Shell dwellers

SANND

SANND

Large Fish
#1
Jul 20, 2005
627
4
0
56
Washington, DC
#1
Hey ya'll,

I want to set up a shell dweller tank. The tanks I have available are 20g long, 20g reg and a 5 gal. Some sites say 5 gallons is fine if your keeping just one couple. I'm not sure that I want to limit myself to just the two fish tho so that leaves me with the two 20's I guess.

DC water is hard but the kh is low so the pH tends to drop naturally. What are the best ways to keep it up high naturally?

If I put other non-agressive cichlids in with them, do they need to be on the smaller side like the shellies?

I know I'll have more questions for ya'll but that's all I can think of for now. I'll be starting a fishless cycle next week so I have a bit of time to figure out what I want. :)
 

SANND

SANND

Large Fish
#3
Jul 20, 2005
627
4
0
56
Washington, DC
#3
Thanks Gunnie. I had read somewhere to add crushed coral but I was wondering if anyone here has done it. I once added pH up to my tank and things really went downhill! lol I have enough chaos in my life, I don't need it in my tanks too. ;)
 

straitjacket

straitjacket

Large Fish
#4
Mar 21, 2004
495
2
0
Los Angeles, CA
www.freewebs.com
#4
There are cushed coral sands out there. CraribSea and Seachem would definately have something for you to consider. Seachem has an African Cichlid sustrate that mixes crushed coral and Tahitian moon sand for you, looks quite decorative.
A 5gl tank is big enough for a pair of Lamp. brevis as they don't move around so much, they stick to the area immediately surrounding their chosen shell(s) after they've paired up.
If you want to choose between one of the 20s, go for the long. You might be able to keep 2 species of fish in with your shelldwellers but that's no guarantee. A trio of multi's will quickly populate a tank that size by themselves. N. caudopunctatus and ocellatus types (L. Ocellatus, L. stappersii/meleagrise, L. speciosus) are a bit more aggressive and might not tolerate other tankmates. L. brevis would be ok with a pair of smaller Juli's (Julidochromis ornatus or J. transcriptus) if you keep a shellbed on one side of the tank and a rockpile in the other.
There's lots to learn before going through with shellies. They're great and very neat little fish, very worth the time it takes to plan everything out for them. Good luck and let us know when you decide on a species! *twirlysmi
 

You must log in or register to reply here.