My Shell Dweller Journey

[Salam]

Greggswimm, you live in the USA I am in the UK! Shipping them wouldn't work.

They should be here by next week, hopefully sooner, ammonia is working fine. I dose up every evening and all is good again the next day. Still haven't done my huge water change anyway, my nitrates are so high.

To go back to post 57, never replied to that, sorry. I agree, they are very specialised fish. If it wasn't for this forum I'd never have shown any interest. Before I joined I 'only' had platies and guppies and I didn't realize how many awesome fish there were out there.

 

[Salam]

Whoop whoop! They are here and I'm picking them up tomorrow

I added ammonia this morning so need this to clear first and then tonight I will do the massive water change as nitrates are sky high. And then tomorrow morning we are ready, yay

They got six golden occies for me and four julis. I can decide whether I want dickfeldi or marlieri, any thoughts?

Temperature wise - I obviously have to lower it now, it was on 30 all the time. Is 23 ok?

 

[Lufbramatt]

WOOOOOOO

26 degrees for tangs

 

[gregswimm]

28c-25c (80-77F) is your range. The lake is more or less at a constant 28c, with very little changes(even after heavy rain). It is the second largest lakes in the world(by volume) and the deepest lake in the world, so the water temperature is incredibly stable.

 

[gregswimm]

As far as dickfeldi or marlieri, I don't think either are suited that well to your tank. When my marlieri first spawned they wouldn't let anything within almost an entire meter of their territory. I think that you will run into this problem with either marlieri or dickfeldi. Be prepared to leave the rocks how you have them, if you re-arrange them on a pair they may divorce violently, generally resulting in the smaller one being killed. Hard for me to advise you, I only have experience with marlieri, they can be tricky till you figure out how to place the line of sight barriers to lower the aggression. But I can say from experience that marlieri are very interesting fish.

Whichever you choose you should buy no less than 6 in order to get a pair. You will know when a pair has formed when the remaining 4 fish are being driven to the top of the tank. Un-paired fish should be removed. Picking 2 fish and hoping they pair never works (this holds true with almost every cichlid) you need to let the fish choose for them selves. Also plant mater comprises a large portion of Julidochromis' diet so go easy on the brine shrimp and let the algae grow.

This is my tank. The right most rock pile doesn't exist anymore, I have taken the large piece of slate that is sticking out and put it against the rock pile on the left (J.marili territory) to block the julies view of the rest of the tank.

J.marlieri territory up close:

 

[Salam]

Thanks. I will put temperature higher, at the moment it is down to 24. Will pick them up in the next hours, so excited.

Did almost a 100% waterchange last night and all is good. Got the rock pile as we want it to stay, so that shouldn't be moved.

Nice tank, Gregg! I will get 4 julis, hoping that two will pair off and six occies. We have decided on getting dickfeldi, but will have another chat at the LFS. The bloke who called me yesterday said they had got a few more tangs, so maybe they even have transcriptus which was the first choice as they are smaller. Forgot to ask, but will see what they have.

Will be back later with my shellies and probably more pictures and a video

 

[Salam]

I am in love

They are awesome! In the end I went for my six occies and four dickfeldi. They only had two marlieri and two transcriptus left and I didn't want to risk having two of the same sex so dickfeldi it is. Their blue fins will look great under the blue night light we have.

They are now released in the tank and happily exploring. Witnessed a bit of a quarrel between the two bigger occies, I can only guess they are male and now fighting for their shells. Looked awesome how they opened up their mouths and telling each other to go away. Some of the julis have already gone into the rock area hiding in the nooks and crannies and peeking out again but generally at the moment they are still all in the small middle rock area and trying to sort themselves out.

Will add pics and video later tonight

Oh, and I can't wait to work out who is who (as in what sex they are) and which ones stay as I already got great names lined up for them

 

[Salam]

Just to let you know that I won't add pictures and videos til tomorrow. I am knackered, need to sit down and watch some TV.

They are absolutely great though. Three have definitely claimed their shells already, as soon as one comes near they get pushed away. Very cool to watch. I also think that I can see one male and one female forming already. Will post pics tomorrow and show you what I mean.

Anyway, night night

 

[Salam]

It's picture time! I could have bored you with gazillions of shots, but here are a select few. Love them so much!

Just released in the tank, all swimming around like headless chickens around the rock in the middle.

Julis

Occies

These two have already become friends they even went into their shells together

The only one who set camp on the right hand side

The 'outcast' - poor little fella hasn't found a shell yet and is hiding under the rocks

 

[gregswimm]

Very very cool . Makes me want to make an occie tank lol.

You might consider stacking all the rocks on one side of the tank, I can see you having aggression issues down the road. This will make more crevices/caves for the julies, giving them a more 'defined' territory. Reducing the tendency to defend 2 rock piles, they will be more content with 1 intricate pile. You will see a TON of interesting julie behavior(like swimming upside-down, and 'hoovering' around vertical and horizontal surfaces) if u give them tight tunnels/caves/crevaces.

It will also free up more floor space for the occies, it looks like they could use more room and more shells. Estimate 2-3 shells per fish, it might be worth wile to buy a 36 count box of escargot shells (you can get them on amazon for $15 these are what i use) they will need all the room they can get once pairs start breeding. Also, make sure all the shell mouths are facing up, if that 'outcast' doesn't find a shell, he may die from stress. Better to make changes before the fish get too settled in.

 

[Salam]

Those occies are truly awesome. They have changed the tank around even more. One has dug their shell right into the sand and only the opening is visible. And s/he is guarding the shell with their life. It's hilarious to watch.
The 'outcast' has now found a shell on the left hand side and there are two who set camp on the right hand side. So I think / hope they are all settling in now.

The idea of the rock area in the middle was to break up the view of the two pairs that will hopefully form. The julis don't really bother about it now, it was just the first minutes when none of them knew what was going on and them trying to sort out where they belonged.

 

[kiriyama]

Nice looking Occies, good colour on them , the only ones I ever seen in LFS here are always very washed out looking, definately on my wish list. Liking the lava rock, good choice, excellent for harbouring useful bacteria and also growing algae on, I have attached java moss and java fern in the past, can look quite nice. Agree with previous comment about moving rock pile to one side of the tank, pile them all up. Tank and stock looking good though, job well done


Cheers, Sean

 

[Salam]

They barely had any colour in the LFS, it's the magic of a home tank

I had java moss on originally, but during cycling it all died off, it wasn't in best condition anyway. Will try it again at some point.

So, no view-breaking-barrier in the middle? I could add them on top, the julies love swimming in and out of the rockwork. What I didn't know about them is that they move sideways, 90 degrees up etc. So cool!

 

[gregswimm]

Ya, shellies are amazing. Give them some time to settle in. If your julies are anything like marlieri, they may clear all the fish out within an area of the rocks.

If all goes well, you will be swimming in fry in no time. Shame you are so far away, would love to trade you for some of those future occie fry.

 

[Salam]

I can't wait for fry

Yeah, it's a shame that you are too far away. I must say at the moment this tank is my favourite. If it wasn't for this forum I'd have never ventured into shell dwellers and I love them.