My New Shellies...with pics

I used to have N. ocellatus Isanga "blue" in a 10 gallon. I started with 2 males 3 females (They are very difficult to ID). The dominant male not only killed off the sub male, but he systematically killed off his females too. Actually I think one of the females might have killed one, Im not sure. I had tons of shells for them too. Anyways, they lasted a while but thier fry were always deformed, suggesting they were overbred or just didnt like the water in my area. They can be difficult to raise.

I'd love to try them again sometime but I've learned from my mistake and would never keep them in anything under a 20 long. Just because they are small doesnt mean they can be kept in small tanks...

I think brevis are a little more peaceful though.

:)
-Diana
 
From what I've read up on the multis....they live in a true community. They are not ones to cannibalize thier own...not even the fry. I imagine there may be problems if you introduce an individual that isn't a family member..so I'm not sure how this trio I have will work out...I'll just have to wait and see. So far the male seems to have paired up with one of the females, the other one sort of hangs out by herself among the plants.

Ideally I am planning on a 15 gallon for the multis...because that's the largest I can fit underneath my 20long and still have room to do a cleaning and water change without having to remove the whole hood. The info on the 20L stand says I can put a 20tall under it, but I can't see for the life of me how anyone can do any kind of tank maintenance with the tiny gap it would leave.

The 10 will only be a temp setup until I can find a used 15 that I don't have to pay over 30$ for...which is what a new one would cost me.

Thanks for the info LMK ! I'll keep an eye on things.. ;)
 
Emg said:
Thanks Must !

These fish are great ! I can't wait to get rid of my guppy fry so I can use that tank to put the multis in....lol....soon, very soon !

Have fun setting up your tank....and show us some pics if you can ! :cool:
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You know what?!? If you don't want to keep the guppy fry, just leave em in there. The shellies will love em! I raise guppies too and have to cull alot. I put the babies in with the shellies or my other display tank and in the morning they are gone.

The shellies are doing great and are venturing out of their shells. I have multis, brevis and Speciosus. I have 8.6 PH so they are loving it. I hope yours are doing well too.
Here's to long life and lots of shellie babies!

Oh with the tank set up.... I had to move all my 30 gallons to the top and my 20 longs to the bottom of my shelves. Otherwize there is no way to clean the tanks!
 
Lol about taking care of the guppies.....that would be a good solution...but...these are fancy halfblack pastel guppies....not the type you see every day at the lfs...I'm growing them out until they get to the stage when they get thier coloring, which is very soon now...then I'll take them down to the lfs and I'm sure he'll take them off my hands. The males are starting to show a nice black body coloring and the fins are getting that silky white coloring...very pretty fish...even the females are nice !

I only bred these because I wanted more males for my Black and White themed tank. I only had one male and one female HB pastel....they look fantastic in that tank....it cost me 8$ for the pair of them.


My shellies are doing great as well. The one female brevis must be getting hungry because she's finally tentatively coming out her shell at feeding time now. The male is a hog though and usually ends up getting most of the food. He goes right to the top and gets it before it comes down where the females will eat. But they do get some so I'm not concerned.

The Multis are digging themselves into some pretty good pits...lol...I really need to get them some more room and shells....come ON guppies...GROW !!!
 
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Emg said:
The one female brevis must be getting hungry because she's finally tentatively coming out her shell at feeding time now. The male is a hog though and usually ends up getting most of the food. He goes right to the top and gets it before it comes down where the females will eat. But they do get some so I'm not concerned.
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My pair of Brevis are the same...the female comes out a few minutes after I put the food in and by that time the male has practically eaten everything......any breeding behavior from yours yet?
 
Not that I know of Knash...but I wouldn't know what to look for ???

What is a good sign that there may be eggs or fry....I do know that when I was sprinkling some food down into the shell for the female...(I was worried she wasn't getting enough)...the male attacked my fingers...lol....brave little guy !
 
Emg said:
What is a good sign that there may be eggs or fry....I do know that when I was sprinkling some food down into the shell for the female...(I was worried she wasn't getting enough)...the male attacked my fingers...lol....brave little guy !
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well attacking your fingers might be a sign :) Mine just dart into their shells, so maybe the over aggresive behavior is an indicator. If there are fry I would imagine you wouldnt see anything for a week or 2 after they hatch.....but im learning as I go myself here.
 
As all ways a very nice tank Emg! :thm:
 
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