Who Gives A Fish Forums

Thinking of starting a tank, was wondering if anyone could lend a hand with a few things.
My tank is 350 litres, 4 ft long, and I'm looking to start a breeding colony.
Ideally, I'd like a species that's really colourful, not too big, not too small - around 1-5 inches is perfect.
Shell dwellers are fine by me.
What's a good number to start with, any info is appreciated, thanks.

Yellow Labidochromis could be a great choice for you, they're pretty easy to breed and they're colourful. Another option is peacocks, they're beautiful but they do get a bit bigger than what you're looking for, they can reach 6 inches. If you're looking to start a breeding colony, a good ratio to go with is 1 male to 4 females, this helps reduce mating stress. Generally with cichlids, it's best not to have more than 2 males in a breeding tank and you'll want at least 8 females, this helps prevent the males from killing each other and reduces fatalities.

Sorry but those I posted earlier were malawi cichs... So sorry. Well, there's the Spotted Julie Benthochromis and Tropheus sp, both of which are pretty colourful and not too big, and they can be shell dwellers too.

Yeah, I suspected as much. So, has anyone else out there had experience with similar fish, perhaps some colourful species that fit my tank specs?

I've had experience with shell dwellers in the past - they're great to keep. A good ratio is 1 male to 5 females, so you can have around 30 in your tank, no problem. Just make sure you've got plenty of shells for them to hide in, they love that.

If you list the species you're interested in, I'd be happy to help. Are you looking to start a community tank or a breeding colony specifically?

I'm looking to start a colony of one species but if I could make a colony of 2 species work, I might consider it. I don't know a lot about them though. Was thinking about Lamprologus oceliatus but they're pretty small. Really after something colourful that breeds easily, so I can build a colony. Cheers.

The oceliatus you mentioned aren't exactly colony fish, so you wouldn't be able to keep a large group.

Something like multifasciatus might be more up your alley - they're small, entertaining to watch in a colony, and would need a bunch of shells to thrive. There are a few species that can coexist, like calliurus, moleli, and sumba. You might want to check out the Shelldwellers forum for more info. These fish live on the sand, so you could have a rock-dwelling species like julidochromois transcriptus or julie ornatus. The smaller julies are a must-have, in my opinion. For open water, you could consider cyprichomois utintas. If you've got more questions, feel free to ask.

So I'm thinking of going with 3 types, one for the shells, one for the rocks and one for the open water, does that sound like a good plan?

Would they breed happily with different groups of fish in the tank and start their own colonies? I'm really interested in setting up a thriving breeding colony.

How many of each would I need to start with? I've had a look at the ones you mentioned and I really like the cyprichromis utintas and the julidochromis transcriptus, they look amazing.

To be honest, I wasn't too keen on the multifasciatus, but the others seem perfect for what I'm looking for.

Yeah, that's how you do it, different territories in different areas.

All the fish will breed but proper colonies will come from multies, I think. Also, have a look at similes, they do the same thing.

Their colonies will get bigger, but with the cyps, they'll produce fry that'll probably get eaten unless you strip them. Rock dwellers like calvus, comps, and julies will breed as well, some fry might survive.

For rock dwellers, I'd say start with half a dozen of each, until a pair forms. Cyps do well in groups, for your tank size, around 12 would be good.