Wackinator Posted June 19, 2009 Report Share Posted June 19, 2009 hey, well I've been wanting to keep multies for a long time and since tmr is my physics final exam, ill actually be able to set them up soon so my question is, If I keep some multies in the 20 gallon instead of 10 would I be able to put any other cichlids in with them, I've read online about people keeping electric yellows with multies and having them both breed succesfully, would that work? any suggestions/help on what I could/should/shouldnt put in with them? and one more question how many multies is the maximum amount in a 20 gallon. what about a pair of kribs with them? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish4fun Posted June 19, 2009 Report Share Posted June 19, 2009 always go for the larger tank IMO. In a 20 gallon i'd start with 6 multis and soon enough, there will be more then you know what to do with. for a 20 gallon tank, i'd stick to a species only tank, if you go to a 33 gallon, then you can add in some dwarf cyps. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackinator Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2009 always go for the larger tank IMO.In a 20 gallon i'd start with 6 multis and soon enough, there will be more then you know what to do with. for a 20 gallon tank, i'd stick to a species only tank, if you go to a 33 gallon, then you can add in some dwarf cyps. HTH okayy thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted June 19, 2009 Report Share Posted June 19, 2009 I would go for the 20g. I used to have multies in a 20g and it made for a nice tank. I started with 5 and soon had hundreds! They form colonies, with several generations of fry all living together. Its pretty neat to watch. In a 20g I wouldn't add any tankmates. I tried to add some top dwelling fish but they were constantly harassed. Multies(and shellies in general) are very feisty and territorial. They dont' like anything coming close to their shells. The only things I found that would work in my multi tank were zebra snails and a bristlenose pleco, anything that swam around wasn't tolerated. If you want tankmates you need a larger tank so they can both have their own areas. Get a 20g, some sand, a bunch of shells and 4-6 multies. You'll have a nice interesting tank to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackinator Posted June 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 I would go for the 20g. I used to have multies in a 20g and it made for a nice tank. I started with 5 and soon had hundreds! They form colonies, with several generations of fry all living together. Its pretty neat to watch. In a 20g I wouldn't add any tankmates. I tried to add some top dwelling fish but they were constantly harassed. Multies(and shellies in general) are very feisty and territorial. They dont' like anything coming close to their shells. The only things I found that would work in my multi tank were zebra snails and a bristlenose pleco, anything that swam around wasn't tolerated. If you want tankmates you need a larger tank so they can both have their own areas. Get a 20g, some sand, a bunch of shells and 4-6 multies. You'll have a nice interesting tank to watch. Thanks for the advice, Ive already got the tank and a couple packets of the dollarstore shells, would they work for multies as soon have an opening as big as 1.5-2 inches, just need the sand and fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 I agree, a species only tank would be best. Provide 2-3 shells per fish, using shells like the ones sold for hermit crabs or similar to those of an apple snail. Some shells don't have the right shape for them to really use, you want to look into ones that will have space inside of them for the fish to hide in. Just look at your shells and see if they are similar. I would boil the shells first to make sure there isn't anything in or on them that will harm the fish. For decor in my ocellatus tank I use sand (which is the preferred substrate), and then I have the shells placed in the sand with the bottom half burried in the sand. If the multies are anything like the ocellatus, they will bury the entrances of their shells with sand. If you provide a few larger shells that 2 mutlies can fit in at a time, they will spawn in them. That is all they really need for their tank, if you want to add plants or rocks as well it is fine to do so just as long as you keep alot of space left over on the bottom of the tank, floor space is very important for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackinator Posted June 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 I agree, a species only tank would be best. Provide 2-3 shells per fish, using shells like the ones sold for hermit crabs or similar to those of an apple snail. Some shells don't have the right shape for them to really use, you want to look into ones that will have space inside of them for the fish to hide in. Just look at your shells and see if they are similar. I would boil the shells first to make sure there isn't anything in or on them that will harm the fish. For decor in my ocellatus tank I use sand (which is the preferred substrate), and then I have the shells placed in the sand with the bottom half burried in the sand. If the multies are anything like the ocellatus, they will bury the entrances of their shells with sand. If you provide a few larger shells that 2 mutlies can fit in at a time, they will spawn in them. That is all they really need for their tank, if you want to add plants or rocks as well it is fine to do so just as long as you keep alot of space left over on the bottom of the tank, floor space is very important for them. thanks firestorm for your help, I will be looking around to see if I can buy any bigger shells but Im pretty sure that the ones I have are big enough. I will be making some caves out of rocks and thanks for the advice on boiling the shells didnt even think of that >.> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystal Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 I keep my trio of multis in a 10g. Like the others said, putting other fish in doesn't work when there are eggs/fry. I have extra females in my 55g tetra/danio tank with no problems. The ones in the 55g don't even really stay near the shells with no fry to protect, though they sleep in the shells at night. Here is a good site for additional info. http://www.shelldwellers.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackinator Posted June 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 I keep my trio of multis in a 10g. Like the others said, putting other fish in doesn't work when there are eggs/fry. I have extra females in my 55g tetra/danio tank with no problems. The ones in the 55g don't even really stay near the shells with no fry to protect, though they sleep in the shells at night.Here is a good site for additional info. http://www.shelldwellers.com/ Yeah since I'm only getting 3 juvenile multies for now I'll keep them in the 10 gallon, and yes I use that site a lot but thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blam Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 go with teh 20 for sure. you'll find that the 10 is way too small after about a month. i've had my 29 running for about 3 months now and i want something twice the size Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 I would agree. A 20 gallon would be much better for a colony, and I would try getting 5 to start with and weed them out as you go along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackinator Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 I would like to go with a 20 but so far am having no luck with finding multies, I am buying 3 multies that are still less then an inch from a fellow AA Member, its the only luck I've had, and a 20 gallon just for them doesn't seem right. Maybe move them into the 20 if they later start a colony >.> hopefully they wont be all males or females, it'll be too empty with just 3 inches worth of fish especially cuz they are shelldwellers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 You can put 3 into a 10g and hopefully they will start to breed shortly(my first fry showed up 2 weeks after getting them). Then you can move them all into a 20g. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 You can move them but i'd start with a 20 so you don't have to and a 20 will allow much more forgiveness with water quality and temperature and temp can be a big issue at this time of year so you might want to consider that. I know here in edmonton i saw some at our big al's today.....(2am ouch) I mean yesterday and they were waaayyy to expensive at 17-30 dollars each. I'm sure you can find more if there aren't enough in the first bunch and maybe the person you are getting them from will have some more in a few months or so. Chances are you'll have to move them so avoid the hassle and have them in the bigger tank from the start if you can. Good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wackinator Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 You can move them but i'd start with a 20 so you don't have to and a 20 will allow much more forgiveness with water quality and temperature and temp can be a big issue at this time of year so you might want to consider that. I know here in edmonton i saw some at our big al's today.....(2am ouch) I mean yesterday and they were waaayyy to expensive at 17-30 dollars each. I'm sure you can find more if there aren't enough in the first bunch and maybe the person you are getting them from will have some more in a few months or so. Chances are you'll have to move them so avoid the hassle and have them in the bigger tank from the start if you can. Good luck L hey thanks for the advice but I think I will start off with the 10 gallon because as of yesterday I have over 50 molly fries that Ill put in the 20 gallon, and just went to Big Als today, the multies here are $10 a piece,a little more then Id like, but thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.