Shell dweller
A tiny cichlid from Lake Tanganyika that lives and breeds in empty snail shells. A colony fills a 10 gallon tank with behaviour.
Care at a glance
| Minimum tank | 10 gallons (38 L) |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 75–81°F (24–27°C) |
| pH | 7.5–9.0 |
| How many | Keep at least 4 together |
| Adult size | 1.75 in (4.4 cm) |
| Where it lives | The lower half |
| Type | Fish |
Good tank mates
- Guppy
- Platy
- Molly
- Cherry shrimp
- Nerite snail
- X-ray tetra
- Denison barb
- Swordtail
- Endler's livebearer
- Sailfin molly
- Three-spot blue gourami
- Paradise fish
- Firemouth cichlid
- Electric blue acara
- Rubber lip pleco
- Boeseman's rainbowfish
- Dojo loach
- Mystery snail
- Ramshorn snail
- Assassin snail
- Ghost shrimp
- Dwarf orange crayfish
- African dwarf frog
Possible with care
- Harlequin rasbora
- Zebra danio
- Betta (male)
- Dwarf gourami
- Bronze corydoras
- Otocinclus
- Bristlenose pleco
- Angelfish
- Tiger barb
- Cherry barb
- Amano shrimp
- Black skirt tetra
- Glowlight tetra
- Black neon tetra
- Lemon tetra
- Serpae tetra
- Bleeding heart tetra
- Congo tetra
- Diamond tetra
- Scissortail rasbora
- Lambchop rasbora
- Celestial pearl danio
- Giant danio
- Rosy barb
- Gold barb
- Rainbow shark
- Red-tailed black shark
- Siamese algae eater
- Hillstream loach
- Pearl gourami
- Honey gourami
- Sparkling gourami
- Female betta
- Bolivian ram
- Cockatoo dwarf cichlid
- Kribensis
- Severum
- Electric yellow lab
- Peacock cichlid
- Panda corydoras
- Peppered corydoras
- Sterbai corydoras
- Clown loach
- Yoyo loach
- Dwarf chain loach
- Clown pleco
- Common pleco
- Glass catfish
- Chinese algae eater
- Dwarf neon rainbowfish
- Threadfin rainbowfish
- Golden wonder killifish
- Bala shark
- Japanese rice fish
- Bamboo shrimp
Do not mix with
- Neon tetra
- Cardinal tetra
- Ember tetra
- Chili rasbora
- White cloud minnow
- Pygmy corydoras
- Kuhli loach
- Fancy goldfish
- Rummynose tetra
- Green neon tetra
- Marbled hatchetfish
- German blue ram
- Convict cichlid
- Oscar
- Jack Dempsey
- Discus
- Pictus catfish
- Clown killifish
- Pea puffer
- Common goldfish
- Crystal red shrimp
Open any pairing to see the reason.