# Rocks for Julidichromis



## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Hey guys, I haven't kept julies yet, but I'm ramping up towards the MCAA fall swap meet on Oct 2, so I'm getting my tank ready. Here's a full tank shot of my preliminary hardscape... I've added 2 more rocks since I took the pic, but nothing major.










And looking down on it, to better show the rock layout










And a closeup for giggles...










Any suggestions on how to make that happy for julidichromis?

thanks!

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Julidochromis like their rocks going the other way. The underside of a flat rock makes them happy, with only a juli-size space between the floor and the roof.


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## SandBagger (Nov 17, 2010)

Yea..think small places...crevices and caves. The rocks you have look great, but I would stack much smaller rocks all around them as well.

The pair I have that mate have actually dug a cave of their own in the sand on the edge of/under a rock. I made sure there wont be any rock displacement. The same male spends time with another female on the other side of the tank in a deep cave where the entrance is just big enough for them to fit through. The brevis, cyps and calvus cant make it.

Looks like a fun set up you have for sure. Would love to see more pics as you progress!


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Which Julidochromis, and what are the dimensions of this tank?


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## SandBagger (Nov 17, 2010)

Good point...I should have specified mine are the marlieri gombe. I wrongly assumed you would go with one of the smaller species like me.

Maybe the larger species would do better with something other than what mine do.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Haven't chosen a species, though I'm planning for one of the smaller ones (transcriptus, marlieri "gombe", or the other small one -- i always forget whether that's regani or ornatus).

This is a standard 29 gallon tank, 30" x 12" footprint, 18" tall I think.

The shellbed is intended for L. Multifasciatus.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## mobafrontlover (May 1, 2011)

julies like small dark caves to feel comfy, so you might wanna paint that side of the and the back. Dont make the mistake i did i bought a trio and got them home and ended with a pair so id buy a small group because there bonds are weak and changing the slightest thing could brake them. as soon as you see one pushed to the top of the tank get it out or it will be killed very soon meaning hours maybe a day, but they are great fish


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

LOVE the multi shell bed- that will be fantastic for the females and young fry. I might suggest a small pump blowing out the bottom of the bed so that you don't have too much gunk build up. A submersible like http://www.amazon.com/Rio-Plus-50-Aqua- ... 376&sr=1-5.

I recommend caves instead of crevices for the julies too. Mine (marlieri, transcriptus, regani) have breed in conch shells, actual caves or other enclosed spaces...


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Pardon the terrible pics, but here's the "new" rockwork (same rocks, plus one, different arrangement), in situ :


















So far I hardscaped it and added water, no lights yet (thus the awful pics), nor filtration/heating etc. I've got more shells that I could add, but I'm leaning towards not -- I'm planning to bring some to the MCAA swap meet this weekend, and i'm not sure more would look better. There's the big bed on the right, of course, a small bed of a half-dozen shells just over the rock wall, sitting on sand, and 2 shells on the far left for any real multi rejects.

I'm planning to pick up ~3 juli. transcriptus this weekend, either kissi bemba or "gombi" (aka marlieri gombe). I'd get more, but I need to save cash for the multies too. Trying to do this on the cheap with stuff I already have for the most part. I've got 2 main horizontal caves, one rock-on-sand and the other rock-on-rock. There are also some other crevices where various rocks come together. I'm debating whether to backfill the rock-on-sand cave and let them excavate their own, but I'm not sure I really want more sand in there for them to be rearranging.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

3 julies isnt gonna be a good number to start with. believe me *** tried going on the cheap and ended up with less then ideal ratios of MtoF. i wish u the best of luck but try with like 5-6 at least and same with the multies. TBH outta the multies *** got now *** only got one female in 12 fish. sure shes breeding and sure i have like 3 dozen offspring at different growth stages but even then i wouldnt lean to lower numbers. GL to ya just my two cents


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Anthraxx8500 said:


> 3 julies isnt gonna be a good number to start with.


Yeah, unfortunately I know the math all too well. At 3 I've got a 25% chance of homogenous gender. That drops to 12.5% with 4 and 6% with 5. If money weren't tight I'd be going with 5 -6 for sure. Right now though, I figure I'll enjoy the fish whether they breed or not, and if I hit that 1-in-4 chance then I can always get more later, or trade the adults in and get a new group of juvies. Of course if I have swap-meet cash left over after the auction...

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## BNoel21 (May 15, 2011)

I like the tank and in the process of doing the samething in my 72g right now so the info im hearing is going to be very usefull. See you this weekend Rick!


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

With tangs, having one fish of each sex is nearly meaningless, imho. With julies in particular, they could care less about the statistical probability of gender distribution, and much more about whether their tank mates are fit to live. By starting with three, it is fairly likely that you will end up with one.

I recommend you skip coffee, eat pbj sandwiches, mow the neighbors' lawn or what ever it's going to take to save up for at least 2 more julies.


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2011)

im getting some trascriptus gombes next weekend the guy suggested i start with 6 or 8 they are all together now at his house at 2 1/2" and almost ready to breed then when a pair forms take out the extras and put in a diff tank and sell or do the same again when another pair forms


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Wow, I didn't realize julies were that nasty to each other. I figured I might not get breeding but didn't think they'd kill each other if noone was breeding. I'll have to see if my guy has any more he can bring to the swap.

-Rick


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## BNoel21 (May 15, 2011)

Rick he does


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## PaulineMi (Apr 3, 2008)

Make sure you have the top of your tank TOTALLY covered too. I found a dead Julie on top of my tank this afternoon, under the light. Sadly, he was dried out from the heat. I can't see where he got out because there's a glass top on the tank and a piece of styrofoam wedged in next to the filter. I have (had) six in tank and it's likely that the quick darting charges they go after each with caused the now dead one to shoot out of the tank.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Will do. I've got a plastic lid, and the filter cutout isn't *quite* big enough for my filter. I'll be sure not to oversize that hole!

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

And now I'll have 5 julies and 5 multies waiting for me on sunday. woot!

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who busted his budget, but you only live once, right?)


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## BNoel21 (May 15, 2011)

So far i got 6 multis and 6 daffodils


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Got home today with my fish! 5 julidichromis transcriptus (2 large, 3 small), and 5 l. multifasciatus. Throw in an albino BN pleco, and my tank is stocked! All but 1 of the multies promptly disappeared as soon as they were put in the tank, but I was expecting that. Was I wasn't expecting was how interesting the julies are finding the shellbed, or that the 2 larger julies are already liplocking... funny thing is they're doing it over the shellbed. The smaller julies swim down between the shells... and come up somewhere different! It's kind of funny. The one multi that's out seems to be prepping a shell, wondering what all these julies are doing around him .

Also came home from the swap meet with a baggie of black moscow guppies ($5 for a bag full, and my son gave my wife puppy dog eyes, so then she gave ME puppy dog eyes, and I handed him a $5 bill) and a pitbull pleco... they went in the 10 gallon that I was using to cycle the filters while I prepped the 29 (after I did a ~75% water change to get rid of the crazy nitrates).

Should be interesting to see how the 29 settles out tomorrow... hopefully the multies will show their face soon, band together, and inform the julidichromis that they can have the rocks, but these are THEIR shells .


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Saw all 5 of the multies, several hours after releasing them. The julies were exploring the rocks, though I did see a couple small julies chase some multies out of the bit of shellbed that's on the rock side of the "wall". Looking forward to watching the tank dynamics develop! Some of the multies stripes are quite pale, I'm assuming as they settle in an de-stress the stripes will darken up?

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Pics! Pics! opcorn:


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Hah -- need to get my lights going first (planning to pick up a new bulb today) -- no way I'm getting a decent pic of the fish without lighting with my wife's shoddy iPhone camera.

Might feed them tonight too, will try to get pictures if that gets them excited.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## xxbenjamminxx (Jan 22, 2011)

I have some Reganis in my tank (6 of them) and now I am getting a pair, and the Female (I believe, Larger one of the 2) relentlessly is harrassing the other Julis in the tank like its going out of style. I managed to catch 3 of the 4 "extras" last night and rehome them into a 10g for now.

All was fine until it seemed like one day they decided they werent having it, and that is in a 75g tank.

HTH's


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

So far there is no violence other than the initial battle for dominance. One of the larger julies and 2 of the smaller ones seem to have taken up residence against the wall, but on the shell side of it! The other 2 are over in the rocks somewhere, but until I get lights it's harder to see them since I have to stand so my shadow doesn't fall on the tank if I want to see multies!

At least 4 of the multies seemed to have chosen shells, none of which are adjacent to each other. They're tolerating the presence of the julies so far. The julies sometimes pester the multi that's chosen a shell near their spot, but nothing bad yet.

Sorry, no pics yet! I forgot to bring the bulb with me to get a replacement, and got the wrong size (walmart didn't have the right size anyways though). I'm hoping to get one that's the right size from the BORG today.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Disaster!!!! I just got a call from my wife, who found a whole ton of food dumped in the fishtank. She's coming to get me so I can start the damage control (one car sucks).

I have no idea how I'm going to get all that food out from the shellbed 

I'm tempted to stop at PetX (Smart or Co, both are nearby) to see if there's one of those eheim tank vacuum things so I don't have to do a jillion water changes to get the food out. Maybe I'll siphon into a net over my bucket, and then pour the tank water back in to wash/rinse/repeat.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## BNoel21 (May 15, 2011)

Keep us updated man. I hate seeing a disaster after all the work you have put into this.


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## PaulineMi (Apr 3, 2008)

Ugh....hope all goes well for you.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Thanks, guys. I picked up a 3/8" ID hose on the way home, which I figured would give me plenty of suction but a lower flow rate so I could vacuum for longer with the same water loss. I vacuumed everything I could see on the sand and in the shellbed, then I started putting water back in. As the water poured in over the shellbed it kicked up a bunch more food, so I went and found my quietone 1200 (for a sump project that I haven't built yet) and used it to try to blow as much of the food out of the shellbed as possible, over to the sandy part of the tank. Then I vacuumed all that up too.

I'm thinking I should hold off on feeding for a few days, and I'll be monitoring the water for ammonia/nitrite daily. I'm debating between getting a bottle of Prime, or some Ammo-Lock, or both to supplement water changes if I get a detectable ammonia reading.

The 10-gallon guppy tank had a bunch of food dumped in it too, but it's bare-bottomed so it was much easier to clean up.

I thought about stripping out the shellbed and cleaning out all the shells, but as soon as my hand goes in the tank, the multies go in their shells, and I can't be 100% sure which shell they're in, and I don't want to risk any of them .

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

I had ammonia and nitrite readings, so I picked up some Prime and some ammonia adsorbing media. Tossed in the baggie of ammonia adsorber and dosed a full dose of Prime last night.

I'll be doing a water change tonight for the nitrite, and might dose Prime again if the ammonia isn't gone. The bottle said I could do up to a 5x dose for high nitrate, but didn't talk about dosing for ammonia/nitrite.

I found a floater julidichromis this morning . I did see 4 multies active this morning though, versus the 3 I saw last night.

Now I'm just weighing the benefits of a light feeding to reduce "I'm hungry" stress vs fasting to reduce bioload. Anyone know how long the fish keep pooping if you stop feeding?

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Things seem to be back under control now (0 amm 0 nitrite). I lost the 1 julie, but haven't seen any more bodies. I suspect I may be short 1 multie since after patiently sitting and watching I can spot all 4 julies and 4 of the multies -- one might still be hiding, but I'm not really holding out hope at this point.

Here's the current layout (pardon the dirty glass, lack of top-off, and cheezy iphone camera):










2 of the julies seem to have taken up residence in that central cave (between the two flattish rocks), one is on the far side of the big vertical rock, and one has staked out a spot over by the wall to the shellbed.

2 of the multies have chosen shells near each other, but the other 2 are on opposite ends of the shellbed.

Now I just need to find a better power supply for the LED's (that pic was with 3 strips at 18.5V, I'm planning to run 4 strips at 12V instead). They were a little timid with the new light, but I'm sure once I get it set up and running regularly they'll warm up to it.

Almost time to just sit back and enjoy!!

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Woohoo!!! Love is in the air... i mean water. Yesterday I spotted fry in the shellbed near where one of the multies has taken up residence... one of the 4 seems to wander the bed, the other 3 appear to have staked their claim in a shell (or group of adjacent shells). Just now I was feeding and fishwatching, and while I didn't see the multi fry, Lo and behold there's a tiny elongated bit of something moving around in the cave complex where the 2 julidichromis live! woot! Neither of the julies that live in the cave have left it while I was watching, so I presume they're guarding their brood.

My only concern at this point are the other 2 julies, who are living relatively peacefully at the back of the shellbed (and who will be impossible to net, since they can swim down between the shells), and the bristlenose who has taken up residence underneath the shellbed. I don't think the julies will get much in the way of multi fry, but I worry that eventually they'll start getting harassed. Do bristlenose pleco's eat fry? I'm assuming he's just down there since that's where the uneaten food is probably settling. I didn't see the multi fry today though so it has me a bit worried!

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## dubghod (Oct 20, 2011)

I know they are very temperamental and all of the above advice is sound. However, I have been keeping 8 Marlieri in a 3' foot tank for about 8 weeks and none of them are damaged, albeit there are regularly 3-4 hanging around by the filter/heater etc. They are being moved into their long term tank at the weekend. I think I have 3 females and 5 males, time will tell.

David


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

dubghod said:


> there are regularly 3-4 hanging around by the filter/heater etc.


This is a sign of an unhappy Juli. Hope they enjoy their new tank. :thumb:


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## dubghod (Oct 20, 2011)

> This is a sign of an unhappy Juli. Hope they enjoy their new tank.


Thanks, I do to . Im going to post a journal of the whole move and setup process in the tank setup forum shortly if youre interested .

David[/quote]


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

You can see the baby multies towards the end, but I wasn't able to get a good pic or vid of the juli babies.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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