[dielikemoviestars]

Hi all. I usually hang in the Malawi section, but occasionally venture over here just to see what the other lake is doing...

I've got a 2-parter, the first of which is a bit noobish, and the 2nd of which is less so.

1. I've found a great deal on 6 Multies + 30ish shells. Owner thinks they're 2m:4f. Will the males go ballistic if put together in a 10g? I've got a spare one and would like to set up a little colony.

2. If a 10g would work, could I still use this tank as my nursery/grow-out for my mbuna? Demasoni and Yellow Labs. Only until they're about 1".

Or... I know we're not big advocates for mixing lakes here, but could I put the Multi colony in my 40g breeder with my demasoni/YL (still juvies, though 1 dem is holding) and just save the 10 for mbuna growout? I have tons of open substrate going on right now in the 40g, and could easily rearrange my rockwork to set up 2 shell territories on either end of the tank, if necessary.

Thoughts? I know that none of this is probably "ideal," but for $20 for the fish/shells, I'd have a really hard time passing it up...

 

[shellies215]

Thats tough, you can definitely do the multies in the 10 but the mbuna thing isn't gonna work. If you put tiny fry in there the multies will prob eat them, on the other hand if the mbuna dont get eaten the problem could become mbuna killing multies

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Alright. I'm almost starting to consider dumping the mbuna (have kept them before and could easily sell the group off) and going to Tangs. They just seem... more exciting.

 

[Floridagirl]

I have had Similis and just got Multies , each in a 10 gallon. It works but a bigger tank is really nice to see behavior and watch them defend themselves againt Calvus, Julies, etc. I have one Similis male(as he would not tolerate any others), and will pull extra males if they become a problem in the multi tank.

 

[fmueller]

Multies in a 10G, mbuna in the 40G. You just can't save any mbuna fry until you can get another grow out tank.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Sounds good to me... Found someone relatively nearby looking for dems, so I'm thinking of selling off the mbuna - like I said, I've kept them for years and have never had a "real" Tang tank - and going with Tangs in the 40. Will start another thread for that one :lol:

I think I'll grab the Multis and put them in the 10 for now.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Actually, I'll just consolidate the new thread and confirm here:

Multi colony, pair/colony of J. ornatus/other small Julie, trio/quad of Paracyps?

Rocks on both ends, shells in the middle.

 

[shellies215]

Be careful, I had a 55 mbuna tank, gave the mbuna to the guy across the street so I could switch to tangs, now I'm up to three tang tanks !!

 

[prov356]

trio/quad of Paracyps

I think you need more to really appreciate this fish. 7-8 would probably be my minimum. But males will compete with the juli's for territory in the rocks. If they can't claim any, I'm not sure that they'll show their best, and they may not breed. With juli's in the tank, fry wouldn't last anyway. Even if starting with a single pair of juli's, they will colonize the rock pile. Just stuff to consider. After seeing paracyps, I wouldn't mix them with a rock dweller. So much I'd have missed. Maybe let the paracyps and multi's have the tank for a while, then change things up later.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

trio/quad of Paracyps

I think you need more to really appreciate this fish. 7-8 would probably be my minimum. But males will compete with the juli's for territory in the rocks. If they can't claim any, I'm not sure that they'll show their best, and they may not breed. With juli's in the tank, fry wouldn't last anyway. Even if starting with a single pair of juli's, they will colonize the rock pile. Just stuff to consider. After seeing paracyps, I wouldn't mix them with a rock dweller. So much I'd have missed. Maybe let the paracyps and multi's have the tank for a while, then change things up later.

Thanks Prov - I had read trio/quad as a suggestion in a previous post, but before that had planned on a more "full" colony. Is m:f ratio super important like with mbuna? I'd imagine 1m:lots f?

More questions: are multis considered "substrate" dwellers, in that they'll interfere with others? I don't know what I have in mind, or what might even work in my tank.

Would A. calvus/comp get along better with paracyps than julies would?

 

[DJRansome]

The 40G is a 48" tank? If yes, you could go with non-jumbo cyps instead of paracyps.

One species for each habitat is usually pretty workable. Shellies for the sand and one rock dweller (juli's or alto's).

 

[dielikemoviestars]

It's a breeder - 36". Might have a chance to upgrade to a standard 55 soon - my 60 cracked when I moved a couple years ago, and I've yet to replace it. Still have the stand/hood.

 

[prov356]

Is m:f ratio super important like with mbuna? I'd imagine 1m:lots f?

1m/1f ratio would be great if you can work that out.

Would A. calvus/comp get along better with paracyps than julies would?

Yes, if I had to pick one over the other, I'd pick the alto's. But, only better to a certain degree. My alto's aren't in the rocks as much and aren't quite as territorial.

are multis considered "substrate" dwellers, in that they'll interfere with others?

Typically shell dwellers, but I've heard as numbers grow, they could well populate the rocks. But, the alto's would do fry control. If you separate the shell pile, they should be able to set up their own space. With only 36", it can get challenging to provide territories as you add more species and types. But since alto's grow so slowly, if you get them small it'll be a long time before you may be forced to rehome anyone. By the time they start to grow out, the multi's and paracyps will have been breeding for a while.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

just an update:

got the 6 multies today. unconfirmed, but the previous owner thinks there's 2m:4f. apparently one of the males eats all the fry after the other male breeds with the females, so there might be some sorting out to do eventually.

i was completely skeptical about this deal, since the fish were in a small bucket with 6 shells... except there were no fish. perhaps stupidly - really didn't want to drop 20 bucks on 20 shells and no fish - i took one out and tried to roll the water out and flush out the fish. obviously, that didn't work, and i was quickly told that it wouldn't. so i drove away still unsure of if i actually had any fish.

20 seconds after putting them in the tank, 2 fish popped out and started cruising around. they seemed to give an all clear signal, because the other 4 simultaneously emerged after the 2 had finished their rounds.

keeping them in the 10g until i decide on whether i want to convert the 40 to tangs. i'm thinking i might just keep the 2 tanks for a while and let the mbuna have a bit of time to grow and start breeding more.

photos to come once i find a light (silly me not having one) and put a background on the tank.

thanks to prov for the advice!

 

[dotbomb]

That'd be a horrible scam to sell you just shells

So you know, in the future, you can prop the shells up on plastic cups under water and then when the fish come out of hiding they drop to the floor of the tank and don't return to their shells up above.

 

[fmueller]

So you know, in the future, you can prop the shells up on plastic cups under water and then when the fish come out of hiding they drop to the floor of the tank and don't return to their shells up above.

That is by far the best way to get them out of the shells I know of, and works about 95% of the time. However, occasionally you come across one that doesn't come out of it's shell on top of the cup for several days :roll:

If you need to get them all out of their shells, for example because you want to change to a different shell type for aesthetic reasons, the only way I have known to make sure no shellies are left in the old shells, is to break the shells. Currently I am mostly murex shells, which are hard as concrete. I think I am suck with those for life :lol:

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Good to know. So far, this tank is going to be more of a fun-new-experience tank than a show tank, so I'm not worried about aesthetics. Just looking forward to seeing their renowned antics and going from there.