flyfisher Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 Looking at starting a colony of Multis and was wondering what would be a good starting number in a 20 gallon. 24" x 12" x 16". thanks FLY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 it's hard to tell males from females, but I think anywhere between 5-8 would be sufficient. They are a feisty fish, and when breeding their colony should grow quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted October 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 thanks for the advise now to find them so far only been able to source some Brevis but have my sites set on a Multi colony so the search begins. FLY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted October 12, 2012 Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 They are available...you just have to know who to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Found some wasn't easy managed to find four juveniles spread among other Tangs in three different tanks at at LFS the guy that helped me didn't even know they has some. had to look up price nothing was posted on the tanks.So straight into QT tank with a couple of escargot shells I found.They all look healthy and feisty would be an understatement for these little guys or girls. Fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Oh good for you! Some good shells for you to look out for are the whale eyes and turbos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Thanks would still be interested in more juveniles but I have a good start to my colony.Shells has been another search all on its own I've been to several dollar stores all to small Walmart has bags of shells but very few of a useable size.The escargot shells I found still had Snails and green butter sauce in them I found in the freezer section of Walmart I tried one not impressed so rest went to the compost pile LOL the things we do for our fish friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Check Ebay. I got a bunch of shells for 5-10$ shipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Check Ebay. I got a bunch of shells for 5-10$ shipped. Thanks found the listing on Ebay I also found a french bistro/deli that carries empty escargot shells they just happen to be out stock should be in aprrox. a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aonyx Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 The dollar store at Brentwood Village sometimes has little boxes of turbo (?) shells. L'epicerie downtown carries escargot shells, but it was about $20 for a bag of 12. And they were very thin shells. I honestly don't see them holding up for actual cooking... Good luck =) It took me forever to get a good number of shells for my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 The dollar store at Brentwood Village sometimes has little boxes of turbo (?) shells. L'epicerie downtown carries escargot shells, but it was about $20 for a bag of 12. And they were very thin shells. I honestly don't see them holding up for actual cooking... Good luck =) It took me forever to get a good number of shells for my tank. Made it over to L'Epicerie they now have escargot shells in stock twelve for $6.00 if anybody is looking 1325 - 1 street S.E 403 514-0555 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted December 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 So my little Multis have made it through quarantine with no problems all survived but I'm noticing they all look skinny compared to pictures on the net. When I picked them up from the lfs they were mixed with other tangs 3x their size so they probably didn't eat as well as they should have but since they have been fed nls small fish formula .5mm,frozen blood worms , mysis shrimp & algae wafers on WC days( they make a big mess)they were treated with Lev twice and a week of paraguard am I worrying to much or missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystal Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 I found mine don't like pellets, they prefer flakeand enjoy frozen. Mine especially love live daphnia (I use the daphnia as "vacation feeders" and I usually come back to fry). Shells can be found in Dollaramas - they bring in bags of whaleseye 13-18 for $2. They only bring them in once a year around April-July sometime. I haven't found any for the last 3 months. Check the candle section in any store you go to, it is sometimes amazing what you can find. (Never buy the dyed shells). One Walmart I checked had a 3lb container of shells that was nice. http://cichlidbreeding.com also carries lots of shells, mine prefer whaleseye, muffin shells (males), and Japanese snail shells(females). You have to email them for a shipping quote. Multis are hard to find, it took me almost 4 months to find my original 12 fish. Mine are not breeding at the moment. I know there are some in the pet store in Westlock for $8.50 ea. I used to have an entire 90g with them, but I sold most of them and just kept a few. Multis normally grow quite slowly; but, as I found out by mistake, if they have a 24/7 supply of live daphnia their growth rate goes up exponentially. I had separated about 25 1cm fry for someone, and dumped a 'whack' of daphnia in every couple days, they put on 3 months of growth in 2 weeks. :shock: Can you tell that I now love live daphnia? They swim around until eaten and don't pollute the water. By the way, after you introduce the original fish, it is nearly impossible to add more later on. Even in my 4' tank with 8 fish in their shell bed in the far right corner, I had to temporarily place a divider so the 4 new ones I got could settle into a new shell bed in the left hand corner. Adding females is hard enough, adding males is nearly impossible - you may not be able to tell, but they sure can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted December 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 Hi Crystal thanks for the info. on Multis the more the better I think I solved my skinny fish problem.I got sloppy with my water tests when I did a check nitrites were up( me bad)I corrected the problem and now their eating like little pigs and starting to fill out. All four are still young but I'm pretty sure one is a female( smaller slightly different body shape) another I'm not sure yet and two are males. I will look into daphnia sounds like a good idea and a natural food for them,I discovered mine like to hunt down the ramshorn snails that hitch hiked in on the Java Fern I added to the tank so maybe I found a new snail control for my plants LOL. So hopefully things are to their liking and fry will soon follow. Thanks for sharing info. Fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted January 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 I have fry or should I say one fry spotted it today during feeding,it must have been in there awhile its already about a 1/4" and busy cruising the shell piles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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