# which is your favorite shellie



## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

getting a 20Long set up this weekend by some act of faith my g/f agreed to another tank so acting fast haha and just curious what everyones favorite shellie? it is going to a species only tank so few rocks and lots of open sand i do have multis so somthing besides them :thumb:


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## alexlee04 (Jul 19, 2009)

My vote is for gold occies. You just can't beat their personality. They really have no fear!


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Brevis, more active than many shellies. Easy to pair up and breed. Small territory requirements. I'd toss in a dozen juvies to start. You should get a few pairs going in there.


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## lelandgray (Jan 19, 2011)

I think I'm picking up a pair this weekend.. not sure what ones, probably Brevis. My lfs has some for $10 a piece.


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

Brevis are hard not to get along with, I love the yellow bellied variant. I love Similis too (As opposed to to multis). I also think stapps are great looking and I love the motorboat tail thing they do to dig fast. Oh and I always wanted some Calliurus!

Maybe I just like all of them! :lol:


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Calliurus might become my favorite if I could ever get my hands on them. They look like giant brevis. I just saw some WC on a list for $72 each.  Had to pass, too rich for me.


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

At that price I might start stealing fish filled shells too!


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## micr0 (Dec 27, 2010)

I vote speciosus. I've got a pair in a 20 long :thumb:


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## kiriyama (Oct 20, 2010)

Multifasciatus will fill your tank up with a nice colony in no time, very entertaining :thumb: 
Kunweensis are lovely and very active, but if you're after something a bit different try and source some Sumbu shell if you can, --- _Altolamprologus compressiceps_ (Sumbu) , very shy but very nice :fish:


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

I'm thinking sunspot brevis or Caudopunk they caught my eye would they work in a 20L species?


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

I'm thinking sunspot brevis or Caudopunk they caught my eye would they work in a 20L species?


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## craziloki (Oct 22, 2010)

punks are not shellies..
i love them though, have them in my tank.
Punks are very small.. Probably the smallest tang *** ever seen.. You could have quite a few in a 20g I would imagine.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

My personal favourites are multies and I've had pretty much every shelldweller. Aside from multies I guess I'd have to vote for a Telmatochromis species. T. temporalis "shell" would make a good fish for a 20 long!


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

i know punks arnt shellies but they still caught my eye none the less lol and multis already have some in my 75g :fish: but i have a guy that say he has some L. minutus said it was a variant of the brevis but cant seem to find much about them sept there not sure what there classified as seen them in person when i got my multis from here there pretty cool lookn i thought anyone have info on them?

found this N. sp. "Minuta" or "Minuta brevis"


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

t. temporalis 'shell' are one of my favorite of all time tanganyikans, but mine have never behaved like true 'shellies', so didn't vote for them. Juvies will duck into shells occasionally, but that's about it. My adults don't even use them to spawn. Great fish though. :thumb:


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

prov356 said:


> t. temporalis 'shell' are one of my favorite of all time tanganyikans, but mine have never behaved like true 'shellies', so didn't vote for them. Juvies will duck into shells occasionally, but that's about it. My adults don't even use them to spawn. Great fish though. :thumb:


Similar to caudopunks, telmats are facultative shell spawning fish.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> Similar to caudopunks, telmats are facultative shell spawning fish.


That's what I've heard, but mine have always preferred to dig out around and under rocks, and that's where they spawn. I could take the shells out for what little attention they pay to them. Now, my caudopunks won't spawn in rocks, only shells. They got the memo.


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

Frazee86 said:


> i know punks arnt shellies but they still caught my eye none the less lol and multis already have some in my 75g :fish: but i have a guy that say he has some L. minutus said it was a variant of the brevis but cant seem to find much about them sept there not sure what there classified as seen them in person when i got my multis from here there pretty cool lookn i thought anyone have info on them?
> 
> found this N. sp. "Minuta" or "Minuta brevis"


Frazee, there is some debate over whether minutus is a new species or a geographical variant of brevis, but in any case they are supposed to be the smallest tang, maximum size- 3/4 of an inch. I


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

must be a long debate think earliest post i seen was like 2006 about them not being brevis or there own species haha may try those dont see many ppl with them


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

also got some free time today so goin to set up the tank but the sand have to find some haha but will be taking pictures of the rocks see what ya guys think


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

trying to make 3 areas you can kind of see may change after sand gets added and the rock on the right isnt as big as it looks more of a cave in itself and if i can find the right rocks i may try a rock "condo"(like myrocks think who did it)


















tank is little scratched but it was free and what i had on hand but will work just fine


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

Looks good, big rocks and small fish seem to make a tank look bigger than it really is. I'm looking forward to seeing pics with the fish in it


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

me to hunting down some pool stores that are open now calling a place tomorrow  then the next step will be shells then fish :fish: and cycle suppose but can just steal some from my 75g so that will go quick


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

Little update added sand last night looks alot better added some media and a catfish i wanted to rehome from my 75g to help cycle it along(will be finding a new home after new fish get introduced) will have to take pictures later water was still cloudy last night so pictures to come :thumb:


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

temporalis get my vote too!


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

figured show my calvus who seems to be coloring up real nice


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

will be adding more shells once i find more planning between 25-30 shells


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

Tank looks good, but I would recommend snail shells, a 24 pack of escargot shells from amazon.com would be good


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

what i plan on gettin snail shells just seen those thought looked cool haha prob end up takin em out


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## baslozer (Aug 22, 2010)

I love temporalis, that is my vote,i got those beauties 6 months ago, they have spawned for me many many times, so now i have about 60 temps in a 20 long. I love their behaviour and toughness. They are more beautiful in real life, i have not seen many pictures that do them any justice.
Second place the pearly occelatus, insane fish
third, the similis.
sorry i will stop, shellies in general are by far my favorite fish from the lake, i have 10 tanks dedicated to them, all different kinds. I love the fact that they don't need a lot of space.


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

i'm goin with the maybe "brevis"/own species come to like shellies so prob be setting up lots more tanks for them down the road :thumb:


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

Frazee, did you get those minutis? pics?


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## podenbeck (Jan 5, 2011)

Brevis are pretty awesome! I have some Katabe- very cool coloration.


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

i can have some juvie pics for ya sunday haha when i plan on getting them :thumb: i'll see if i can get few pictures from the guy seen them back when i got my multis lookn forward to them


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## SandBagger (Nov 17, 2010)

I have a few Brevis Kitumba and in a separate tank some blue occies. I would suggest the brevis for your set up. Great behaviors and interesting color and pattern changes.


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

shells added and ended up buying two ac50s for buy1 get one1 sale couldnt say no so added one then probally take the old one off in amonth then find another tank for my other ac50 hmmm funny how things work lol


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

:fish: got them in the tank but there all hiding so pictures to come tomorrow or the next day once they get used to the new home :fish:


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)




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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

few of the pictures i liked the most and the rest are here

http://s917.photobucket.com/albums/ad11/Frazee86/


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