You just made me even more excited about getting my Multis! Your fish look great. I'm going to get some shells from you. Do you take payment via paypal? I'm still trying to figure out how many to get. I'm still trying to figure out how many multis to get too. LoL. I "stalked" your previous posts and noticed that you have yours in a 12 gallon--how many do you keep in there?
FS: Whale Eye shells, 5/$1.00 + shipping
- Thread starter jrh
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When I was getting them, I was advised to get 6 juvies. Females are smaller than males, and multis are harem breeders, so maybe ask for the 4 smallest fish and 2 largest.
I honestly don't know what mix I have... I know there's a male and a female, and the other 4 I'm not sure about yet. Sometimes I think I've got 3 and 3, other times 5 m / 1 f. I think the truth is they're still too young to tell.
People have said that multis are shy fish. Mine haven't been shy at all, and I attribute this to having LOTS of shells. Multis naturally occur in water so hard that the snail shells never dissolve, and there can be shellbeds many feet deep.
Are you keeping them in their own tank? or with other fish? What size tank?
If they're in their own tank, I'd recommend a thin layer of sand on the bottom, then enough shells so that they pile on each other. My smallest, who I know is a female, likes to explore below the surface of the shellbed -- swimming from one part of the tank to another in the spaces between shells.
I'm still a newbie to multis, but this has been my experience so far.
peeking out
taking a nice stretch.
I honestly don't know what mix I have... I know there's a male and a female, and the other 4 I'm not sure about yet. Sometimes I think I've got 3 and 3, other times 5 m / 1 f. I think the truth is they're still too young to tell.
People have said that multis are shy fish. Mine haven't been shy at all, and I attribute this to having LOTS of shells. Multis naturally occur in water so hard that the snail shells never dissolve, and there can be shellbeds many feet deep.
Are you keeping them in their own tank? or with other fish? What size tank?
If they're in their own tank, I'd recommend a thin layer of sand on the bottom, then enough shells so that they pile on each other. My smallest, who I know is a female, likes to explore below the surface of the shellbed -- swimming from one part of the tank to another in the spaces between shells.
I'm still a newbie to multis, but this has been my experience so far.
peeking out
taking a nice stretch.
I love your pictures, you've got some great shots. Mine will be going into a 10 gallon tank possibly a species only tank. I've read that since they primarily stay at the bottom of the tank that having a pair of top dwelling live bearers is ideal and also makes for a tasty treat as well as a varied diet (free live food) for them. So I've chose to get a pair of endlers to keep in with them since endlers like warmer water and higher pH. Other than that, I may try a snail or possibly a red cherry shrimp since I have a tank full of them.... this is all going to be trial and error, basically. I have already told myself that I cannot get disappointed if multis end up eating everything I put in--they are cichlids afterall. Perfectly fine. The bottom of the tank is going to be sand only. Likely 2-3inches deep depending on what this 40lb bag of sand gives me. What I've read about multis is a bit different than your suggestion. I read that you should have less shells and more sand area so they can "play" in the sand. I will likely take your approach and pile up shells along the back part and then have the front area just sand with maybe a plant stuck in somewhere. What ya think?
Heh, multis dig, but not to bury their shells like some other shelldwellers do. Instead, they try to get rid of the sand, and will dig all the way down to the glass where they can.
As for plants, I'm always a fan. I'd probably stick with fern, moss, and anubias, which can all be anchored to wood or rock, and don't require ferts or CO2.
I've had both snails and cherries in this tank. The multis will pick up snails, swim them out of their territory, then drop them. Both males and females do this, though males, being bigger, will pick up bigger snails. They may only do this around females shells.
Likewise, they seemed to treat the cherries more as intruders than food. They'd attack them when they found them, but weren't particularly bothered. I made the mistake of putting in ghost shrimp which were a bit bigger, and the multis freaked out.
I think your endlers will be fine, but will be harassed some. I'd give them some cover in the form of fern or moss, or maybe floating plants like riccia or water lettuce. Those will also keep the algae down, I think.
Maybe get 50 shells or so. That would be $10 + $8 shipping. Pile the shells up on the sides and back, sloping down to the center, to create a little bowl effect. You can see how your multis behave with the sand, and also see them navigating the maze of the shellbed on the sides.
I also have some japanese land snail shells available, some of which have been in my tank already. The multis seem to like them, but I've read messages which caution against using shells with a spiral because the fish can get stuck. None of mine have, but I've only had them a month or so.
The japanese land snails would also be 5/$1.00, but I haven't figured out what shipping would be. They're a very light shell, so I imagine it would probably be comparable.
japanese land snail shell sizes
japanese land snail shells in the tank
As for plants, I'm always a fan. I'd probably stick with fern, moss, and anubias, which can all be anchored to wood or rock, and don't require ferts or CO2.
I've had both snails and cherries in this tank. The multis will pick up snails, swim them out of their territory, then drop them. Both males and females do this, though males, being bigger, will pick up bigger snails. They may only do this around females shells.
Likewise, they seemed to treat the cherries more as intruders than food. They'd attack them when they found them, but weren't particularly bothered. I made the mistake of putting in ghost shrimp which were a bit bigger, and the multis freaked out.
I think your endlers will be fine, but will be harassed some. I'd give them some cover in the form of fern or moss, or maybe floating plants like riccia or water lettuce. Those will also keep the algae down, I think.
Maybe get 50 shells or so. That would be $10 + $8 shipping. Pile the shells up on the sides and back, sloping down to the center, to create a little bowl effect. You can see how your multis behave with the sand, and also see them navigating the maze of the shellbed on the sides.
I also have some japanese land snail shells available, some of which have been in my tank already. The multis seem to like them, but I've read messages which caution against using shells with a spiral because the fish can get stuck. None of mine have, but I've only had them a month or so.
The japanese land snails would also be 5/$1.00, but I haven't figured out what shipping would be. They're a very light shell, so I imagine it would probably be comparable.
japanese land snail shell sizes
japanese land snail shells in the tank
Most of the largest whale eyes have been sold. Remaining sizes range from 1.5" - 2", with most shells being around 1.5" - 1.75".
:duh: I figured that out pretty quickly. I put some sand (as much as I could carry comfortably when wet) in my 5 gallon bucket and took it outside and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed. I came in a dumped it into the tank, smoothed it out, and had 2 1/2 inches. I had no idea how much sand I would need. The 40lb bag was the smallest they had at Home Depot though. I ended up taking 1/2 inch back out and decided to wait and see how my fish like it. If it's too much I can siphon some out pretty easily. It's been about 12 hours since putting water in the tank and it's still pretty cloudy. I'm trying to decide if I should do some water changes until it's clear to get those particles out to avoid redisturbance later on.
It can take a couple of days to clear. Add some filter floss to your filter, and it should do the trick.
I'm not sure what kind of filter you're using, but you want the intake to be high enough above the sand that you don't accidentally suck up sand and burn out the motor.
I'm not sure what kind of filter you're using, but you want the intake to be high enough above the sand that you don't accidentally suck up sand and burn out the motor.
Do you still have 50 shells? I was hoping to wait until Monday after Thanksgiving but I don't want to miss out on getting them from you so I figured I'd better do it ASAP. I'd like to send you payment for them sometime before I leave on Wednesday.
As for the filter, I'm currently running the whisper filter that came with the "tank kit" but I really don't like it and I'd like some over-filterage going on. I'm going to get an ac filter probably next Friday. I'm going to do the day after Thanksgiving shopping thing and hopefully find a good deal on a filter and maybe even a new tank for some crays.
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