shell dwellers in michigan

Hey EMG,

What kind of behavior do the stappersi show? We just got some in here. first time I've seen them (in the flesh) other than at an auction.
 
for all you midwest guys, there is going to be an auction in arlington heights IL, its about 1hr NW of chicago if your interested. i've been to swap meets and i've seen some pretty cool rare fish there, their auction is supposed to be massive. if you want check out this www.gcca.net they have some really good reading and huge sale board...

for all the negative people, i am not part of this club and am not affiliated to them, i simply wanted to share some resources with you guys.
 
In Brighton
http://www.radley.ca/OyerCichlids/stock.html
The list is outdated so dont pay attention to that. Just call using the number on the site, i was there a few days ago, they had wild pairs of l multies,neolamp signatus,l similis, pearly occies, blue occies, purple occies, at least 2 species of brevis, and Lepidiolamprologus hecqui, thats all i saw, there could have been more. Give them a call and see what they have. they dont sell the wild pairs, but the fry of the pairs. they might be able to order just ask.

IN Grand Rapids
Mattf on www.shelldwellers.com has multies you could PM him
VI pets has some ussually http://vipets.com/
this guy is good in GR too http://www.africancichlidcentral.com/

In the Detroit area (never been to these but i hear good things)
http://www.icthyosenterprises.com/tanganyika.htm
and http://www.wetthumbaquatics.com/fish_list.htm

if all that fails do a wanted on this site, cichlidforum.com, and shelldwellers.com
 
mooman said:
Hey EMG,

What kind of behavior do the stappersi show? We just got some in here. first time I've seen them (in the flesh) other than at an auction.
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So far from what I have observed....they are very territorial. I have 3 in a 20long and had to move each little batch of shells as far away from each other as possible. I have one Stap and her little group of shells in one front corner, another in the other front corner and the third is in the middle in the back of the tank. This seems to be a suitable setup for them as they pretty much leave each other alone now but will occasionally wander over to "visit" thier neighbor. They are most interesting to watch during feeding, that's when they do alot of displaying to each other...and they are FANTASTIC when they flare out and do that nose point thing (or headstand display).....all colors up ! These fish are great, but not as active as the multis are. The do spend a bit of time just vegging in front of thier selected shell, glaring at each other..lol..but if one so much as twitches, one or both of the others are on full alert.

They don't seem to dig as much as the multis either. Where my multis have piled sand up about half way up the tank, the stapps seem satisfied just to bury thier favorite shell and do some occasional shifting of the sand around their "spot". They will do this "shovel" thing though, which I haven't yet seen the multis do. They push thier faces through the sand and dig a trench around thier shells. Pretty interesting.

Must4ng, I still don't know what sex my stapps are.....but I haven't noticed any breeding behavior in them yet, but then...I wouldn't know what to look for...lol...except perhaps one spending a bit of time near another. I suppose that would be a good indication since they usually stay away from each other. One of them I'm pretty sure is female..she's smaller and seems to have a shorter body and face..the other two I'm not really sure at all.

Hope you get your Stapps Must4ng ! Look into the similis too ! I saw some at the lfs near me and they are my next choice of purchase...lol...whenever I can manage another tank......!!! :rolleyes:
 
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On Grand River east of East Lansing is Pruess pet's. Have a bunch of stuff, great place, I would imagine they have them. Give em a call and find out.
 
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