help with shellies

should shellies be in there own tank or can they be with other fish.

Well just remember dude.....big fish eats little fish
but there's always some exceptions


what kind of fish are thinking of keeping them with??

Ive been doing some asking around on another forum about the same question and really the only answer I got was Altolamprologus calvus that two people had currently had there tanks setup. I think if your not into breeding them then calvus would be ok, If you have a big enough tank that there going to be in cypichromis would work also but there hard to find.

I always heard calvus hunted at night and went threw shells.... to get the sleepin shellies.... But Ive never kept either so couldnt tell you by experience.

It depends on the size of the tank. I keep Julidochromis transcriptus with 'Lamprologus' stappersii in a 29 gallon tank. The Julies can be aggressive, but I've never seen them kill another fish, they just chase the shellies away from their nesting area. I don't have a pair of shellies, so there is no spawning. Don't know if that would change the aggression level or behavior.

Here's a transcriptus letting the stappersii know who's boss.
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The Julies have raised fry successfully with the stappersii in the tank.
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I wouldn't keep them in a tank smaller than this and larger would be better.

well me shellies are only in a 45g tall, and the fish in the tank is 2 peacocks, 4 zebras, one little calvus, and two shellies so should i leave them in the tank or be in a tank be them self.

Julies and most shellies are good..just give the Julies a rocky spot and the shellies a shell bed..and make sure to put something in to break up line of sight issues.

If you have another tank available, I don't think it would be a bad idea to move them out. My experience with zebras is that they are probably too aggressive to be kept with shellies long term. They might also be a little rough to house with the little calvus.

Are the zebras small right now? (When you say zebras, do you mean mbuna?)

when i say zebras i mean the one they sell at petsmart and there are like only 2 inches. and the calvus is like a inch long.

yeah.. think petsmart carries red zebras (mbuna).... and those can get pretty nasty.

well i dont have a red zebra i have a yellow one and two blues.

I am looking into some cypridochromis for my tank with 7 brevis and 3(for now) speciosus

are they aggressive fish.

Cyprichromis are very peaceful fish, most people use them as a dither fish for a african community tank, bad news is Ive heard there hard to come by in LFS so I think if you can find them there going to be pricey.

I would expect you'll have to mail order them, aaron. Although Wet Spot might have some (which might mean that Kevin @ APFP would be able to order them for you as well). Fantastic looking fish, with the most unusual spawning behavior for a cichlid. Be sure you're looking at the regular size, not jumbos. How big is the shellie tank again? These guys do need a little room - and you need a fairly large school of them for them to be comfortable in the tank.