neolamprologus multifasciatus tank

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superpeytonm

superpeytonm

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 22, 2015
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252
Location
Kentucky
I found these fish online and I instantly fell in love with them. I've read you can keep them in a 10 gallon, which is all I have for my new tank. I'm going to have sand as the substrate. I know they're she'll dwellers, but what kind of shells should I get for them? What do they eat? From my other tank I have a large variety of food which includes a variety of flake food, freeze dried mealworms, beef heart, River shrimp, and numerous types of pellet food. Will they eat any of that? If not, I can readily get whatever they need. I just need to know exactly what they need. Also, does anyone know some places to purchase them? I've found one website, but I just want to have a few options. Thanks in advance!
 
Multis are cool little fish. I personally don't keep them, but some other members here do.

For your substrate, I would go with crushed coral in the bottom and then some sand over the top. The crushed coral will rise the pH and help you achieve the harder waters that these fish prefer. They do dig a lot, so the sand would be on top to be easy on them. The sand may eventually go to the bottom or it will become a mix of CC and sand, because of the digging.

The shells that most people prefer to use are escargot shells. They are big and have nice, big opening for them to get into. Any other big shells will work, and they also like rock work. You can create caves from slate to provide spots.

I think that they'll eat mostly anything, they're greedy little guys. I bet they would love some frozen bloodworms, but pellets and the rive shrimp should be fine. You may have to make the river shrimp smaller though to fit their needs.

These guys are colonial fish and do create lots of offspring. These new fish are added to the "colony", and allow for a big population in a smaller tank. Of course, you can't keep every single brood and will eventually need to sell or rehome some of them. You could probably sell them to local people or sell to the LFS for store credit. Good luck with hem, hope I helped!
 
Everything Nils said is correct.

But the most important thing to know is that these fish are some of the greatest aquarium fish ever. They're some of the easiest fish to care for, easiest to breed, and most fun to watch. I do weekly water changes on my tank, occassionally clean the filter, and they just keep going. I can't recommend them enough.

I use escargot shells. 3-4 shells per multi is good, but get extras in anticipation of breeding. More shells is always better.

What do they eat? What DON'T they eat! Mine eat flakes, pellets, frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, and anything else edible I happen to give them. They are NOT picky eaters as long as it fits in their mouth; just try to feed them mostly a solid staple pellet or flake. They will eat everything you listed.

I got mine from a retailer called Cunningham Cichlids. They're pretty awesome, I recommend them.
 
Thanks guys! It'll be a little while before everything's ready, but I'm super excited to keep these fish. I'm just wondering: what should the pH be fore these guys? My tap water stays constant at 7.8, which is what my other tank stays at as well. Is that sufficient or should it be higher?
 
I will be following along... My friend has a breeding pair of brevis and I have a 20 gallon long aching to be set up...Works out nicely!


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In theory they like it higher, but in practice mine don't care at all. Just use a crushed coral sand and it'll buffer your water enough.
 
I use Carib-Sea Aragonite. It raises pH and is fine enough for them to move around. I ordered escargot shells. Just get the biggest you can find, other shells such as turbo snail shells also work I've heard. I feed mine crushed up pellets and flake so that the fry and adults eat the same food. I also feed frozen baby brine shrimp about every day to every other day.


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sdcichlids said:
I use Carib-Sea Aragonite. It raises pH and is fine enough for them to move around. I ordered escargot shells. Just get the biggest you can find, other shells such as turbo snail shells also work I've heard. I feed mine crushed up pellets and flake so that the fry and adults eat the same food. I also feed frozen baby brine shrimp about every day to every other day.


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Where did you order your shells?
 
Multis are so fun!
+1 to all above advice
I keep neolamprologus ocellatus, which is related to multis, and I use the caribsea sand substrate, because my water is super soft, but the substrate buffers out pretty good. I ordered 3 dozen escargot shells from Amazon for like $18. But in my experience, the females seem to like the smaller shells for breeding, as it gives them a better sense of protection.


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I keep mine at 78. But mine also went several days in the mid 60s due to a heater failure. Can't stress enough how hardy and adaptable these guys are. Obviously don't go around testing their limits, but also, you don't need to worry about these guys very much.
 
I ordered ten pounds of Caribsea Aragonite sand.

I'm going to order three dozen escargot shells tonight.

I plan on having six fish in my tank. Will this be enough or will I need more?
 
You'll be more than fine with that. I started with 15 lbs of sand, 40 or so shells and 14 fish. Eventually you may need to add more shells but multi fry grow sloooooow.
 
I don't have another 10 gallon yet, so will the fry be okay to stay in the tank with the adults?

If not, what should I do? I'd like to attempt to breed them, but I've never bred fish before.
 
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