# shellies setup help



## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I have a 55g tank that I am bored off and want to do something new. I have not kept shell dwellers and am considering them. I would like to hear some thoughts on set up (I have kept malawi for years). I would also like to hear some thoughts about what fish would be good for a first timer, how many? etc. Do you keep catfish with them?

Thanks!


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## greggb (Feb 4, 2010)

emptyhead said:


> I have a 55g tank that I am bored off and want to do something new. I have not kept shell dwellers and am considering them. I would like to hear some thoughts on set up (I have kept malawi for years). I would also like to hear some thoughts about what fish would be good for a first timer, how many? etc. Do you keep catfish with them?
> 
> Thanks!


I'm somewhat of a newbie but I just got my first shellies a few days ago. Their colors are a tad on the lacking side, but their behavior is really fascinating. From what I understand the challenge of keeping them in a 55 gallon tank will be in selecting tankmates that will complete the tank. If you're going to go lake Tang one recommended setup is shellies, calvus, and cyps or paracyps. That's what I have in my Lake Tang tank and though the colors are a little drab, the fish get along well, and there's a lot of activity, which to me more than makes up for my Mbuna tank, with more colorful fish that spend a lot of time hiding in their caves.

You can keep shellies in a smaller tank. There's an article here that recommends keeping 1 pair in as small as a 10 gallon tank. So that would be an option.

And if you want a change from Malawai you might consider going lake Tang. There you have a lot of options in shellies and a lot of other species that from what I understand cohabitate very well even as adults. From what I read and what I've been told you could probably keep 4 or 5 different lake Tang species in a 55 gallon tank without the problems you'd normally find in Malwai tanks with that many species.


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

yellow belly brevis are a mellow and gorgeous choice. I like them because they get along with everyone and, over dark substrate, they're quite colorful. Orange Occelatus has great color too but of the "Occelatus" type shellies I prefer Lamprologus Stappersi/meleagris because they look so salty to me.

Stapps are capable of building a large and fascinating colony as well but the mother ship of shelly proliferation has got to be Multis or Similis. They're pretty much the same fish but Similis are a bit feistier and better looking in my opinion. A species tank as big as a 55 would go from 4-5 similis or multis to 30 of them within a year and, imo would look cool even if you didn't add anything else. But if you did I think Similis and Cyprichromis leptosoma "Utinta"X10 would look very pleasing.

Of course if you have access to them, L. Callipterus have to be the most fun to watch. Set up your 55 with 2 males, separate shell piles on each side of the tank, about 6 or more females (The females are tiny while the males are a bit larger than your thumb!) and behold as the males steal shells from one another all day and night, targeting the shells with females already in them! Too cool!


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## tranced (Jan 11, 2006)

speciosus are pretty nice too


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've been advised not to keep catfish with them because the cats disturb their natural behavior not to mention eat the fry. I followed the advise, so I can't confirm. :thumb:


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## cjbtech (Dec 5, 2008)

I have had Gold occys. with syno. Multis & Petricola. In my experience they are no better or worse then calvus or comps in with them. The calv./ comp. fishes are fry catching machines.
i also have seen Occys. pick off more of their neighbors fry than any catfish or comp.
I do think you have gotten some good advice though. the darker substrate with the occys. & especialy the brevis is a must. I had some Kitumba Orange bellies on white sand that looked like Multis until I put them on black gorgeous.
Of the ones mentioned I have only had 3 types. Occy, Multis, Brevis. Of the 3 the Occys were far & away the most aggressive & needed more space. If you like your hand bitten & cleaning tools atacked occys are for you. the brevis & multis. were mostly all show no go. I think any of them would be a great choice.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

Thank you all so much for the advice! I am looking for some local breeders and will begin tearing down my old set up this week.


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## tranced (Jan 11, 2006)

in my experience stappersii/meleargis are rather mild, and speciosus are really nasty


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I found a group of 5 brevis, up to 20 dwarf brevis (Lamprologus minutus), or a large group of multies locally.

Right now I am planning on doing just a species tank. Any thoughts on which of the above three would be good. Should I wait for something different? What size group should I start with?

I am thinking of a group of 12 multies.


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## cjbtech (Dec 5, 2008)

I don't think that you can go wrong with a group of Multies. The only problem you will have is decideing what to do with the fry. The 12 will be 24 not to far down the road.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I am becoming a firm believer that fish with more tank than what may seem necessary produces the best and most natural behavior, so to me a 55g tank has a good footprint for keeping shellies. The tank is tall though, should I try to keep something in the upper water column? Should I keep a bristlenose in the tank to help keep the tank clear of algae?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

A bristlenose and a dozen non jumbo cyps would work well.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

DJRansome said:


> A bristlenose and a dozen non jumbo cyps would work well.


Cyps! I had no idea! I just read about them, I didn't know anything about them. They really wouldn't bother the shellies?

My Malawi bubble has been burst by Lake Tanganyika.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My shellies and cyps swim together quite happily, but they are supposed to occupy bottom and top respectively. Utintas are nice, I have Kerenge.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

Well, the old set up is gone. The tank now has sand and 6 medium size river rocks. I am going to put some jungle val in a corner or two. I need to get shells as well.

There are three plecos in the tank right now - a green phantom and 2 bristlenose.

It is filtered by a Fluval 304. There is also a small fan moving water at the surface. I may run some bubbles into the tank with a small air pump too.

Should I have little water movement for multies? Highly oxygenated water? Should I change anything?

I will post pics after I get fish. (I was to get fish tonight, but was not able to get them.)


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Your filtration can provide all the water movement and oxygenation you need, and the multies will be happy with what you have.

You have 4X turnover with the Fluval, you might be happier with additional filtration. I like 7X to minimize the debris left behind by the filter that I have to later vacuum.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

DJRansome said:


> Your filtration can provide all the water movement and oxygenation you need, and the multies will be happy with what you have.
> 
> You have 4X turnover with the Fluval, you might be happier with additional filtration. I like 7X to minimize the debris left behind by the filter that I have to later vacuum.


Okay - that makes sense. I don't think I will be increasing my filtration any time soon. What do you do to get to 7x turnover?  Run two filters?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes on all my tanks larger than 20G I run two smaller rather than one large. Gives me a backup if there is a problem with one. Some people like 10X, LOL. I have not tried that yet, I'm afraid I will like it as well.

I did have tanks at 4X for a while and was amazed at how much debris was removed even 24 hours later with the extra filtration.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I picked up 12 multies tonight and 12 shells. Most of the fish are under an inch. They went in the tank about 15 minutes ago and right now are just hanging out in the rocks.

I am excited to see them settle in and take to the shells.

The breeder that I got them from had a 55g just full of multies. It was very neat to see a large colony like that. He must have had over 100 fish in there.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Sounds gteat. Multi's like a lot of shells, as many as five per fish or more.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

DJRansome said:


> Sounds gteat. Multi's like a lot of shells, as many as five per fish or more.


Okay - good to know. I will pick up some more shells. DJ - thanks for all of your help.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I may have found some Paracyprichromis nigripinnis to add to the tank. These fish will swim in the upper level and not bother the multies?


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

emptyhead said:


> I may have found some Paracyprichromis nigripinnis to add to the tank. These fish will swim in the upper level and not bother the multies?


Answer my own question again - from what I have found out - the Paracyprichromis do not swim in the open water like the Cyps. They prefer to be around the rocks - especially large vertical rocks.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Right, caves up high. They are really cave dwellers and their colors pop in the dark caves. But no reason they would not be compatible with shellies.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

DJRansome said:


> Right, caves up high. They are really cave dwellers and their colors pop in the dark caves. But no reason they would not be compatible with shellies.


Now you've got me thinking again! I would have to have a big pile of rocks for really high caves, right? I want to keep a pretty sparse tank with a lot of open sand for the shellies, so I thought the Cyps would be perfect. The Paracyps would occupy some of the area around the low rocks that would otherwise be available for the multies?

Could I do the Paracyps *and* the Untitas with the multies? Or should I just keep one with the multies?

Edit - I found some tri-color Cyps - would these get too big for a 55g?


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## Chris2500DK (Feb 15, 2006)

A couple of alternatives to cyps would be dwarf/neon rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecox) and Zebra danios. Neither are tanganyikans, but they're both open water swimmers and deal well with the water parameters. In addition both are smaller than cyps so they won't add as much to the bioload.

You could add either along with the Paracyps.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

I added 14 small Cyp Utinta. I am glad that I got them - a very interesting fish - I have never observed a schooling open water cichlid before. I am looking forward to watching them grow and show color.

My stock now is 14 multis and 14 Utinta. I think that may be all I will do.

I will try to post some pics soon.


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## Chris2500DK (Feb 15, 2006)

Sounds like a fun tank. Looking forward to updates and pictures


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

Here are some pics from a couple of days ago. I have since removed the piece of wood and added an air stone. I'm going to let the plants grow tall and cover some of the top of the tank. I'm thinking of adding some more rocks along the back of the left side of the tank and maybe adding another species to occupy the rocks. Sorry for the poor quality of the pics. Any input is welcome.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

Bump - any thoughts on the setup from looking at the pics?

I have removed the piece of wood and added an air pump.


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## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

since you only have the multies and cyps, your set up should be fine.
i also have 15cyps utintas that will be going in my 75g and i cant wait 
to see them schooling. 
i have them with 4 julis gombe and 3 comps and 3 male paracyps.
im thinking of putting this group in the 125 so i can get more cyps but
its currently housed by breeding 1m7f cypho mpimbwes so i dont really want to 
disrupt them.


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