Help!Can't decide which shelldweller

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

I bought a pair of Signatus about a month ago, and between their amusing behavior and the batch of fry that's allready appeared I want to set up a 45 gal tank with a different species. I started out wanting some Neolamprologus multifasciatus do to what i've read about their colonial behavior, but i can't find any lfs that sell them.(I'd really rather get them at a lfs and save me the shipping) After some searches i found out that Neolamprologus Similis are colonial too and my lfs carrys those. I can't decide whether to get the Similis because alot of sites i've read said they're colonial, but males are very agressive towards eachother and sometimes won't even breed with other males present while others say they are as colonial as the Neolamprologus multifasciatus. Any input by anybody with experience with either of these fish would be appreciated.

[mikeT]

I have never had similis, but I do have many multi's. They breed like convicts and truly are a colony. They also have their squabbles which are fun to watch. Where are you located. I say special order the multi's and when they breed and multiply you can sell them to the lfs's for credit to buy food and equipment. I have both multi's and gold Ocellatus. Go with the multi's and you'll be glad you did.

[jnorris]

Gold Ocellatus seem to be one of the most colorful. It would make a good addition to your tank.

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

The multi's are what I originally wanted because everybody that's had them had nothing but good things to say about them. Mike to answer your question i'm in Portsmouth, Virginia, US. The Ocellatus gold look cool and i wouldn't mind getting some latter for a smaller tank but i'm kinda set on a colonial shelldweller at the moment. By the way the dimensions of my 45 are 36x12x23in. how many multis would u recomend.

[NFish]

For that size tank with multies only, you could start with about 4-6 and keep up to about 10-12 maybe since you don't have a very big tank footprint.