# Shell Dweller Tank Setup in the Condo



## kuopan (Jan 10, 2012)

So I've moved out of my parent's house into a 630 square feet condo. Back at my parents house, I still have 4 tanks running. A 125 gallon frontosa juvies tank, a 90 gallon malawi tank, a 40 gallon breeder tank with growing juvies and a 20 gallon hospital tank.

I miss the hobby since I only go back every weekend to enjoy the fish (and of course to clean the tanks) so I am debating whether i should start a smaller tank in my condo. I was thinking about a shelldweller tank since it can be relatively small but what are the recommended tank sizes/dimensions for shell dwellers? More specifically, I'm interested in housing sumbu shell compressiceps. lternatively, i would love housing calvus or alto comps as well but i feel like I may need a bigger tank for these guys. What are your thoughts?


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## Braden8558 (Jan 13, 2013)

Hello,
Well right now I have a 14 shell dweller tank with 2 brevis minutus, and a 5 gallon with a pair, I also have fry in a 2.5, and Tangs in a 15. I will probably get more species possibly gold occies for a 10.

Shell dwellers are small fish with a cool personality! As far as tank size goes, that's really up to the space for you. You could house a pair of brevis in a 5 gallon, however a 10 gallon gives you more options. A 20 long is a good size for shellies as it gives a good footprint for them to use. I'm not sure about the sumbus sorry. You could probably start off with the sumbus in a 20 long and if they need more space upgrade in the future. You could probably do a pair of gold occies or lamprologus meleagris (both pretty shellies that have a good attitude but can be aggressive) in a 10 gallon or 20 long. In a 10 or 20 long you could do a colony of multies or similis, but to be honest if you want to do a nice big colony of those a 30 or higher might be better.

Good luck! If you have any more questions feel free to ask!
Braden


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## kuopan (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks for the advice Braden!

how about how many multies or sumbu shell compressiceps can you keep in a 20 long? i usually like seeing some activity in my tank. since shell dwellers seem to hide alot, i am afraid the tank will look pretty empty at times. hence why i would like a bit more...


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## Koteckn (May 16, 2012)

Multis are great for a small tank. If you decide to do them, 6 is a great starting number. I did exactly what you've mentioned actually. I started with 6 multis in a 20 long with ~30 shells or so. Currently, I have my 6 adults and 4 sets of different fry (you can tell by the size of them). From biggest to smallest I have 2 + 4 + 6 + 3 = 15 fry now. Pretty insane once they reach breeding maturity.

Good luck and make sure to post pictures. Here's what my 20L looked like abouth 2 months ago when fry were nowhere to be found.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=250145

- H


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

In a 20L as others mentioned I would start with six multis and pile of shells on both sides with little bit of rock work in the middle make a line of sight for rejected multis down the road, if that would happen to happen.

As far as sumbu I'd start with six also hope for a pair or trio if extremely lucky maybe two pairs on each side. Depends on your fish. I would try to make three territories if possible so while there growing up more spaces to call there own.


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## Cooder (Jul 19, 2011)

About shellies hiding alot, im afraid your wrong  unless your talking about brevis which in my opinion have to be the most boring of cichlids *** experienced. With gold occies (and im sure speciosus would be the same) there was NEVER a dull moment, continuous digging and moving shells, squabbling over territory and WOW the colours... i would certainly recommend 6 of these little buggers, in a 10 gal though? no not that small, you will quickly find most of your gold occies dead.

with all cichlids im sure you will agree with me, bigger is better and its the exact same with shellies. How much space have u actually got? can u fit a 40 breeder? With a tank this size you would have more options.
IMO:
Start with 6 L.Ocellatus Gold/Blue, L. Speciosus or L. Stappersi (incorrectly called meleagris) with about 16 - 20 shells spread out a bit, not piled oh and make sure you have enough sand on the bottom for them to dig the shell in

Separate the tank with a small rock pile in which your nice pair of Julidochromis Ornatus or Transcriptus could dwell. if you start with 4 - 6 you must expect to have to move the others when 2 pair up OR they will be eliminated via natural causes  however this is the best way to get a pair.

On the other side of the tank, keep some larger shells where you could have a trio of A. Comp Sumbu shell. I dont recommend non dwarf Calvus or Comps with occies as mine were picked off.
maybe a couple of rocks in the corner if the sumbus want it, i would go a pair or trio but again the only way to really get that is buy them as adults which is expensive and hard to find or buy 4 - 6 and separate again.

If you could possibly fit a 55 gal, that would open up a school of 10-12 cyprichromis...

i hope this gives you something to research further and a good idea of what works with shellie "community" tanks

Cooder


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## kuopan (Jan 10, 2012)

Thank you for all the great advice everyone! Koteckn, I enjoyed going through your thread!

I will definitely post pictures and create a thread for my project. I am actually also planning to build a background, stand and perhaps canopy for this project so it'll be exciting!

on another note, i just saw an amazing deal for white calvus... would they go well with shellies, ocellatus and other shell dwellers? or are they too aggressive and big? also, is it recommended to keep them in a 20Long or would that be too small?

Unfortunately, i do have limited space in my condo so I don't think I can fit a 40gallon breeder... I would most likely need to stick to a 20L or 23L... Sadly, I know that this does limit my choices.


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## cichnatic (May 11, 2012)

I have multis and a calvus in my 20L. Talking about small fish and personality. The multis loves to defend their fry whenever the calvus swims anywhere near it or even just looking in their direction.


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## Braden8558 (Jan 13, 2013)

Sorry it took a while for me to respond back! I would also recommend 6 multies in a 20 long. You could even start with 4 and you would probably get at least one male and one female but 6 might allow them more options to choose their mate.

One question I've been wondering about is whether it is more beneficial to let a fish choose its mate? I have 4 brevis and 2 pairs which are kept in separate tanks. Two paired up and the other one wasn't really a pair from what I had seen but I put them together in a 5 gallon and they spawn and now they are a pair. I wonder if there are any benefits to letting the fish choose instead of putting a male and female together and having them pair up. More fry? Better parents? Who knows!


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## kuopan (Jan 10, 2012)

ok, it's been over a year and still no tank in my condo = ( I still have my 4 tanks at my parents' house and I'm back again contemplating what kind of tank i should get at the condo (MTS). With furniture piling up, i really have no room for any tanks other than on an ikea side table that is big enough to fit a 18x18x18 25gallon cube tank.

What do you guys think about these dimensions for shelldwellers? i still want to keep a pair sumbu shell comps (hoping to breed them as that is always exciting) and maybe a handful of multis or brevis. do you guys think that's overstocking the tank?


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## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

I have never kept Sumbu Comps, But IMO a 25 cube is to small, You could do shellies in their but a 20 long would be alot better. There has to be some where you could fit a 20 long. Think about it, Its your house it could go in the bed room on a counter Under/Next to a TV. But it seems like you are set on keeping Sumbu Comps. Another thing if you have to keep the Comps they will very much limit your shellies fry production


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## kuopan (Jan 10, 2012)

AfricanLove said:


> I have never kept Sumbu Comps, But IMO a 25 cube is to small, You could do shellies in their but a 20 long would be alot better. There has to be some where you could fit a 20 long. Think about it, Its your house it could go in the bed room on a counter Under/Next to a TV. But it seems like you are set on keeping Sumbu Comps. Another thing if you have to keep the Comps they will very much limit your shellies fry production


Thanks for your input! i really don't have much room. i'm in my condo and not a house. i have a side table that is roughly 20x19 and that would fit the 18x18x18 cube tank perfectly. i would ideally like the 20long since it's a great footprint but i don't have room anywhere for a 30x12 footprint except maybe the end of my computer table?

I'm assuming surface area matters the most for shell dwellers. An 18x18 footprint is approximately 324inch footprint while a 30x12 is a 360inch foot print. Will it really make that much of a difference?


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## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

Its the length because they need more area for territory. Think there is an extra 12 inches of space to split between territory, of other breeding groups of males


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

30x12 might fit a typical dresser....? On the kitchen counter...? top of the fridge?

You can do it!


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## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

Thats what I was getting at haha


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## cyfan964 (Apr 17, 2007)

Just my opinion, but after having both I much preferred similis to multies. I think they look cooler and have more personality.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

You could easily do a pair of brevis, or a small group of multis. People do multis in 10g tanks and thats like 20x10.


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