New 30 gal setup

[blue2fyre]

I would use sand as substrate.

As far as the shells whale eye shells, escargot shells and turbo snail shells work well.

Here's the shells I used, they are turbo snail shells I got from the LFS.

Escargot shells

Whale eye shells

 

[blue2fyre]

Gotcha, could you make some suggestions...I want color.

I was going to make 1 side of the tank rocks and the other side shells.

To be honest Tangs don't have a whole lot of color. You could try gold occies. But they can be really nasty and may not do well with other fish. I think multis would be your best bet. Then you could also keep some sort of small julie.

 

[jasonG75]

I think multis would be your best bet. Then you could also keep some sort of small julie.

Ok after doing some reading I think you're right, "I think multis would be your best bet" So now the question is how many 4 or 6?

Also if I had to pick only 1 of the 3 Shelldwellers what would be wrong with Lamprologus ocellatus or 'Big-Eye' Lamprologus, Zebra Shelldweller they do have more color than the Multis? I like the Zebras much more.

 

[blue2fyre]

For multis I would start with 6 to make sure you get a mix of genders.

Do you have pictures of the zebra shell dweller or 'Big-Eye' Lamprologus ? I'm not familiar with these common name. Occellatus come in many colors but can be more aggressive than other types of shellies. The males sometimes like to kill off their females.

I thought zebra shell dweller was a common name for multis or similus. Both look almost identical.

 

[jasonG75]

For multis I would start with 6 to make sure you get a mix of genders.

Do you have pictures of the zebra shell dweller or 'Big-Eye' Lamprologus ? I'm not familiar with these common name. Occellatus come in many colors but can be more aggressive than other types of shellies. The males sometimes like to kill off their females.

I thought zebra shell dweller was a common name for multis or similus. Both look almost identical.

Here is the Zebra

And this is what is being refered to as a Multis

 

[jasonG75]

Neolamprologus similis ZEBRA

Neolamprologus multifasciatus MULTIS

 

[blue2fyre]

Oh the zebra is similis. When you see them in person multis and similis look very similar. Similis have darker stripes though.
Multi

Similis

Similis are a little harder to find but act in a similar way.

 

[jasonG75]

OK thanks for that... So 6 of them to my list....

Then I want to add 4 Yellow stripped Julies..

Could I get away with adding 2 of these? Neolamprologus caudopunctatus

 

[jpappy789]

You could only keep a pair of julies long term.

 

[jasonG75]

You could only keep a pair of julies long term.

I am confused...What do you mean I can only keep them LONG TERM?