# Fluval edge shellie tank



## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

So im getting bored with my fluval edge planted tank I want to tear it down sell all the plants and fish to my lfs and start with shell dwellers. Im gonna go with crushed coral and a bunch of shells for my deco. What kind of fish should i start with? my edge is only 6gal. Also what do i feed them? regular flakes that i feed my mbunas?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Really the tank is too small.


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## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

i was hoping to put a pair of multis in


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## TMB60 (Jan 6, 2011)

If possible, upgrade to a 10 or 20g tank and start with 6 Multies. The allure of Multies (for me anyway) is all their interesting behaviors and interactions in a group setting. And they will colonize the tank with offspring. I have 2 dedicated Multie tanks (10g and 20L) and consider a 10g to be the absolute minimum size tank for them. My concern here is with only 2 of them in a 6g tank, you probably won't be happy with them long term. And 6g is just not large enough for a bigger group. Just food for thought.


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## Braden8558 (Jan 13, 2013)

Hello,

In a 6 gallon you could do a pair of brevis. 6 gallon is a bit small for any other shell dwellers.

I have a pair of brevis minutus in a 14 gallon and I had a pair in a 5 gallon that spawned regularly for me. Now the pair in the 5 is currently in a 15 and I'm thinking of upgrading the 5 to a 10 for shell dweller fry.

My setup consists of rocks, escargot shells, and Pool Filter Sand. I also had some java fern and java moss in there. The tank is still up, I just moved the pair out to make sure another tank was ready and cycled for fish.

Here is the setup...






Feel free to ask any questions.
Good luck, Braden


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## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

i just ordered some escargot shells just waiting for it to come in so i can switch out the planted edge out. Will try out some brevis if my lfs has it. Also can u recomend any algae eaters that are compatible with the tangyanikans?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

In a 6G I would go with nerite snails.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Brevis will work. You only need one or two shells, and a pair will share a shell. There is no need to get rid of all your plants, you could keep some. And, a few Nerites would be nice as well. The tank is too small for any algae eaters.


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## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

i already bought the shells so might as well put them all in. Will fill you guys in when i get the shells and fish in.


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## Darkskies (Mar 17, 2012)

du3ce said:


> i already bought the shells so might as well put them all in. Will fill you guys in when i get the shells and fish in.


In a 6 gallon tank you could probably even have 2 pairs of brevis with a couple of tetras for the upper water columns. For algae eaters, I second the recommendation of snails for that size aquarium.


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## Braden8558 (Jan 13, 2013)

I disagree with Darksides. I would recommend you stick to just a pair of brevis and some snails in a 6 gallon. I have two pairs of brevis and I tried to re-introduce my pair back into the other pairs tank which is a 14 gallon and they were really going at it. Biting and attacking each other. They were probably just being territorial because they do use the space in the 14 and might not want to share.

So two pairs may not be a good choice, plus once they spawn they could have other problems. In my experience brevis don't need many shells. 2-3 per fish should be fine.They don't need shell beds but if you want to give them 4 each then that's fine to. Just try to have at least 2 shells per fish and I like to add some rock work so the fish can have caves to use as well.

Good luck with the setup!


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

I think 2 pairs is pushing it as well, but if you buy 5-6 and two pairs form, lucky you. Otherwise just a single pair will leave a little room for fry.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Braden8558 said:


> I disagree with Darksides.


I think you mean Darkskies. :thumb:


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## Darkskies (Mar 17, 2012)

Braden8558 said:


> I disagree with Darksides. I would recommend you stick to just a pair of brevis and some snails in a 6 gallon. I have two pairs of brevis and I tried to re-introduce my pair back into the other pairs tank which is a 14 gallon and they were really going at it. Biting and attacking each other. They were probably just being territorial because they do use the space in the 14 and might not want to share.
> 
> So two pairs may not be a good choice, plus once they spawn they could have other problems. In my experience brevis don't need many shells. 2-3 per fish should be fine.They don't need shell beds but if you want to give them 4 each then that's fine to. Just try to have at least 2 shells per fish and I like to add some rock work so the fish can have caves to use as well.
> 
> Good luck with the setup!


Sorry, I personally haven't tried this myself but I remember that prov356 as well as another individual on these forums successfully did manage to house 2 pairs of brevis and some tetras in a 6 gallon tank. It might be a little tricky to establish but it's doable. I think this is because brevis only defend a small territory around their home/nest shell.


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## Braden8558 (Jan 13, 2013)

I agree that it is doable, but I think that for a beginner a pair might be a better place to start off and then once they have success they can experiment . Tetras have different water parameters than shell dwellers though, and while they might be able to be kept together, however that doesn't mean they should! They might not be happy together, so I would recommend just a pair of brevis for a 6 gallon.


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## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)




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## Braden8558 (Jan 13, 2013)

Nice setup! Are you gonna do the brevis? If so, they don't need that many shells.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

I agree, thats a lot of shells for Brevis. Since they won't use them, they will just collect fish waste. 1-2 per fish is more than they even need. The pair will share a shell.I like the rock work, though.


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## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

not sure cant find any brevis at my lfs might just do one ocellatus or something


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## Braden8558 (Jan 13, 2013)

To be honest, one shell dweller might be boring in a tank. I would wait to get a pair of brevis. Look around though! You might have to order them from the LFS or find other stores around. My LFS has brevis but has trouble finding occies which is what I've been looking for. I don't recommend you get occies though because a 10 is probably the minimum for a pair as they are territorial.


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