Neolamprologus Multifasciatus (Shell Dwellers) - With fry

One of the small shell-dwelling cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Their unique behavior is associated with their affinity to shells. They burrow sand to move shells, take refuge in shells and also breed in them. They have pale white coloring with black vertical bars running the length of their bodies. The species is monomorphic, meaning sexing individuals is extremely hard or impossible.

In the aquarium trade N. multifasciatus are commonly known as "multies" and are moderately popular. Stores specializing in fish or quality fish stores will at least be aware of shell dwelling fish even if they are not stocked at that time. They are not as popular as larger cichlids but because they are suitable for smaller tanks and due to their prolific nature they still are widely available.

Tank requirements are very similar to other African cichlids, an example is the Mbuna. Unique requirements include a sandy substrate for burrowing and the placement of shells. A tank should have at least one shell per fish, ideally two.

Two other species of fish are similar to N. multifasciatus, Neolamprologus similis and Neolamprologus brevis. The three species are similar enough that stores normally sell them all under the common name "shellies" or "shell dwellers".

Such cool little fish. I have a couple of brevis and have always enjoyed seeing what they do with their aquascaping and how they do it. Plowing sand with their mouths, moving shells, covering shells, etc.

very nice

very nicely done, always been a shellie fan myself. only thing id like to add is that each species of shell dweller is unique in its own right. for example brevis pair's appreciate larger whale eye snail shells as the pair are known to share house. they also only take up a very small amount of space (floor space) and can be housed even in nano/5g setups. Multies however will pair off and form a community, wherein turn new fry will grow up and slowly assimilate into the colony (think borg). for their shells they prefer to have a stack of either small snail shells or escargot. the males will take the uppermost shell (in most cases) and then invite all the females he can into the lower shells.

Neolamp. Ocellatus (gold or other varieties) are often found to be more aggressive then the rest. males and females do not share shells but instead share a shell field. often it will dwindle down to just a single pair depending on tank footprint. all this aggression has some draws however, mainly being color varieties, their tendency to bury shells and rearrange is also pretty fun to watch. They do not have much brood care however, and fry tend to scatter. just simply collect and separate. all in all i just had a few other random tidbits Ive collected over the years. if you happen to have a small tank give these guys a try, you wont be sorry .

Love shell dwellers! A while back I had a colony of gold ocellatus in my Tangyanikan tank. The tank was filled with gravel but I set up a small section of sand and small shells just for them, they were amazing to watch! I think my frontosa got a bit jealous of me paying so much attention to them, and I only say that because the reason I no longer have the ocellatus is because the frontosa spit gravel all over the shells and pretty much buried them alive . To be honest I was always more afraid that they would become fish food, but they were so quick to retreat to their shells....Recently I've had an urge to convert my gravel to sand. If I end up doing that I may give shell dwellers another try.

oh oh oh! i've always wanted to try to spawn these guys but never got around to it.

I have Gold Occies in a 7 gal nano...LOVE em. easily my favorite of my neolamps

TFP