Just over four years ago, I first interviewed Chris Carpenter. I remember how excited I was because he was the first true “shellie” keeper that I had interviewed at that time.
By the 2010s, I had been keeping several shell dwelling species from Lake Tanganyika myself, so I was quite interested to hear his thoughts on a variety of related subjects. That interview did not disappoint! To this day, Chris is one of the few hobbyists I know who primarily works with shellies. I have learned quite a bit from him so I thought I would see if he wanted to do another interview round. Thankfully, he was more than willing to.
Onward we go!
It’s been four years since your first interview for the blog. Tell the readers about some of the exciting things that have happened in your cichlid world since then.
Has it really been 4 years!? Man, time sure does fly by. I’ve been very busy with work and I’ve shut down a good number of aquariums at home. While that doesn’t allow me the freedom to keep whatever cichlids my heart desires, it does keep me in check and I’m still able to keep the fish I love the most. Of course that’s mostly cichlids from Lake Tanganyika and definitely includes multiple shell dweller species. I do aquarium and aviary service for work and I’m not always in the mood to clean more tanks when a get home. I do breed fish for work, so some of my tanks are dedicated to that.
Since that first interview, what have been some significant changes (good or bad) you have seen within the shell dweller community?
From what I can tell, the shell dweller fanbase seems to be growing, and I love to see that.
One of the topics we didn’t touch on previously was tank size/shape for shell dwellers. I tend to recommend shallower, wider tanks when keeping species only, if for no reason other than to save water. In my experience, most shellie species don’t spend much time up in the water column. What are your thoughts on the ideal tank?
My favorite size for shellie species only tanks would have to be 20L. It’s long and short. Not a lot of wasted space visually in a tank that size. However my favorite tank for shell dwellers is a large one. Something like a 6ft 125 gallon. In a tank that size you can do a lot more and even create a decent Tanganyika community set-up with shellies, Cyprichromis, and a rock dweller or two.
Many hobbyists prefer to keep multiple species together in the same tank, what we often call community set-ups. What are you thoughts on multiple shellie species sharing a tank?
I’m not a huge fan of multiple shell dwellers in the same tank. I’ve tried it a few times, and it hasn’t worked out in the long run. Most times the two species constantly squabble over the same territory. There are exceptions however, such as exLamprologus calliurus and Telmatochromis vitattus, which are often seen together in the lake, and this can be replicated in the aquarium given the right set-up. I’ve also done combinations with shell dwellers and “opportunistic” shell spawners successfully. Something like exLamprologus brevis with exL. caudopunctatus.
Let’s talk sand substrate. I increasingly encounter debates about the amount of sand in tanks. Some keepers seem to think shellies enjoy moving sand around, so they use deeper sand beds. Others believe the fish move it because they don’t want it around their shells. Where are you on the subject?
To me half the fun of watching these little fish in an aquarium is them digging around and moving sand to their liking. I’ve heard the arguments people make saying “there’s no sand in the large shell beds” and that “the fish are just trying to remove it.” I don’t think this is entirely accurate. While I think multifasciatus and similis would thrive because fry would have tons of hiding spots in tanks with no sand, you need heck of a lot of shells. There are other species like ocellatus that like to bury their shells with just the opening showing. exLamprologus brevis inhabit areas in the lake that don’t have a high shell density, hence the evolutionary necessity for sharing a shell. I prefer sand in all my tanks and that includes shell dwellers and non-shell dwellers.
You have worked with the Lake Malawi shell dweller Metriaclima lanisticola. Can you talk a bit about the species and your experience keeping it?
Keeping them is pretty straight forward. They’re a peaceful Malawi mbuna, so I’d recommend keeping them with other peaceful Malawi cichlids. They don’t use the shells for spawning. They’re a mouthbrooder like all Malawi cichlids. They do use the shells for refuge as adults and more often as juveniles. I still keep these fish, and anytime I put my hand in the tank, they either try to pick my arm clean or hide in the large shells. They’re pretty prolific as well, and I started using them in service tanks. I hesitate to admit this because I know there’s a bunch of people that would love to have this species and I know they’re a hard one to find.
I bought this species three separate times, and the first two times they were misidentified. What I received was Pseudotropheus livingstonii, and that confusion happens a lot with this fish. I donated quite a few bags of M. lanisticola to clubs I gave presentations to over the years and they always sold well. I hope I helped get the real deal into some of the hands of people that really wanted them.
You have also worked with the Tanganyikan Lamprologus calliurus, a larger shellie species that is sparsely available in the hobby. Talk a little about keeping this fish.
I’ve had a few variants of these guys. The first time I bought them they were misidentified as exL. brevis. That can happen because some look very much like brevis, but male calliurus will always have a lyre tail. My favorite calliurus had a collection point of “Magara”. They were large for a shellie and had some nice yellow color on the head. I was able to keep them and have them spawn in pairs and also as a harem.
What do you have planned for your fish room over the next few years?
This is a tough one for me to answer. If the last year is any indication, I think I’ll only have a few tanks at home. I’ve gone from 70 aquariums down to 13. Doing aquarium service as a job has decreased my enthusiasm for doing water changes at home. I think I’ll always have aquariums at home, and shell dwellers are a must. At this point less is just more enjoyable to me.
Anything we didn’t touch on with regard to shell dwellers that you would like to share?
I just love these little fish, and there’s a community of people that share that passion. They’re unique and so are the people that keep them.