Lamprologus ocellatus

[Miles44]

I have two questions.
LM:  Have yours spawned yet?

And tlm:  Do they prefer lighter, sand substrate?  'Cause I see in your pic.  You seem to have larger gravel.

[LittleMousling]

Alas, I'm missing one major criteria - both sexes. However, my meleagris have spawned, and I've read a number of occie spawning accounts.

[tlm]

And tlm:  Do they prefer lighter, sand substrate?  'Cause I see in your pic.  You seem to have larger gravel.

I don't know if they'd prefer something else - they might. But they haven't filed any complaints yet. ;-)

Actually I have a mix of CaribSea's Aragonite, "Reef Sand", 1-2 mm, on the bottom and Seachem's Onyx Sand on top.  I wanted the Aragonite to keep the pH high and put the Onyx on top because I like the black color. Over time they'll mix, but that's how I started it.  

[Miles44]

I just got a pair of these little guys.  Everyone seems to rave about them so I had to so it.  Now when it comes to color I really don't care.  Infact with all the shellies I have gotten it makes no difference.  What I want is thier personalities.  That's all I care about.  Anyways, I got two.  Now I read the begining of this post and you guys seem to think it's hard to sex these guys.  Well what I did was get a large "dominant" looking one.  And a small one, the smallest in the tank.  I hope this will be a pair.  And of coarse, like what I always do when I go to this certin fish store, is buy shellies that I have no where to put.  They are in a qt tank right now.  I might try them with the punks until a get a tank setup for themselves.  We will have to see.

[LittleMousling]

It's true I used to think they were difficult to sex. I should really go back and edit some of my old posts, huh? Post good profile pictures and I can ID them for you, most likely. It's all in the face shape.

[LittleMousling]

In the first picture, the one in the back is a female, the one in the front I can't say for sure because of the angle but I'm afraid also looks female. In the second picture, the one in front is a female and again, can't quite tell on the one in the back but looks much more female than male. Sorry.

[Miles44]

Ok from what your saying they are both female.  That gives me a new question.  With them both being female should I add more occies to that tank?  Or just leave it alone.  The currant setup is the two occies, three Pet. cats, and a pair of punks.  What do you all think?   I could get some occies from a diffen't source and add another blood line in the mix.  Oh and the tank is a 20L.

[LittleMousling]

Well, it's a lot of fish for a small tank ... I guess my vote would be to leave it as is.

[Miles44]

Ok another question.  How do you sex them?  I am asuming it has to do with the profile of thier head from what you've said.

[LittleMousling]

Yup, profile of the head. Obviously I don't have a photo of a male for comparison but there are tons online. Find a good profile shot, put a piece of paper over it, and trace from the eyes around the mouth. Then do the same for a photo of a female. Even if you can't see the difference right in the photo that should make it pretty clear. Basically, females have much shorter faces, with a steeper slope from eyes to mouth. Males have a longer snout and a less-steep slope, and a more defined upper lip.

[Miles44]

Ah, thanks a bunch.

[Exister]

Well, it's a lot of fish for a small tank ... I guess my vote would be to leave it as is.

Speaking of tank population numbers, I am planning a new 20L tank and I need some advice as to the initial numbers of fish to put in.  I'm debating as to whether to go with occies or multis.  Assuming I go with the occies, how many should I stock my new 20L with?

Also, for a 20L, if I build the corner or the back wall with some rock formations, could I also introduce a few julies or small peacocks?  Or should I just stick with the occies?  Just wondering how many fish can go in a small tank such as the 20L.

[LittleMousling]

With occies, I'd start with siz and let them toss out the extra males. Anywhere from a pair to a male and three females may be a good fit, depending on the aggression level of each fish.

Definitely no Peacocks ("small" Peacock is kind of an oxymoron ) but a pair of Julies ... maybe. It'd be really encroaching on the space of a very, very territorial fish, but it's not an impossible fit.

Someone said of occie aggressiveneness, and I love this quote, "if sharks acted like L. ocellatus, no one would ever swim in the ocean." And, I think there'd be fewer sharks!

[Exister]

Thanks for the advice - think I'll just stick with one species in my 20L.  Now I just have to choose between the occies and the multies!

[cichliddave100]

I can attest that these guys are not too hard to breed, and they're not too difficult to sex once you know what you're looking for.  LM gave me some advice a month ago regarding sexing, and I have since been able to pretty much figure out what is going on in my tank.  Also, I had my first batch of occie fry two weeks ago.  Unfortunately they're in a 29g with some juvies calvus and a juvie petricola, and they didn't last long.  Since then, the male has booted the female from her shell she bred in.  Their behavior certainly is interesting.

To reinforce LM's sexing advice, my males have a larger upper lip, almost looking a bit bulldog like.  The females' upper lips are smaller, and my females have much golder bodies (like small juvies), and my males have a dirty look to them.  I have a feeling that most of you guys' occies look more like mine, as I know that mine are nothing compared to the beauties that LM has.  BTW LM, I know your advice is to wait until nice occies like yours come along, but most of us are just lucky to get our hands on some .

To be honest, I wouldn't be too worried about sexing them, although I know that everyone just wants to know what they have.  The bottom line is that if yours are relatively close in age, you'll figure out their sex as they continue to grow.  The males will be larger and have bulldog lips.

I don't have a digi cam, but will try to borrow one soon so I can take some pic's   to compare my males v. females.

Edit - Borrowed my dad's old cam.  My avatar now shows my dirty male with the bulldog nose.