anybody here run shellies?

[deli_conker]

I have a 10 gal tank in the midst of a fishless cycle. It should be done within a month.

I have a couple inches of argonite for the substrate and I'm thinking that I want to run some shellies.

I'd like to hear ideas from anybody with personal experience or plain knowledge about them OR any other high ph, small tank size fish...

 

[Menagerie]

Shellies are fun, but not the ones I have (Neolamprologus multifasciatus)
I keep thinking they need more to do other than sit outside their shell. When I approach the tank they hide. One lives by the filter intake and not in a shell! In the LFS, I watched them for a while before bringing them home, apparently there is an off switch I didn't know about!!

Anyway, there are more aggressive shellies out there, which may be more exciting.

 

[rossmort]

LOL, my multi's are completely the opposite. Very fun to watch, they spawn ALL THE TIME (nice to trade for other fish stuff), they are always all over the place and rearrange the sand in my tank making it look really cool. I plan on setting up a 125g and they will be the main thing in the tank as well as some open water fish from lake tang.

I think multi's would be the best in that size tank as they stay the smallest of the shell dwellers and are a "little" more subdued than something like a Lamprologus ocellatus.

http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/shelldweller_corner.php

 

[krap101]

does anyone have any experience with neolamprologus brevis?