Wingin' It Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I was just wondering if anyone here is breeding or keeping any of the Tanganyikan Shell Dwellers? I was looking at them this past weekend and thought they might be a nice addition to the collection. Any past experiences with them, hints, tips...yadda yadda...haha...would be nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burbot Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) I have a few shell dwellers at the moment. They need a few shells of course and they can pretty much hold thier own as long as there is nothing else in the tank big enough to eat them. You have to be careful about too many males of the same species. Purple ocellatus males don't tolerate one another. If you give them sand substrate the will be alot more interesting to watch as them seem to like digging and moving thier shells around. Some people keep them in comunnity tanks with all kinds of other fish. Hope this helps, Cheers :beer: Edited February 23, 2009 by Burbot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I was thinking about the following fish: LAMP. OCELLATUS LAMP. STAPPERSII NEO. BREVIS NEO. CAUDOPUNCTATUS NEO. MULTIFASCIATUS They look nice but I wasn't sure which ones or where to get 'em locally. I do think they're awfully cool though...living/breeding in shells and needing relatively little room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burbot Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 They are all great fish but I wouldn't put them all in the same tank. Some of them look very similar and you run the risk of cross breeding and making hybrids (is that the toilet I hear flushing?). If you are setting them up in seperate tanks you will probably have fry in no time. You can breed them in tanks as small as 5 gallons with a good pair. The caudopuntatus are very agressive and they will bully other fish over twice thier size. I have seen ocellatus attack frontosa, gravel cleaners and arms that came too close to thier shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I was planning on keeping them in separate tanks...I think when you came to get those two small tanks from me a few weeks ago you saw I had a lot of 'em left? LOL I think i'll try for 2-3 types in separate tanks...just a couple or two of each probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burbot Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) Lol, well ya. You definately have the tank space. So much for slimming down the fish room, eh? :beer: Edited February 27, 2009 by Burbot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 I keep my ocellatus in a separate 10 gallon, but typically they can go with other fish that won't eat them up. Just a word of advice if going for ocellatus, give them a nice deep layer of sand with at least 2-3 shells per fish, but not too many. It is fun to watch them completely bury their shells in the sand, and leave just a little hole at the top for them to go through. That's how they hide from predators as well. They can be very territorial, I have even been bit by one before from sticking my arm in the tank lol......although it more or less startled and didn't hurt. They will attack fish much larger than them. As for some of the others I don't have any experience with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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