Jkkgron2’s 20-40 gallon shell dweller build

I really hope my LFS wants a lot of shellies. Currently the 1st pair is taking care of all the older babies (including the ones from the 3rd pair. Around 15 in all), the 2nd pair has 30-50 new babies, and the 3rd pair has at least 5 New babies. Not sure exactly how many the 3rd pair has because the babies still haven’t left the cave.

 

Maybe it is time for a predator ?

 

An Eye Biter, Livingstoni or a Fusco would be my choices. Lol.

 

Right now the tank is doing well and the pairs have all stopped fighting, so I don’t think it’d be a good idea to add more fish that could potentially hurt the adult shellies. What else could I do?

 

I managed to bring 3 of the larger babies to my LFS. After spending two hours trying to catch them I’ve decided no way am I doing that again. The guppies are still in QT, so I can’t move the smaller fry to the 6.5g yet. If I were to remove 10-20 of the smaller fry Would a 3 gallon work for a couple weeks until the guppies are done being quarantined? I would set it up with a small HOB or internal filter and it’d be bare bottom with no hardscape or plants, unless some floating plants would be a good idea?


One of the females has been attacking anything that comes near her babies. Including me and the turkey baster. Lol.

Here’s a pic of the female with her fry

 

I got a good pic of the older babies. I think I’m seeing some breeding before from one of the females, but I think the older babies will eat the new fry if some more do hatch.

 

One thing I observed with kribs is the parents will keep the previous generation of frys away from the newly hatched so cross your fingers but don't be surprised if ....

I got a good pic of the older babies. I think I’m seeing some breeding before from one of the females, but I think the older babies will eat the new fry if some more do hatch.
View attachment 764481

 

One thing I observed with kribs is the parents will keep the previous generation of frys away from the newly hatched so cross your fingers but don't be surprised if ....

I hope the new fry hatch. I have noticed the older fry avoiding the area where I think the female laid eggs, but she’s no longer going into the shell where I thought their were eggs, so I wonder if they already hatched and were eaten.

 

Here’s another pic of the older babies. A few seem to be getting some faint yellow coloring on their dorsal fins, but most of the babies haven’t colored up yet.

I couldn’t get any good pics of the babies with yellow fins.

 

No new fry yet. One of the females hasn’t really left her cave for a couple days so she might be guarding eggs, but I can’t see inside the cave to check.

The younger fry are starting to color up! Not much color, but there’s a bit. It’ll be interesting to see how fast the younger fry grow compared to the older ones because I’ve been feeding them less.

I also decided I’m not going to have a grow out tank for them. I can still catch the younger babies, but I’ve noticed the smaller ones don’t adjust well, and I don’t want to risk losing any.

Pic of the younger fry

 

Looking Good! Just restarted a 29g, got me thinking "Shell dwellers"?
Just not sure of the tank height and the length, would it work?

 

Looking Good! Just restarted a 29g, got me thinking "Shell dwellers"?
Just not sure of the tank height and the length, would it work?

View attachment 766650

As long as you stick to a smaller shellie species I think it’d be fine. Try to avoid any of the larger species, but some smaller shellies like multis or Caudopunks should do well!

 

I’m thinking about adding a sponge filter. With all those fish I’m worried the filter I have can’t keep up, and it’s a cheap one that came with a kit awhile ago and lately it’s been a bit finicky when I turn it on and off, so it might break soon.

The only reason I haven’t ordered a sponge filter yet is I’m concerned any new fry will have issues with added flow. Should I be concerned about this, or will it probably be fine?

I got a nice pic of the adults.

 

Nothing wrong adding more filtration. I doubt that the current generated by a sponge filter would upset things too much.

 

Alright, I’ll go ahead and order one then. Thanks!

 

After looking at some possible spots to put the sponge filter it seems like I’ll have to remove a cave where one of the pairs lives in to get it to fit, so I’m going to use an airstone instead......

.....The adults are starting to come up to the glass when I walk over to the tank- they used to swim into their shells or caves before they swim out again once they realize it’s safe. One of the females was actually up at the front of the tank begging (well... maybe not begging, but she definitely wanted food!) for food!

 

I just found around 10 new fry! I thought they would’ve stopped breeding now that there is around 50 juveniles in there, but i guess they’re not done yet! I couldn’t get any good pics of them because they all hid once I came near- but they all look healthy and they were eating earlier.

Should I still upgrade to the 40 gallon? The adults seem very happy and I rarely see any fighting, plus they’re breeding. As long as I can keep the juveniles under control and rehome them when necessary I think it’d be ok to keep them in the 20 gallon ?

 

If you upgrade you will have to catch everyone when you move them

 

If the 20 gal. is working & you're happy with it, why upgrade?

 

Ok so now there’s about 20 fry from the 3rd pair, so more hatched than I expected. It seems like these guys really like to breed at the same time... I just found 4 fry from the 1st pair.

Since I decided I’m taking down my saltwater tank (it’s fun... but I think I crashed it and there’s a lot of algae that won’t go away) I’ve been trying to decide what to do. I’m considering using it as a grow out tank, but I know I’ll be able to get some cheap multis if I just wait two weeks.. so we’ll see. Either way I will move some fry in there (either in the tank, or in a very large breeder box) to see how they do.

Fry from the third pair

 

Just did a small water change. Most of the fry from the 1st pair have moved over to the 3rd pair, possibly because I’ve been spot feeding over there and it’s easier for them to get food ? Not sure, but there’s 30+ babies being protected by the 3rd pair now. I’m going to try netting out some of the older fry soon. The oldest are being driven out of their parents territory, and it doesn’t look like they’re getting enough food.

 

One of the fry has an internal bacterial infection. I’m going to try to net it out tonight, but I doubt I’ll be able to catch it. I’m hoping the infection won’t spread, but I’ll do a 50% water change as a precaution. I have some bacterial meds on hand if it starts spreading.

 

I think about the only way it might spread is if tankmates nibble on a dead infected corpse.

 

I think about the only way it might spread is if tankmates nibble on a dead infected corpse.

That’s what I’m worried about, the juveniles sometimes scavenge for leftover food and I’m concerned they’ll nibble on the dead corpse.

 

There's really no way to predict if the alledge bacteria will spread.
Unless a new infected fish was recently added to the tank, likely no worries.

 

The juveniles are starting to fight with each other and it looks like they’re trying to establish territories, so I’ll be bringing most to my LFS soon. I’ve seen some new fry, but looks like the juveniles are eating them because all the new fry were gone after a week.

I don’t think the infection ever spread to the whole tank, although I did see one dead juvenile.

Pics of the Juveniles and adults

 

I’m waiting to see if the LFS has room for the juveniles. If they do I should be bringing them up in the next week or so. I also woke up and found a lot of new babies swimming in the tank so in a few more months I’ll be bringing more up!

I haven’t seen any more deaths but I have seen a lot of aggression. I think the juvenile that died wasn’t sick, but it was killed by the adults. I’m also looking into a hang on breeder box to get for the new fry since I don’t want the juveniles eating them.

 

Just sold 21 juveniles for $126!! The tank looks way less cramped now, and the new babies are swimming around more now that most of the juveniles are gone. No pictures this time, but the tank looks so much less crowded now.

 

Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve been on FishLore!! All the fry have grown up, and although they aren’t breeding age yet, I’m guessing they’ll start pairing up soon. Unfortunately, I lost a pair of the adults about a month ago. One hadn’t been looking great for awhile, but I’m still not sure why the other died. Here’s a picture of the (now grown-up) fry. There’s currently an algae outbreak going on, so this picture doesn’t look the best.

 

Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve been on FishLore!! All the fry have grown up, and although they aren’t breeding age yet, I’m guessing they’ll start pairing up soon. Unfortunately, I lost a pair of the adults about a month ago. One hadn’t been looking great for awhile, but I’m still not sure why the other died. Here’s a picture of the (now grown-up) fry. There’s currently an algae outbreak going on, so this picture doesn’t look the best. View attachment 859680

Welcome back! They look great!