Multis in Community

[Miyyaro]

I have been researching this like crazy. Neolamprologus multifasciatus are generally kept in a species only aquarium. I would like to add a small group of them to my community. I'm looking for advice on this topic. I have a standard 90 gallon aquarium stocked with:

8x Pearl Gouramis
15x Bettas [F]
2x bristlenose Plecos
1x red lizard pleco
1x Sultan pleco
6x African Dwarf Frogs

My idea would be to clear half the aquarium and cover it shells. I know they become quite aggressive during breeding so I was thinking if they get the whole one side the tank, they can establish their territory. This is awesome in theory....The only reason I think this may work, is due to the aquarium size. These will be my first group of multis and I am hoping to make this work BUT I am here to gather opinions of people who may have owned them before. I've added a picture of my aquarium. I would be setting them up on the right side. I should add here that the pH will be around 8 and the temp around 78f.

 

[Mouska]

Multis would not be compatible with the ph requirements of other fish in the tank, and I feel like having multis with all those other fish especially bottom dwelling fish and frogs would stress out the multis and cause them to attack them, especially the frogs. I think it would not be a good idea they have pretty strict territories and I’ve never put in any other fish in there because they get very aggressive if another multi comes into their area.

Also if you like your scape I would not recommend getting multis since they will probably move a ton of the sand around and make large craters and hills.

The only fish I’d think would do well with multies are top swimming fish that can deal with higher ph or other Lake Tanganyika fish

 

[Kribensis27]

Multis need a very high ph, whereas all of those other fish are from areas with a naturally low ph.
Ph, however, is not the main issue here. Multis are aggressive to anything and everything when breeding. Giving them half of the tank won't fix that. The other fish would still wander over into multi territory, and nothing good would come from that.

There's also a chance that you disrupt the order of your betta sorority, leading to them all trying to kill each other. Sororities are delicate, meaning that new fish added to the tank can cause the whole thing to fail.
All around, it just doesn't seem like the best idea. If you still want a small, cave dwelling cichlid, I would go for kribs or apistogrammas. They can get aggressive when breeding, but not crazily aggressive.

 

[Miyyaro]

Thank you! Great advice everyone. I shall avoid these feisty little shellies until I can have an optimum set up!