Shell dwellers

[DMD123]

Anyone order from Dave's Rare Aquarium Fish? They show Lamprologus Occelatus Gold on their list at $18 for 1" fish and shipping from $35 up.

Its been a challenge to find these little buggers. Either fish price is up over $22 each or shipping is up over $50 so just a bad combination with 3 fish looking to cost well over $100

 

[fishguy1978]

Anyone order from Dave's Rare Aquarium Fish? They show Lamprologus Occelatus Gold on their list at $18 for 1" fish and shipping from $35 up.

Its been a challenge to find these little buggers. Either fish price is up over $22 each or shipping is up over $50 so just a bad combination with 3 fish looking to cost well over $100

I have not ordered but I have seen him recommended.

 

[DMD123]

I have not ordered but I have seen him recommended.

Yeah, Ive seen that too. Was hoping someone here had a good experience to share ordering from him.

Not sure if all fish are actually in stock but an impressive list of fish for sure.

 

[sir_keith]

Anyone order from Dave's Rare Aquarium Fish? They show Lamprologus Occelatus Gold on their list at $18 for 1" fish and shipping from $35 up.

Its been a challenge to find these little buggers. Either fish price is up over $22 each or shipping is up over $50 so just a bad combination with 3 fish looking to cost well over $100

Have you asked around on GSAS? I know there are a couple of folks over there who keep Tanganyikans; crazy that you can't find these locally.

 

[sir_keith]

Have you seen this on Aquabid? 8 small L. ocellatus for $59 plus UPS overnight shipping.

 

[DMD123]

Have you asked around on GSAS? I know there are a couple of folks over there who keep Tanganyikans; crazy that you can't find these locally.

Not a GSAG member…

Have you seen this on Aquabid? 8 small L. ocellatus for $59 plus UPS overnight shipping.

I looked and did not find any active ads, did you have a link?

 

[sir_keith]

Not a GSAG member…

I looked and did not find any active ads, did you have a link?

Shame on you! Lol!

https://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcichlidst&1636061374

 

[DMD123]

Thanks for the link @sir_keith. I had found Ron’s cichlid today online. I think the shipping from him was $47 if I remember correctly. I had not heard much about him so I moved on when I saw Dave’s which I heard has a good rep. But for the money the group of fish is the better deal for sure.

 

[DMD123]

So Ron’s cichlids I can get 8 fish for $116.03 total with shipping. Thats not bad!

 

[fishguy1978]

So Ron’s cichlids I can get 8 fish for $116.03 total with shipping. Thats not bad!

That's a better deal than the 3 sev's I purchased.

 

[DMD123]

That's a better deal than the 3 sev's I purchased.

Yep, divided out with shipping its only $14.51 per fish! More fish than I want but much more reasonable pricing.

 

[DMD123]

So just random question, why are Lamprologus Occelatus Gold so expensive compared to the other shellies?

 

[fishguy1978]

@sir_keith can probably answer better but I think some of it may be willingness to spawn. My multies are almost a dime a dozen because all that is needed is to add water. My sumbu are more slow growing and picky about mates so they demand a bit more. I haven't kept occelatus, similis or brevis so I'm not sure how "easy" they are.

 

[sir_keith]

They're not, really. All of the shell dwellers generally sell for ~$12-16 each, and although the Gold morph of L. ocellatus tends towards the higher end of this range, it is certainly within it, and comparable in price to a number of other shellies. The bigger mystery is why all of these fishes are still so expensive. All of the Lamprologus/Neolamprologus shell dwellers have been in the hobby for a long time, and are easy to breed, so the supply is not limiting. But they are also very popular, not only because they are interesting and full of personality, but also because they can easily be kept in small tanks; perfect fishes for anyone starting out with Tanganyikans. This popularity results in a stable, high demand; thus the stable prices.

 

[DMD123]

I did it… I am hoping for a lot of things here.
First the 7+1 sale had the fish priced at $59 while the 5+1 was $85, lol easy choice. Second the fish are listed as .5 to 1” but if you try to buy the .5 to 1” fish individual it’s showing ‘sold out’ so Im hoping for a little bigger fish. But then under my package I got it showed as one available.

Got my confirmation email, they ship 2 day UPS. Will update like I usually do with pics and thoughts on the whole process.

 

[DMD123]

Today was my first ‘big’ water change on the shellies. I did 10 gallons and had no issues because of using the buffer. It was just a little dirtier than usual so I did the bigger change and everything went well. Previous I would only do 5 gallons because of the losses I experienced at the beginning of my shellie attempt.

With 8 new fish coming, Im trying to get things ready with more shells coming and a few new pieces of lace rock to add to the aquascape.

 

[DMD123]

New batch of shells came in

My new lace rock pieces

 

[DMD123]

Put new shells and rocks in tank, added new shellies and waiting to see who survives. The shear aggression for such little fish is amazing! If these guys were able to get 12"+ they would be up there with trimacs, jaguars, amphs for aggression, lol

 

[DMD123]

Pulled two dead bodies out. Of course these are the littlest ones. Out of my 8 down to 5 but I have only seen 2. One looked pretty decent the other not good, expecting that one to get killed soon. This batch had a mix of some small ones but at least 3 seemed pretty well sized…

 

[sir_keith]

Pulled two dead bodies out. Of course these are the littlest ones. Out of my 8 down to 5 but I have only seen 2. One looked pretty decent the other not good, expecting that one to get killed soon. This batch had a mix of some small ones but at least 3 seemed pretty well sized…

I don't understand this; I really don't. You say you're expecting another one 'to get killed soon.' Do you really think they're just killing each other? This is contrary to my experience, but...