Shellies

[Ickletas]

Ok, I have a 55l (about 15usg measures 24"x 12"x 12") and after much searching and researching decided that I would like to put in some shellies (my water is pretty darned hard so they seemed an ideal choice). So, to date I have: sand for the substrate, some rocks, a truck load of shells (apple snail, escargot and land snails), have found a lfs that has some Brevis and Brichardi (I'm leaning toward the Brevis as my preferred species) and all the gubbins from the filter has been sat in the filter housing of my community tank for a couple of months. I now need to know 3 things and am hoping that someone will help me out. Firstly, is there anything that I've forgotten? Secondly, what number of (preferably Brevis) am I looking at and thirdly I know that these fish are territorial and pretty intolerant of anything else and I'm also pretty sure the answer is no but could I have a group of fish that stay near the top of the tank (in my head I'm thinking some larger Tetra or similar).

 

[Ickletas]

Suddenly realised that I probably should have put this in the cichlid section. Please could a friendly neighbourhood mod move it please?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Moved

I'd probably start with a colony of 10-12. And no... any other fish probably wouldn't be a great idea. I put a 4" rubber lip pleco in with my multis... keep in mind they were 1-1.5", and they killed it really quick.

 

[Mogurako]

I would start with 2 pairs and let just let them breed, they will fill that tank in no time.

 

[Ickletas]

Yipes! Scratch that as clearly a bad idea I went back to the lfs today to have another look at the Brevis and this time I clocked the price tag, £16 ($25) per fish! So 2 pairs it is, lol. Set up the tank today so just waiting for the ph to stabilise and I should be good to get some of these bad boys at the weekend

 

[Ickletas]

Oh and one more thing, whilst I don't want to plant this tank (because of the whole digging up thing which I know will annoy me and also this will be my only non-planted tank, the others have loads) would these guys appreciate floating plants or do they prefer just open water? I have a ton of water lettuce between the other 3 tanks so I could just bung some in the top, hopefully it will provide a bit of competition for the algae that I'm sure will make an appearance.

 

[Mogurako]

Oh and one more thing, whilst I don't want to plant this tank (because of the whole digging up thing which I know will annoy me and also this will be my only non-planted tank, the others have loads) would these guys appreciate floating plants or do they prefer just open water? I have a ton of water lettuce between the other 3 tanks so I could just bung some in the top, hopefully it will provide a bit of competition for the algae that I'm sure will make an appearance.

You can plant their tanks they are normally more concerned about their shells. Water lettuce will help suck extra nitrates.

 

[Ickletas]

Cools, a handful of water lettuce will certainly find it's way in there. Also it turns out that water lettuce is pretty native to that area (well Nile and Lake Victoria) so I could call it a biotope of sorts Going back to the lfs tomorrow to get some more rock, I'm thinking that the look could be improved if I built up the rocky area on the left so that it slopes across the back.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I would start with 2 pairs and let just let them breed, they will fill that tank in no time.

Really? I had multis, which are pretty close to brevis... there's no way they'd work out in pairs. Seems to me like they'd be like mbuna, the male would stress the female out. Obviously, you have more experience with tangs than I do... but two pairs just don't seem like they'd work IMO. Are brevis and multis that different?

 

[Mogurako]

Really? I had multis, which are pretty close to brevis... there's no way they'd work out in pairs. Seems to me like they'd be like mbuna, the male would stress the female out. Obviously, you have more experience with tangs than I do... but two pairs just don't seem like they'd work IMO. Are brevis and multis that different?

All the shellies are quite different. There's a great video of a speaker my club got to come in and he has like 20+ years of experience with shellies. He recommends a 10-15 gallon for just a pair/ trio with plenty of shells and the fish will only breed while there are shells available.

 

[Ickletas]

Got my Brevis today yay! Managed to get 1 established pair and the other 2 are possibly already paired. Just waiting for them to come out of hiding so I can try and get a pic

 

[steez]

I got my Brevis a few days ago. They are still very shy!