Lake Tanganyika Species • Shellies..

[skurj]

Haven't made up my mind, but I may toss some shellies into my tang community I am cycling, or possibly in their own 15g (2'x1'x1')
I have read that, that maybe small for occies (the 15g), and I don't like the idea of multi's with a bajillion shells...

How would Brevis fair with the following in the 55: (not concerned about breeding)
1 leleupi
3 alto calvus black
5 gobies (irsacae)
5 julie transcriptus
mebbe one day 8-10 cyp's if i find one i actually like..

all these fish will be under 2", and the gobies and julies the 5 is only until they pair up. at which point it will be a pair of each.

I like the idea of the brevis requiring a few shells instead of a ton..

If they won't go in the 55, I do have exactly enough room to put that 15g, besides the qt 15g that is under the 55.

[DJRansome]

Brevis would be great in the 15G but I would not put any shellie in a tank with lelelupi. I was warned, I tried it in a 72" tank and all shellies killed.

You also have a lot of rock dwellers in the 55G and cyps do better if you have a dozen or more.

[skurj]

I haven't put anything in yet..
Gobies I pick up tomorrow, and apart from those the alto calvus is the only other fish that is a must have.

Are 12 of the non-jumbo cyps ok in a 4ft tank?

Guess mebbe I should pass on either the leleupi or the julies (or should i pass on both?), and put shellies in the 15g

[whiskeyriver]

Julies, especially transcriptus, I think (from what I've read) would definitely work with Shellies. Equally tough, neither much larger than the other, inhabit different structures/areas in the tank. Now, in a 15g...that might be pushing it for both. But in the 4-footer...it doesn't sound like a problem to me.

[skurj]

But with alto calvus and gobies... too much?

[Rick_Lindsey]

In the 55, I would expect you to be ok with 2 substrate spawners plus the gobies (mouth-brooders), but I've never tried it myself. I'm sure some folks have had success with more species than that, but I lean towards under rather than overstocking.

Keep in mind my only tang tank at the moment is a 29-gallon julidichromis/multifasciatus tank, so this advice is worth what you paid for it

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who notes that in case he wasn't clear, he was advocating the gobies, the altos, and either the julies or the shellies (but not both) in the 55)