intake with a sponge whenever I had fry too close. In my tank now it's tall enough that the fry are never anywhere close to the intake
Click to expand...

I'll probably give the 50 a go. I have like 6 more intake tubes I can cut if I needed to. What size shells should I get?
 
Oh I get what you mean now, I have a ac 50 sitting on an empty 10 gallon in front of me and it has several inches of clearance from the bottom (assuming that's what you mean?)
 
Freakgecko91 said:
Oh I get what you mean now, I have a ac 50 sitting on an empty 10 gallon in front of me and it has several inches of clearance from the bottom (assuming that's what you mean?)
Click to expand...

Haha yes! The tank is only 12" high and I'm gonna put about 2" of sand maybe 3"
 
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