Shell dweller - most peaceful? cleaning sand?

[RedOkra]

I'm looking to start a shell dweller tank - the tank is about 22 gallons. What are the most peaceful of shelly species? Is this tank large enough to keep two species or should I settle for one? If not two shellies, is it possible to keep any other more docile fish with a single shelly species?

The other question I have is about sand - I've had sand in a tank before and found it incredibly challenging to clean (half of the sand would get siphoned up and end up in the bucket). And lastly, does anyone have tips for where to purchase sand that is suitable for an aquarium?

Thanks!

[MLBfan]

Have you looked at Neolamprologus multifasciatus . I've heard they're very interesting. They are also small and you could have several in that tank, plus the could breed and any extrad you could sell to your local fish store (lfs). As far as I know they are peaceful.

For sand, I don't have experience cleaning it, but I bought some for my new tank at my LFS.

[nikelodeon79]

What are the dimensions of your tank? Footprint size is actually more important than gallonage with shellies.

When you do a water change on a tank with sand, you don't actually stick the siphon into the sand, you hover it a bit above the sand, not close enough to actually suck any up. If you wave the siphon around a bit, the poo and debris (which is lighter weight than the sand) rises up and gets siphoned up, and the sand stays put).

As far as where to get sand, it depends what you're looking for. Fish generally are more comfortable and show better colors with darker sand, so you could either get a dark sand meant for aquariums on the internet or at your LFS (or Petco/Petsmart) or go with a blasting sand at Menards or Home Depot. If you go with a lighter colored sand, playsand or pool filter sand will be fine.

[toddnbecka]

One species of substrate-spawning cichlid is all you'll have space for regardless of which one you choose. Multi's are the smallest, and don't lose interest or even eat their fry shortly after they're free-swimming like most larger species of shellies. Endler's, guppies, or some otehr small livebearer that likes hard water would probably mix well enough.
Pool filter sand or a small grade of gravel (looks like sand but larger grains) is easier to deal with when cleaning the tank.

[RedOkra]

The exact dimensions are unknown at this point because the tank is sitting in a friend's garage - I'm still quite early in the planning stages. From the photos, the tank looks to be approximately 3 feet long, 1 foot deep, maybe 16" tall.

I'm currently leaning toward Neolamp. cylindricus, lamp. ocellatus 'gold, lepidolamp. hecqui, or neolamp. leleupi. Probably most interested in the gold ocellatus or leleupi. Would either of these be fitting for this size tank?

Is there a secret for rinsing sand prior to putting it in the tank? Last time I had a tank with sand it was cloudy for weeks.

Lastly, is a sponge filter the best option if I plan on eventually breeding?

Thank you all for your responses.

[toddnbecka]

If those measurements are correct it's a 30 long.

Cylindricus grow too large and aggressive for that size tank, and leleupi are nasty little buggers too. The gold occie's are hard to pair up and spawn successfully in larger tanks, more often kill each other than anything else (from what I've gathered reading about them on various cichlid forums.)
The hecqui are pretty mellow, you shouldn't have trouble with a pair of those raising fry in a 3' tank.

If the water is cloudy just stuff some polyester "floss" into the hob filter and run it for a day or two to clear it up, then throw out the floss. All you really need is a sponge filter, better yet get some poret foam and do a mattenfilter on one end of the tank. Would work with either an air pump or a hob filter.

[prog_frog]

Cleaning sand is just tedious and time-consuming rather than difficult (like gravel, but moreso). Here's a short video:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6EwuzVqEIL4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[nikelodeon79]

Is there a secret for rinsing sand prior to putting it in the tank? Last time I had a tank with sand it was cloudy for weeks.

Use a plastic tote or bucket in your bathtub/shower, or outside with a garden hose. I prefer inside because the water from our outside tap is cold.

Put some sand (don't use the whole bag, as it's more difficult to rinse) in your tote/bucket. Fill the bucket almost full with water, then swish swish swish swish it around with your hands. Allow it to settle for only a few seconds, then dump off the water. Some of the sand will be lost as well, but most of it will be the super light particles that would normally cloud up your tank.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Seriously... repeat.

I generally rinse my sand at least six times. I rinse it until the water is clear, and then rinse it one more time for good measure. I end up with a lot of sand in the bottom of my tub, and I just simply let that dry and then sweep it up and throw it outside.

When adding water to my tank for the first time with sand, I generally put a dinner plate at the bottom so the water doesn't disturb the sand.

[prog_frog]

Sorry, I tried to embed the video but it didn't seem to work. Here's the link:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EwuzVqEIL4