z18turbo Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Hi All, Have recently set up a small shell dweller tank in my office and got given 3 Neolamprologus multifasciatus. There are two that are defiantly the same species and look like Muitlis, 1 at about 2 cm and another at about 3.5 to 4 cm but the third is about 5 to 6 cm and has different markings. I have not kept shellies before and so not sure exactly what the larger one is. Please see pics below and help with correct I.D. would be appreciated. This is the larger of the trio. This is one of the smaller pair. Thanks, Jarrod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucem Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 The big guy looks like a male multi to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Neo similis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 For me it looks like a male multifasciatus as well !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucem Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 The second one looks like a similis. Simplistically, Multies are predominantly light with dark bands/stripes, and similis a predominantly dark with light strips. If you have two similis and 1 multi, the number of bands in the tail can point towards male and female in similis. From memory males have 4-5 bands in the tail, and female 2-3, so by the picture above you have a male similis and a male multi. The multi may cross with a female similis, if you have one. So it may be best to separate them. Similis are similar to multies in their behaviour, but probably a little harder (less parental care) on their fry than multies. When I had multies in a 2 ft tank, a starting population of 7 exploded to around 200. Similis in the same sized tank never got much about 50. Both are great little shellies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z18turbo Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Thanks for the great advice as always. All makes sense after spending some time looking at them last night the 2 Similis were hanging around a shell that the smaller (I am assuming female) is living in. The larger Multi was coming in every now and again and the 2 males were displaying at each other. I will separate them and the Multi will go back to my LFS when I get home and I will have a look at the number of tail bands on the smaller fish. Cheers, Jarrod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benm_79 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 2nd 1 is def a Similis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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