I'm going to attempt breeding multies.

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Piranha86

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Ok, so I have a 10g with PlaySand Substrate. I'm planning on just leaving a few crypts in there, raising the pH and hardness (a lot), and adding some shells like the ones pictured below.
shells.JPG
First, how many multies could I have in there? I was thinking like 2 males and 3 females to start.

Second, could I keep MTS with them? They like hard water and sand, so I'm told...

Third, how many shells should I put in there? I mean, they're only 30 cents, so I could buy quite a few lol, but I don't want to OD it.


Any other suggestions, etc, would be great.

shells.JPG
 

rufioman

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You want to have somewhere around 6 juvies, if going that route, or an adult 1M:3+F ratio if you are breeding them. Otherwise multiple males will become aggressive towards each other, etc.

For example I am currently breeding L. boulengeri for a friend. I started off with a trio of 2" adults (1M:2F) and two of them paired off right away. The other female mostly does her own thing but stays relatively close to the others. When breeding happens and the mother is ready to spit the fry, I move the mother to her own 10g and wait it out. After a while she'll start eating again and be ready to drop back in the main tank.

Hard water and sand, definitely. My shellies love moving the free shells around and playing in the sand.

Multies need a ton of shells for territories, not so much plants or rock, so I would put somewhere around 3 shells per fish. I generally use Japanese snail shells and those funny round whale eyes.
 

Piranha86

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Thanks :D I'm going to buy a variety of shells, just so they can pick them. Would it be better to just dump them in and let them rearrange or to glue a few shells together to make 'neighborhoods'?
 

user_name

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just dump them in they'll do all the rearranging. Shellies are one of those just add water kinds of breeders, make sure that theres 3 shells for every fish and fry. Idk about plants, but good luck!
 

Piranha86

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just dump them in they'll do all the rearranging. Shellies are one of those just add water kinds of breeders, make sure that theres 3 shells for every fish and fry. Idk about plants, but good luck!
Ok, thanks UN.
Get at least a trio and breeding should happen in no time.
I thinking I'm getting something like 2 males and 4 females. I might just get a trio though...
 

Pittbull

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All you need is 6 of them and they will breed 100's actually they can breed in a mud puddle 3 shells per fish and the best plant to place in with them is anubias nana
 

efors

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And yes, you can keep MTS with them.
 

rufioman

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Pitt's right about the plants. I'm finding Pitt is right about mostly everything :p Furthermore, MTS are very nice to have.
 
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