# shellies



## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

im new to keeping shellies. i have a 20 gallon with a breeding pair of lamp. occelatus gold . i just set up a 10 gallon with bout 3 inches of sand and 13 nice shells and 6 neo. similis with 2 being a little bigger then other 4. does anybody see a problem with this? if so any advice cause im still learning about these 2 types of fish


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

3inches seem to be awful lot of sand. 
similis and multies will dig AWAY sand form their shell, not like occies.
you also need more shells for the similis. try maybe 30?


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## Furcifer158 (Feb 16, 2008)

Multies said:


> 3inches seem to be awful lot of sand.
> similis and multies will dig AWAY sand form their shell, not like occies.
> you also need more shells for the similis. try maybe 30?


Multies is right lot of sand, and you need more shells


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

ok the store owner told me they were neo. similis but looking and researching i think they are multis. instead he said they were about 98% full size and my biggest 1 is maybe 1.5 inches they have neat blue eyes lots of bars going all the way down there body and a little yellow in there dorsal and tail fins so now im stumped what do i have? havent learned how to post pics yet


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

also looking at my tank i have more like 1.5 inches of sand


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

well, lots of stripes, blue eyes and yellow trims could mean they are similis as well.
they both have it. similis will have stripes to the neck and their colours are opposite.


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

yea but the stripes on these stop way before the where as on similis they continue on


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)




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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)




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## Jago (Oct 5, 2007)

Those look like multies to me. Similis are generally much more expensive than multies so you might want to contact the seller if you feel you paid too much.

BTW, I have both multies and similis, I like my multies better.


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## Alleycat (Dec 2, 2006)

Jago said:


> BTW, I have both multies and similis, I like my multies better.


Just curious as to why? Actions? Breeding habits? Activity in the tank? Appearance? 
I have multies , but want similis too...looking for a reason to change my mind


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## Jago (Oct 5, 2007)

Well I'll start by saying they're very similar fish and I've had my multies for about 7 months, my similis for just 3 months. I have a thing for little fish and while males of both species are about the same size female similis are like twice the size of a female multi. Similis are much more aggressive to each other. My multies are always displaying warnings to others when one gets to close to each other and that keeps the tank busy and fun. Similis actually do physical harm and not much displaying. They skip the whole warning shot phase. We all know multies are great parents and are very tolerant of their young. My similis have only had free swimming fry for about a week now but all seems well so far. Similis do win in the appearance department though but not by much.

So for me I guess it comes down to multies being more active and less aggressive. The small size of the ladies is kind of cute too. It's funny seeing a cichlid smaller than a neon tetra.

Finally these are my opinions taken from one experience with each species, not exactly a case study, your mileage may vary. Sorry for hijacking your thread pcrawford, Alleycat made me do it


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

my multis were 4$ a peice


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## Jago (Oct 5, 2007)

That's not a bad price at all. Get some more shells and enjoy your multies.


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## Alleycat (Dec 2, 2006)

pcrawford1044 said:


> my multis were 4$ a piece


See, now there's another excellent reason !! I can't say as I've seen Similis that cheap anywhere lately.

Thanks Jago for your descriptive summary, and taking the time to share.

:thumb:


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

yea im having a hard time finding other species


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