Shell Dweller Community

Well my wife decided to get pregnant again so after taking care of my daughter and everything else I have less time for my planted tank so I'm thinking about my options.

One thing I am thinking about is changing my 110g to a shell dweller community. So ive got a few q's. And yes I know most shellies are small it doesn't bother me id be happy with a 100 shellies in there if I can't have a community


1.Is it possible to have multiple shell dweller species together in a large tank using rocks to break up territories

2. What would be the best shell dweller to build a community around and what can be kept with them if I went with only one species

3.Will Süsswassertang survive the high ph or will I have to get rid of my wall.

Ill probably have more q's later.

 

I've never had any luck keeping plants with African Cichlids. My Anubias & Java Fern quickly became salad. Unless the susswassertang taste extremely awful, I suspect it will become salad too.
Years ago, I kept a couple varieties of Julidochromis. Although very pretty, they were quite reclusive. I soon lost interest in them. Don't let my experience deter you. I've seen nice Shelly setups.
If you just are interested in small colorful, relatively peaceful Africans, look at the small Lake Victoria Haps. Many varieties. Behavior somewhat similar to shellies, just a little bigger. No need for shells, just rock piles. I recently started a colony of Yellow Rock Kribs aka Rock Hap. Very colorful & active.

 

I've never had any luck keeping plants with African Cichlids. My Anubias & Java Fern quickly became salad. Unless the susswassertang taste extremely awful, I suspect it will become salad too.
Years ago, I kept a couple varieties of Julidochromis. Although very pretty, they were quite reclusive. I soon lost interest in them. Don't let my experience deter you. I've seen nice Shelly setups.
If you just are interested in small colorful, relatively peaceful Africans, look at the small Lake Victoria Haps. Many varieties. Behavior somewhat similar to shellies, just a little bigger. No need for shells, just rock piles. I recently started a colony of Yellow Rock Kribs aka Rock Hap. Very colorful & active.View attachment 621690

I thought about peacocks but I prefer small fish honestly. I love watch my scarlet badis hunting shrimp in the 110g.

Them munching on the wall wouldnt bother me I'm only going to toss it. Its too difficult to sell here which is a pity as ive probably git a few hundred $$$ worth of just Süsswassertang in my tank

Anyone else have any experience with shell dwellers?

 

Shell dwellers are mainly carnivorous and the only dangers they pose to plants is uprooting them. I’ve got a growing colony of multis in a planted 29gal, it’s mostly short growing jungle val, potted crypts and anubias so nothing too fancy. For a while I kept brichardI and OB peacock fry with them and the little shellies were the boss.

Doing a couple different species should be safe provided the tank is large enough and there are plenty of shells and rocks to break things up a bit. Try to stay away from similar looking cichlids like multis and similis to prevent cross breeding. You can throw in some lemon cichlids or other small cave dwelling cichlids as they should stick to the rocks and leaves the shellies alone. Just keep in mind that fry from the smaller species may get eaten.

 

Might want to check out the king of diy YouTube channel he has 2 shell dweller tanks going right now. Could be helpful for insperarion.