Neolamprologus brevis - Shell Dweller

[knashash]

Couple questions for anyone with experience with these guys. I picked 3 up about a month ago now. A male and 2 females. This is a small setup...6 Gallons Eclipse with rockwork, couple java ferns, some java moss and river sand substrate. I could tell a pair quickly formed and the other female was getting hounded so I took her back. So now I have a pair in there with three seashells with them.

Now I would like to get them to breed so my questions are:

1. Are the seashells ok to use for these guys? They seem to like them just fine but want to make sure they would be ok to breed in.

2. My PH is like 7.6 and hardness is 12 DH - Was wondering if they would benefit if I filtered through crushed coral or something to raise hardness....not sure if that will raise PH.

Thanks in advance

 

[mooman]

Yes is will benefit them, and it will raise ph (you need to get it up to around 8.0 at least). A great looking set up for those guys is Estes marine sand (black) and texas holey rock (will also buffer water and raise ph), but that's just opinion. As far as breeding goes:

Proper Water Chem (get that ph up a bit)
regular water changes (25% max for these guys)
Quality flake food and variety of frozen foods in rotation
Wait....Wait...Wait....

 

[NowherMan6]

Agreed. Keep up the water changes, feed them well and just wait. It took mine about 2.5 months after I got them to have their first spawn... and then right after that they spawned again. Brevis aren't the crazy breeders that multis are, but soon enough you'll have more of these little guys than you know what to do with

 

[mooman]

Brevis aren't the crazy breeders that multis are, but soon enough you'll have more of these little guys than you know what to do with

Did you have to remove the fry from the brevis? Tank size? Tank mates?

You're right, multis are crazy breeders (I went from three to twenty-three in a little under 4 months). Much more interesting and active than brevis IMO. Once my brevis burried their shells they just kind of hung there. With the multis I'm able to watch multiple males and female display to each other and the digging is non-stop (at least it is when I fill in the craters at each water change).

Good luck, shellies are a lot of fun.

 

[NowherMan6]

Did you have to remove the fry from the brevis? Tank size? Tank mates?

They're in a ten gallon all by themselves, except for undred of MTS buried in the sand.

Here's a pic of the tank:

They both seem pretty tolerant of the fry - for now anyway. Actualy, the adults' territory is quite small. If you look at the pic (this was before shells were added), the adults hover over/around/in that patch of rock work on the left side, and the fry hang out in the open area where there are a couple shells. I get the feeling they may have eaten a few of the fry, and sometimes they chase a little, but nothing bad. All in all, their territory only seems to be about 6-8 inches, so they kind of stick to themselves now.

 

[mooman]

Nice tank.