Who Gives A Fish Forums

I've been digging deep into this, and I'm excited to share my thoughts on keeping Neolamprologus multifasciatus in a community setup. I've got a standard 90-gallon tank with a pretty diverse group of inhabitants, and I'm thinking of adding a small group of multis to the mix.

My tank's currently stocked with 8 Pearl Gouramis, 15 female Bettas, 2 bristlenose Plecos, a red rivela pleco, a Sultan pleco, and 6 African Dwarf Frogs. I'm considering clearing out half the tank and covering it with shells to give the multis their own territory. I know they can get pretty aggressive during breeding, so I'm thinking if I give them their own space, they might be able to establish their own little kingdom.

I know it sounds a bit crazy, but I'm hoping the tank's size will work in my favor. I've never kept multis before, so I'm eager to hear from people who have experience with them. I've added a picture of my tank, and I'd set them up on the right side.

One thing I'm a bit concerned about is the water hardness – I've done some research, and it seems my fish can thrive at 8pH, but I know I'll need to adjust it slowly to avoid stressing them out. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

I also considered getting Multis at one point but I ran into an issue - water hardness. Your tank's mainly stocked with fish that prefer softer water, like your betta and gourami, which might pose a problem. I'm no expert, but I'm sure there are others here who know more about how adaptable these fish can be.

I'm pretty sure 8 pH will be fine for all my fish, but I'll definitely look into it more to confirm.

No, I don't think that's going to work out. Multifasciatus are native to Lake Tanganyika with a pH above 8.0 and a general hardness of over 350ppm, often reaching 400-450ppm. The gouramis, bettas and frogs you have are adapted to soft water - they won't survive for long in very hard water conditions. On the other hand, multis won't do well in soft water either. If you really want to keep multifasciatus, consider setting them up in a separate tank with hard water parameters, that way they can truly thrive.

Thanks for the heads up, I think I'll hold off on the multis until I can get my water parameters in check and provide the right environment for these little guys.