[beachtan]

Hi! i won a bag of Telmat. Temp. at a recent fish auction but cant find enough info on them - can anyone who has had them tell me about them - how their tank should be setup, & breeding info... anything...
Thanks!

PS: they are unhappily hiding out in separate breeder nets with a pvc tube til I can figure out tank size/decor because they fight BADLY! killed one - am down to 4.

 

[triscuit]

I'm assuming you've read this:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/t ... _shell.php

But I'm sure someone who's kept them will chime in shortly too.

 

[Number6]

grab yourself a 20g long in the petco sale and it'll do the trick for a pair to form. Provide multiple shells of different sizes and they'll pick their favorite. I had one pair choose a large conch shell which they would both hang out inside.

They do fight pretty viciously. The 20g long provides enough length for them to flee from each other until a pair forms and kills the others. Not much you can do to avoid deaths other than hang out in front of the tank and pull any fish that gets physically mauled.

Awesome fish! :thumb:

 

[prov356]

What size tank and tankmates?

I've had dozens. Best to crowd them or start with a few and end up with 1 male and 1 or more females. Males, if not crowded, will kill each other and females that are rejected can get harassed as well. Since you only have four, watch carefully and remove any harassed ones immediately or they will be dead soon. (you've seen that).

They appreciate rocks that they can dig out around. So, I go with irregularly shaped rocks spaced around the tank. They'll dig out under them. No need for shells, I find they prefer rocks. Don't stack up the rocks, as that's not what they prefer and will only go there if chased there.

Very cool fish. I've kept almost 30 tanganyikans and if I could only keep one, this would be it. Fantastic personalily. They will breed like crazy once they get going. Dozens will turn into hundreds. They accept their fry, and fry of other adults. You can end up with dozens from multiple generations in one tank.

I'll link some video's as that's easier than trying to explain all the behaviors.

This is when I had four dozen in a six foot tank. You can see the rock layout I described.

telmats

Some others.

adults with fry

male breaking up a female squabble

 

[beachtan]

Great info! Thanks so much! Unfortunately, I'm down to 3... can you tell m from f? i'm assuming not...

Triscuit: thx!! I hadnt seen that one...

Number6: if i use a 20long, with only 3 of those, should I put something else in there or hope for fry? and are they super slow growers? Oh and I possibly may be able to get a few more...

Prov: thanks for the videos!!! i'm going to copy your setup and just add shells too - what kind of rocks are those black ones? I really like the look of the dark rock on the light sand -

setting up their tank this weekend! : )

 

[triscuit]

I wonder if your losses are because of aggression or water quality? Do they have clean water, places to hide, plenty of aeration and biofiltration?

Was this tank cycled prior to getting the fish? I just want to make sure we're not skipping some of the essentials..

Good luck!

 

[beachtan]

I wonder if your losses are because of aggression or water quality? Do they have clean water, places to hide, plenty of aeration and biofiltration?

Was this tank cycled prior to getting the fish? I just want to make sure we're not skipping some of the essentials..

Good luck!

uh... no - they were in a breeder net together and they killed eachother. I didnt realize how aggressive they were. live 'n learn. now I know. :roll: I shouldnt have bought them without a place ready. they were an impulse buy because I didnt plan on buying anything, but when I heard that tang's were up for auction, and for $3! I had to do it!!

 

[triscuit]

I wonder if your losses are because of aggression or water quality? Do they have clean water, places to hide, plenty of aeration and biofiltration?
Was this tank cycled prior to getting the fish? I just want to make sure we're not skipping some of the essentials..
Good luck!

uh... no - they were in a breeder net together and they killed eachother. I didnt realize how aggressive they were. live 'n learn. now I know. :roll: I shouldnt have bought them without a place ready. they were an impulse buy because I didnt plan on buying anything, but when I heard that tang's were up for auction, and for $3! I had to do it!!

Oh- I read that they were in separate nets after the first one died?

FWIW... I can't think of many Tang cichlids that would do well sharing the amount of space in a breeder's net, even for a short amount of time. Since my impulse buying rarely works out well, I always have extra tanks, heaters, and sponge filters hanging around. If I don't have an extra 20g for emergencies, I don't buy the extra fish. :wink:

 

[prov356]

can you tell m from f? i'm assuming not...

I can only tell from behaviors in my own tank. My females tend to turn a chocolate brown, but not always. I've found they pair up easily if you've got a m/f. If you had pics, or better a video, and they were old enough I might be able to venture a guess on sex.

if i use a 20long, with only 3 of those, should I put something else in there or hope for fry? and are they super slow growers? Oh and I possibly may be able to get a few more...

I would leave them on their own and hope for a pair at this point. But, with only 3, it reminds me of the murder method that Pam Chin describes using. You'll need to watch carefully and remove any rejected, stressed out ones. They are not slow growers at all. They grow fast and breed young, probably 9 months old or so.

I wouldn't add more to a 20. Best situation would be to end up with a pair that gives you a few dozen fry. Then move the fry to at least a 55. No other species needed. It'd be a fun tank. Rock up the back wall, so the weaker ones have a refuge. They hang out on rocks like gobies and even defend a territory up there.

what kind of rocks are those black ones?

They called it silver jasper, I believe, at the landscape yard. About .11 per pound. The local landscape yard is your friend. I love picking for rocks in those places.

 

[beachtan]

ok - to clarify... 8) : I got 5 of them. placed them in one breeder net with pvc pipes - had issues with faulty equipment (which is beyond my control) which delayed their tank prep. Spread them into 3 breeder nets (thats all I had) then the net containing 3, ended up with one. so I have 3 breeder nets each containing one live fish.

It is sounding like these are not your typically shellies. These may be going to my LFS because I dont want a huge tank for only 3 fish. :? Maybe this is why not many people keep these...

Bummer. they are nice lookin' fish. Thanks everyone for all the help!!

 

[prov356]

It is sounding like these are not your typically shellies.

No, they're not.

These may be going to my LFS because I dont want a huge tank for only 3 fish.

Don't give up. If they're adults and ready to breed you could very soon fill the tank. Let them give you a spawn first, then send the adults to the LFS. These are cool fish. I really think the lack of color is why more don't keep them. They're not nasty to other species, just hard on each other in low numbers unless paired. I've seen much nastier fish than these guys. Try heavily rocking a tank to provide lots of hidy holes.

 

[24Tropheus]

No dought about it not a fish for your average cichlid keeper. But for guys willing to put up with thier excentriceties they are realy rewarding. The only shelly I know of that can hold thier own long term with real common tank nasties like leleupi and brichardi and big Julies I have kept em with Tropheus without iether suffering too much. Big Troph can be almost as bad as leleupi and brichardi. :wink: Dunno if they would stand up to stuff like Neolamprologus sexfasciatus or Neolamprologus tretocephalus long term but might be interesting to try it. :wink:

Not a fish for a small peaceful community, rather a shelly (Kind of hard to define which ones are shellys and which ones are not as both shellys and larger rock dwellers are sold under the same name) that can hold its own against most stuff in big tanks and can breed well in small tanks. Only downside of em is they can kill stuff in small tanks.

All the best James

 

[beachtan]

ok, well wait a minute.... I do have lots of tanks... so...

I have a 40gal long (48") tank that currently has gravel and
2) breeding sunshine peacocks (3")
1) lonely julie marleri (3")
1) perlmutt - i know, i know - just had no other place for him....
1) electric blue ahli growing out (2")

How about if I switch it to sand, and set a up a bunch of rocks w/ small crevices on one end for the telm. temp. , open sand in middle, and large caves for the peacocks on the other end - could this work? (perlmutt and ahli will eventually be pulled)