Cichlids for a 12 gallon?

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

Here are some great articles about shellies. For a 10g you can do a pair of N.brevis or a pair of L.ocellatus, or a trio of multies.

I have a pair of oceelatus in my 10g right now.I used to have 2 more females in there but once the male and one of hte females started spawning the other 2 females were getting beat up pretty bad.

Be aware these things can breed like rabbits. And not all shelldwellers are colony forming like N. multies and you will have to take the babies out before the next spawn if you want to keep them. If you get N.multies you can leave the babies in with the parents and thebabies will help raise the next batch.

tell us which species you like and we can help from there.
 
Originally posted by valerie


tell us which species you like and we can help from there. [/B]
Click to expand...

well, tbh, i've never had any cichlids before, i was just contemplating starting off small to see how i got on. i don't know a massive ammount about them
 
Well if you decide shell dwellers are what you want. check out the species articles to see which you like most. Shellies are a great little fish that are quite hardy(atleast mine are) and breed fairly easily. Plus its really fun to watch them moving their shells around all day and bulldozing the sand.
 
Number of Multies per 10g?

I've been reading a good bit here and through several other sites referenced on the n.multies because I may be getting a 10g pretty cheap and wanted an interesting-type cichlid for the tank. I understand that a pair is good to start with. Everywhere I read it says that they are community fish, but no one says anything about actually removing the fry. One earlier post here says that the fry can stay and help raise more. I read on one site where the guy said he had nearly 50 of various sizes at one time in a 10g with success. Although this seemed like a huge number of fish to me, I could understand it to some degree since the multies stick to their shells closely.

The question really is, what is the maximum number of multies I should let accumulate if I get them and they're breeding well? Is it a "whatever survives" type mentality or is there a number where I should step in? ThanX!!

JOSH
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My "<><" means a bit more to my soul than just keeping fish, LOL!
 
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The maximum number of multis in a 10 gallon really depends on whether or not you really like doing water changes a lot! They do form a nice colony with the generations co-existing peacefully. In a 20 high I had they split on their own into two colonies. Personally, I'd periodically just pull out some of saleable size or give some away to friends, relations, etc. They're great little fish - just be sure and give them sand (could be play sand, argonite sand, etc.) since they really like to dig a lot. Their fry usually sell well or have good trade value at the LFS since they're not common.

Eric

Oh, N. brevis pairs are great for 10 gallon tanks, too.
 
I'll keep that in mind...

Jay,
Thanx for the info. I will keep in mind the info about the sand, as I have read it elsewhere a ton as well. I do know what you mean about the multies not being common. I have some very nice LFSs around, but with being a smaller city in MD, they still don't stock much in cichlids let alone having multies. It may be interesting to see what they'll do about buying or trading for the fry, I'll look into it. Thanx again....

JOSH
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