barramundi Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Hi all, I'm really new to the forum. I have been keeping fish since I was four & in the last couple of years made the step to cichlids. I since have become focused solely on Tangs, especially shellies. I currently have a breeding colony of Multifasciatus which are breeding like crazy as they do. I also have a breeding pair of F1 Lamprologus Occellatus Blue. I had them in with 2 other F1 females awaiting a pair & a school of guppies. My pair formed quicker than expected & they spawned. Before I could get a new tank for the other two my fry were killed - they appeared badly beaten. (Found them when I'd gotten home, were about a month old) I have since gotten the new tank & moved the 2 females & the guppies out (I saw a guppy eat one of the fry). Anyway the pair are now very skittish I assume from suddenly having the 30g to themselves, & I was wondering if anyone could recommend a small, preferrably non-predatory dither fish? The tank is too short for Cyprichromis leptosoma which I'd hoped to get, so thought I'd ask if anyone here had any ideas? TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 White cloud mountain minnows There is a slight chance they might snack on a fry or 2, but once your occies are comfortable and breeding you wont miss those couple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barramundi Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 Coolness, thanks Ducksta. I had thought of them but was worried they'd be too quick for the Occies, like the guppy was. But as you say, once they're back in the saddle won't matter so much I guess , I think I get entirely too attached to my fish ! If anyone else has some other ideas pls let me know otherwise I'll go the minnows on Saturday. Thanks again D! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 The WCMM will be much easier on your fry than livebearers or danios, so IMO probably the best choice for your shellies. I also would love to hear other opinions as I am soon to expand my shelly collection I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 i have used tetras with no problem. the occies love it. a few jumped, but i think that was part of the fun of it for the occies. i thought tetras were pretty, that's why i chose them i'm using tetras in with my calvus at the moment, but the cals are only interested in killing other cals. welcome to the forum anyhow cheers Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barramundi Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 Thanks Grace! Do you find the Tetra's are ok in the high pH? I hadn't considered them cos of that, I didn't think they'd handle it. Learnt more today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Hmm Im becoming more interested in Shellies as I read more! What are the most colourful shellies that I could get my hands on in sydney? I know nothing about them at all, Ive done some reading but unless you know what species youre looking for its a little hard to research Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barramundi Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 I must admit I'm pretty much addicted to them. They're real little characters. My Occellatus Blues are all of 2-3cm long & yet don't hesitate biting me when I'm cleaning the tank, they're usually fearless & really interactive. The Blues are pretty but no where near the most colourful, IMO. There's a gold morph that's pretty specky! If you do a Google search "Shell Dwellers" you'll get a lot of info that will then direct you to more specific stuff as you get various species names. My favourite is Neolamprologus mealegris, but hadn't been able to find anyone who supplied them here in Perth, till recently so have a back order in for them. But will be awhile worse luck, but at least they're on the horizon!!! I also keep multifasciatus & they are great fun, the fish equivalent of a D9 bulldozer. I love them! I started out with breeding Firemouths as my first cichlid species foray, but had a little tank free so put multi's in there & well I sold the Firemouth colony to get the Occellatus! Now I'm selling multi fry to raise the funds for the mealegris, & well you know how it ius once the addictions gotten hold... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazimbwe Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 My vote for Shellie-dithers in a short tank is Celebes, not sure of the full name sorry. They work really well with my L.ocellatus(Gold), they are fairly cheap and will breed live food for you if you include some plastic plants. They never have taken fry, to my knowledge, and establish an understanding about who can/can't be where in the tank. my male my female Colourfull shellies...they are not the most colourfull species of fish but their ever-colourfull attitude is what makes them so special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 I'm also going to put in a word for mountain cloud minnows. Small, tough, non-predatory. For shellies they are IHMO the best of dithers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 OK, update.... Tetras are bad if there are babies. my tetras knocked off in excess of 20 X 1-2cm calvus overnight. with the occies it was fine. the tetras that are killing are glass bloodfin tetras. and the ones i had with the occies are smaller sized copper tetras. maybe white clouds would be better. Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barramundi Posted October 1, 2004 Author Share Posted October 1, 2004 Yeah I'm gonna go for for WCMM. Those Bloodfins are deadly, they wiped out an entire batch of Bristlenose babies before I got home from work & realised what was happening. I very nearly threw them in with my Barra for payback... but traded them instead. Neon Tetra's are pretty bad too had a school of them following my Peppered Cory eating the eggs as quick as she could lay them. So WCMM it is! Thanks heaps for the advice all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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