Neolamprologus ocellatus "Gold"

[dennysfishroom]

I finally found some of these shell dwellers. Hopefully, they'll arrive this next week, and we can get started trying to breed them. Denny

[snakeskinner]

excellent. Not sure if you have any experience with them or not but I would advise giving them as much floor-space as you can. I keep Neolamprologus multifasciatus in a 20 long and they breed faster than I can keep up with. I've kept both Neolamprologus meleagris (stappersi) and currently Neolamprologus speciosus, which are both very similar to ocellatus. Both are very aggressive towards fry in a 20 long so I have to pull any fry I see and raise them up separately. I have a 30 long I need to reseal and move my speciosus to see if they can survive there or not. Kyle

[dennysfishroom]

Well, I received my Gold occhis this morning. It looks like everyone made the trip, and is doing well. I've got them floating in the tank to get acclimated right now, but I'm seeing lots of activity and movement. I'm not really sure how many I got for sure. There were 2 bags of 3, and one bag with a shell in it where I saw one fish. Who knows if there might be more in the shell? I'm very anxious to see how they do as they get bigger. Hopefully, I'll have some babies for the HAAS swap meet in August, and our auction in the fall. I was checking with USPS yesterday, and my package left Little Rock sometime after noon, and yet they were still saying delivery on March 6th. I really like the local postal employees, and they are very cooperative, but something just isn't right with their package delivery model. Denny

[Jackielee]

Good luck with them. It would be great if you could bring some up to share in August! I would want to be on that list. Jack

[dennysfishroom]

I've got them in a 20 long right now. I think I counted at least 8 so far, but they are only about 1/2 inch long, and there are lots of shells in the tank, so I'm not real sure on the number. I did notice at least 2 of them squaring off pretty good, so I assume they are living up to their reputation even at this early age. It will be interesting to see the pecking order developing as they get older. I do have another tank available if I decide I have to thin out the one tank. Denny

[Jackielee]

I just talked to Steve Edie about these fish a few minutes again. He said they can be extremely territorial and a dominate pair will/may kill off the other pairs in the tank. That may depend on a lot of factors but he stressed they were best kept in pairs with lots of room and to remove the fry as they got some size on them. Kind of surprised me some but they are not the colony spawners like the little multi shell dwellers are. Some other fish might be tolerated but not other bottom dwelling fish. Not saying this is absolute but a good caution from an experienced breeder of these fish. Denny I have his email and phone if you would want to speak to him directly sometime. JAck

[snakeskinner]

that's prettymuch what I've experienced with meleagris/stappersi and speciosus. I havn't kept occies themselves but these two species are nearly identical. I'm fixing to upgrade my speciosus to a 30 long over their 20 long now to try and get more space for fry to survive. They are not so much colony breeders as they are harem breeders. I believe the males are the fry-killers so a male with multiple females should be ok. Kyle

[dennysfishroom]

I can't believe how dirty the tank is that I've got these fish in. I'm going to need to get a really small siphon to clean the sand. Having said that, the fish are doing great. Not growing real fast, but active and aggressive feeders with erect fins and round bellies. Can't tell for sure how many I've got left, but I will say it's most if not all of them. Can't wait until they get a little size to them, and start courting. Denny

[tboy]

I have a breeding pair of occies that only once did they raise their fry for any amount of time. Since then I have started pulling the fry the very first time that I see them. The parents will eat them if not.

[mewickham]

You can use a regular size gravel vac to clean the sand. Just put your thumb over the end to slow the flow.