# 20 long with shellies



## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

Hey all...Sorry to bug y'all again, but I'm setting up a shelly tank.

It's a 20 long, and I'm aquascaping today. I already have the sand, and some rocks, but the tank is still too cloudy from the sand to so anything more.

I"m getting the fish tomorrow. Either Multis, brevis, or possibly occies.

If I chose to do occies or brevis, how many should I get? If I go with multis, I was thinking around 6 or so of them.

what would some good tankmates be? The lfs has some tang. killies that I really like. What would some other good fish be?


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Lake Tang Killies??? Which ones? Its good to start with 6 for all of them and then as they pair or as their sexes become apparent remove the ones you don't want until you get the best ratio.


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

I didn't know there were different kinds of lake tang killies...lol

I'll do that. get around 6 of each or so.

I decided that I'll get brevis as my first choice, then multis after that, then, if I don't like any of those, I'll get occies.

I'll try to get pics up of the tank so that y'all can tell me if I ave room in the tank for different kinds of cichlids. I have a decent sized rock pile that something might be able to call home.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

I was curious as to the type of Killies because some of them do get rather larger and are unsuitable for an aquarium as small as 20 gallons. They are amazing fish though!


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

EDIT: Is there a way to attach pictures without uploading them to a website?

Right now, I have 6 large shells. 4 muffin shells, and 2 turbo shells. They are about 4 inches across, large, because brevis share shells.

Is there enough room for 2-3 pairs of brevis?

What about the rock pile? Could I get some kind of rock dweller? I would like to get some brichardi, but they breed like mad, so maybe either a lone brichardi, or if I can sex them (which I can't) a same sex group?

I"m really looking for suggestions as to what other cichlids I could get, if any.


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

What are your opinions on the following fish as tank-mates?

-L. caudopunctatus
-N. cylindricus
-L. daffodil (only 1 for now, or a single sex group)
-X. kanatalamba
-X. bathyphilus
-V. moori

What do y'all reccomend? I really like the daffodils and the cylindricus.


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## blcknwitecuban (May 30, 2006)

hey i know you!

sorry just dropping in. lol.

good luck with your shellies. i was thinking about getting brevis myself but then i changed my mind. if possible you should try and get lamprologus meleagris or pearly occies. they are pretty! i would have looked for them but i was interested in the colony breeding behavior. im not sure but if your still not sure what species you want go here:

http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=65

it gives you some basic yet good detail on different shellies and thats what i used to reach my descision. sorry if its off topic.


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## blcknwitecuban (May 30, 2006)

hey i know you!

sorry just dropping in. lol.

good luck with your shellies. i was thinking about getting brevis myself but then i changed my mind. if possible you should try and get lamprologus meleagris or pearly occies. they are pretty! i would have looked for them but i was interested in the colony breeding behavior. im not sure but if your still not sure what species you want go here:

http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=65

it gives you some basic yet good detail on different shellies and thats what i used to reach my descision. sorry if its off topic.


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

thanks! I know you too 

I was looking at melegris, but I think I want to go with the brevis. I"ll decide what I want when I get there tomorrow...lol They carry multis, occies, signatus, meleagris, compressiceps, brevis, and several others. I really wanted similis, but they don't have them


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## blcknwitecuban (May 30, 2006)

no fair! i still have no idea where im gonna get mine from... i need to check more LFS's


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

I have some similis! :thumb:


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

order from here:

www.wetthumbaquatics.com

that's where I'm getting mine from. I never looked into shipping, as I can just drive there, but I've heard it's pretty 'spensive. Bt I've seen the fish, and they are worth it.


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

Here's my tank, and my rock pile. Lemme know what you think.

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/attachm ... 1214275123

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/attachm ... 1214275123


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## blcknwitecuban (May 30, 2006)

i think it would be cheaper for me to drive there too and im in Chicago. i looks and i estimate $60 for just 6 fish.. im better off waiting


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

Fishbguy said:


> -L. caudopunctatus
> -N. cylindricus
> -L. daffodil (only 1 for now, or a single sex group)
> -X. kanatalamba
> ...


I"m still looking for feedback on these fish! I would like to get something to inhabit my rock pile and keep the shellies out of it. I don't care if they eat some of the fry.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Fishbguy said:


> What are your opinions on the following fish as tank-mates?
> 
> -L. caudopunctatus
> -N. cylindricus
> ...


If you've your heart set on brevis all you'll be able to keep is a single julie or a single caudopunk and even then there's an element of risk. You don't have enough floor space for the xenos and the other three you listed are just down right nasty fish.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

If you keep multies or occies I wouldn't really recommend anything else for this aquarium.


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## mikesl (Nov 12, 2003)

Concur with above...

CYlindricus get to be 6" bruisers

I think the best bet in a 20L is a shellie colony only.

One of my favorite tanks was a 20H with a trio of Lamp speciosus. and that's it.

When i started in the hobby, i thought "more is better" and crammed 3 breeding pairs of tangs into a 20H, and it actually mroe or less worked, while the fish were young. After years of experience, I would never do that (requires way too much close monitoring to avoid total disaster, and will eventually lead to total disaster regardless)

I have my similis colony in a 40 breeder with a small pleco and can;t bring myself to put my Juli. Regani in there because I think it would be too crowded. 

What you could do is put some danios or white coulds in as dithers, that should keep the tank plenty intyeresting.


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## mikesl (Nov 12, 2003)

Concur with above...

CYlindricus get to be 6" bruisers

I think the best bet in a 20L is a shellie colony only.

One of my favorite tanks was a 20H with a trio of Lamp speciosus. and that's it.

When i started in the hobby, i thought "more is better" and crammed 3 breeding pairs of tangs into a 20H, and it actually mroe or less worked, while the fish were young. After years of experience, I would never do that (requires way too much close monitoring to avoid total disaster, and will eventually lead to total disaster regardless)

I have my similis colony in a 40 breeder with a small pleco and can;t bring myself to put my Juli. Regani in there because I think it would be too crowded. 

What you could do is put some danios or white coulds in as dithers, that should keep the tank plenty intyeresting.


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

I got multis. 6 of them. Hopefully 2 males and 4 feamles. The guy gave me 2 largfer ones, and 4 smaller ones. So hopefully, I'llg et a good colony going.

when I go bak in a week to pick up some petricola cats for my 40 gallon, IK"m gonne get 4-6 tang. killies.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Fishbguy said:


> I got multis. 6 of them. Hopefully 2 males and 4 feamles. The guy gave me 2 largfer ones, and 4 smaller ones. So hopefully, I'llg et a good colony going.
> 
> when I go bak in a week to pick up some petricola cats for my 40 gallon, IK"m gonne get 4-6 tang. killies.


The Killies weren't Lamprichthys tanganicus were they?


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

I have no idea. They were just labeled tangynykian killies. No scientific name. If you give me pics, I could tell you what the parents look like.


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## Fishbguy (Jan 15, 2008)

Forget about the killies.

I decided on getting dwarf precox rainbows instead, as they are cheaper.


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