# Shellies and featherfins ?



## acreal (Jan 18, 2006)

Hey,

I was wondering if it was possible to house featherfins with shell dwellers or if that would mean constant harassment ?
I currently have featherfins in my tank but they seem more like open water fish to me, though they sift the sand pretty often. 
Tank is 6x1.75x2...

Vincent


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Which shell dwellers and which featherfins are we talking about here? As a generalization, I've seen them mixed well, but really depends on the species we are talking about.


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## acreal (Jan 18, 2006)

I currently have (4) C. foai and had no real idea for the shellies (i'm quite new to the subject). What would you recommend ?  Btw, I also have 5 N. buescheri in this tank.


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## acreal (Jan 18, 2006)

*bump*


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

I would recommend going with brevis, callirius, or Sumbu "compressiceps shell". These fish will all stick fairly close to their shells, without bothering the foai.

The problem could be if the buescheri are too aggressive for them. I might almost wait until I get a pair of buescheri, remove the rest, and then get the shellies.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

I find that my Altolamp "Sumbu" aren't all attached to their shells if they even have one that they call home, that being said, they aren't overly aggressive and probably wouldn't bother your foai and would be able to stave off the buescheri. I don't really find them to be true shellies, more like shell spawners. Brevis are a good choice, callirius, I've found to be rather timid.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Conversely, my Sumbu's are quite attached to their shells, and hang around them all the time. :lol:


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## acreal (Jan 18, 2006)

Thank you, i think i will try my luck with some brevis then. 

To complete the picture, here's my complete stocklist:

4 C. foai (would like to get 4 more)
2 A. calvus
5 N. buescheri (should be 2 by the time i get the shellies)
25 C. leptosoma
1 S. eupterus
Also, do you know how much brevis would be a good number for this setup and if i should take extra care to introduce them (apart from the regular steps) ? I don't have much decoration in the tank, the back is covered with an heavily crafted BG, but the rest is just open sand.

Going to check out the library on brevis now. :thumb:


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

L. brevis can be kept as a pair only, or in groups. What do you want out of them? A pair, or a mini-colony?


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## acreal (Jan 18, 2006)

I'm more interested in a colony, but i don't know how well they'd do in my setup since I read brevis are quite mild mannered fish.


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