# Shellies in a Mac Monitor?



## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

I built a 6 gallon aquarium inside an old Mac monitor. I love the tank, and it holds right around 6 gallons of water. I've got a nice filter on it, and a 50W stealth heater.

I've previously kept some tetras and a blue ram pair in there, but I'm getting bored with those, and would love to try out some shellies.

Do you think they would do well in a tank this size? I was thinking of going single species and keeping a pair or a trio in there only. I would sell off any fry that come out of it. (I have some fry tanks at home for grow out)

What are your thoughts? Any species recommendations?


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## css virginia (Jan 29, 2007)

It is "unique" and interesting. Not something you see often. Can you get cichlid-forum.com on it..??.. :roll:


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## evanjohn (Jan 6, 2009)

Very cool, I would say you could put in a a small community of shell dwellers like multis but you would want to go with sand for the substrate though.

It's just not the same without the sand.. they build large mountains and barricades around their shells, it's really cool to watch.


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Oh I definitely plan on going with sand as the substrate. I made the switch to sand in my 29 gallon multicolor victoriae tank, and really really enjoy it. The fish interact with it much more, and it seems to be much cleaner. I doubt I'll ever set up another gravel tank again.

So you think a trio of multis would work?


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## evanjohn (Jan 6, 2009)

MHenrichs48 said:


> Oh I definitely plan on going with sand as the substrate. I made the switch to sand in my 29 gallon multicolor victoriae tank, and really really enjoy it. The fish interact with it much more, and it seems to be much cleaner. I doubt I'll ever set up another gravel tank again.
> 
> So you think a trio of multis would work?


It is hard to sex them, almost impossible - but what you want is a male and a few females. I kept a small community in a 10 gallon a while ago and the second male was kicked out of the community and hung out near the top of the tank(he eventually jumped..)

It's all about having enough little territories and you'll need a bunch of shells, the more the better.


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

multies are easy to sex when they are large enough. males are much larger 
i wouldnt do multies though. they over populate too fast. I was thinking something like brevis.
they are larger(easier to see), take up less space and they share shells  , and easy to sex


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## evanjohn (Jan 6, 2009)

Multies said:


> multies are easy to sex when they are large enough. males are much larger
> i wouldnt do multies though. they over populate too fast. I was thinking something like brevis.
> they are larger(easier to see), take up less space and they share shells  , and easy to sex


I guess I was assuming that they would purchase juvies, it is very apparent who's the male after watching them grow up and create territories.

Brevis are cool too.


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

So for those of you who keep shellies, which breeds are the smallest and most interesting. I looked around at some pictures / videos of multis, and they seem pretty entertaining. Some of the ocellatus variants definitely seem more colorful though.

Do you guys have any thoughts? Are there other breeds I should be looking into? Which breeds are peaceful, small, and interesting?

Feel free to post pics of your favorites.


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## evanjohn (Jan 6, 2009)

MHenrichs48 said:


> So for those of you who keep shellies, which breeds are the smallest and most interesting. I looked around at some pictures / videos of multis, and they seem pretty entertaining. Some of the ocellatus variants definitely seem more colorful though.
> 
> Do you guys have any thoughts? Are there other breeds I should be looking into? Which breeds are peaceful, small, and interesting?
> 
> Feel free to post pics of your favorites.


The multis are amazing, I haven't kept any other shellies though.

I like the multis because of their vibrant blue eyes. What they lack in color they make up for in attitude. I think that the multis are known as the smallest cichlid in the world. Here's some pics of mine:



















I don't know how available similis are to you but they look very cool too. They've got more coloration on the tips of the fins and their pectoral fins are a really nice blue: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Neolamprologus_similis.php


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

i have kept different types of brevis, multies, calliurus, black ocellatus, gold ocellatus, yellowfin ocellatus, caudopunctatus, bifrenatus, and ornatipinnis.

IME the most rewarding ones were multies(who got me into fish), caudopunctatus and occies.
i found brevis a bit shy, but something about them wants me to keep more. calliurus are much like brevis but larger, has a lyre tail and less shy. they also make you bleed  .

depends on what you like to keep.
my top 2 would be brevis and multies.
i found ornatipinnis a bit aggressive for a 5G tank even though *** kept occies in the 5 as well.


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Thanks for the info!

My LFS (who is pretty amazing for Africans) currently has Ocellatus (although the color variant isn't labeled), a few Brevis, and they carry multis but are currently out of stock.

All three of those sound pretty good. The occies were the best looking of those three, but they were too small to pick out a male and a couple females.

What does everyone think? Should I take the Brevis instead? Hold out for multis?

Keep in mind that this tank is just under 6gal, and I'm going to try keeping a male and a couple females.

Thanks!


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

Sweet tank. Very creative.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Is that a PC next to the Mac  Say it isn't so :roll:


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Razzo said:


> Is that a PC next to the Mac  Say it isn't so :roll:


Of course it is. He finally found a good use for a Mac. :lol:

Neat idea.


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## evanjohn (Jan 6, 2009)

Fogelhund said:


> Razzo said:
> 
> 
> > Is that a PC next to the Mac  Say it isn't so :roll:
> ...


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## BurgerKing (Jul 1, 2008)

Occelatus are definately(IMO) the best looking of all shellies, but they all have tons of energy and personality. I dont know how the occies would do in a 6g though, mine are in a 10 and happy but they arent fully grown yet.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

I guess i finally found one thing macs are good for. Cool idea. 
Just got some similis. Next step is sexing


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Fogelhund said:


> Razzo said:
> 
> 
> > Is that a PC next to the Mac  Say it isn't so :roll:
> ...


LOL, I am a PC user. I thought Mac users loved their Macs and would never ever use a PC again. :lol:


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Ok, ok, one quick argument for the PC vs. Mac comments, and then we'll move on to talking about the fish again.

I do like Macs, and I like Linux and a handful of other setups, but I've found that using Windows is by far the easiest. I haven't seen a Mac yet that could run four monitors like I have at work (see below).










That's super easy to do with a PC. I've also used them enough that I know the quirks and almost never get bluescreened. Macs have their plus sides, but they really don't deserve the fanatic following they have.

Ok, back to the fish. The real question I have is on what everyone's thoughts are on which shellies to get in the 6 gallon aquarium. I'm leaning towards the occies at my LFS, but I'm wondering if I should really hold out for multis.

For people that have kept both, which is the most fun?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

In most instances, ocellatus would be problematic in a 6 gallon. There are always exceptions, but generally they are too aggressive for such a tank. I would go with either the multifasciatus, or a pair of brevis.


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