Shell Dweller Tank (from stream tank to African cichlid)

[SunnyHouTX]

Might need to trade my mp40 for an mp10 MAYBE

I've got an MP10 for your MP40.

[sunkenmetal]

amano has never heard of an unplanted tank, stop being so insecure

lol

[Totenkampf]

amano has never heard of an unplanted tank, stop being so insecure

[sunkenmetal]

hatchetfish make nice dither fish in unplanted tanks too!

did amano tell you that

[sunkenmetal]

It's "yes" you insecure twit

Might need to trade my mp40 for an mp10 MAYBE

[Totenkampf]

hatchetfish make nice dither fish in unplanted tanks too!

[SunnyHouTX]

It's "yes" you insecure twit

[sunkenmetal]

That'll work real well

is that a yes or sarcasm? lol

[SunnyHouTX]

That'll work real well

[sunkenmetal]

yea I don't have any lids on my tanks...

I was thinking something cheap like zebra danios on sale from petsmart lol

[SunnyHouTX]

Plus you really need to have a lid for Cyps. They spook very easily and jump out

[sunkenmetal]

still to big

[mnemenoi]

Cyps are not huge, but psuedomugels are far smaller. For cyps, I believe the utintas are the smallest (maxing at 4"), but their shape is actually quite long and not much body size.

[sunkenmetal]

My ph is 8.0 to 8.2 I can get some buffer I guess...

I don't really want any big fish in the tank so...

I do need to get a heater

[aquabee]

The baby meleagris are growing nicely! They should be ready for you in a week or two, max. They're already fighting amongst each other and with the adults in the tank.

What are you doing to adjust flow? While they do like some flow, breeding usually isn't successful if there's too much flow.

For pH, mine are in 8.4-8.6 with a fine sand of aragonite/crushed coral (CaribSea's cichlid mix). Just keep that in mind for acclimation, or if you want to add some alkalinizing stuff like rock or sand, that would probably work best.

And I'd definitely recommend dither. Without them, my meleagris adults were very still and didn't do much. With the blue-eyed forktails in there (like Roy said), they're very active and don't even go after the other fish... they just chase each other and the juvies. Other alkaline-loving dither fish that have worked with shellies are other Australian rainbowfish (threadfins, celebese, forktails, gertrudae), platies, and mollies.

Can't wait to see 'em in your tank! You should definitely work on finding more for that big tank since I'll only be able to spare 4-6 max. :)