Shell Dwellers

[ThomasLC]

I have a tank of shell dwellers with other Lake T fish in there with them, cave dwellers, and the sardines. 

I just witnessed a shellie eating the fry of well another shellie.  I thought they didn't eat their own.  Now I can prove different.  Do I remove the bad fish?

[Guppysnail]

Could this be a they won’t eat their own but will eat others to lessen food competition for their fry?

[ThomasLC]

Could be but I am feeding 4 times a day.  The other does not have fry.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

That's odd behavior. Not typical. Having them with other fish can drive them to do out of character behaviors. They do best in species only tanks.  It may be a sign that despite feeding 4 x a day the cave dwellers and cyps are getting the majority of the food. 

[Ken Burke]

On 4/12/2022 at 1:48 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

That's odd behavior. Not typical. Having them with other fish can drive them to do out of character behaviors. They do best in species only tanks.  It may be a sign that despite feeding 4 x a day the cave dwellers and cyps are getting the majority of the food. 

Or they “feel” overcrowded….

[Imperfect_aquatics]

I’ve got a tank of just Shellies, I’ve noticed this from time to time. Like the commenter  before me said, I think it’s when they feel overcrowded. They tend to breed fast/often enough in my tank that losing some fry isn’t necessarily a bad thing…

[ThomasLC]

Now we have a before and after.  This gives more real-estate to the shellies and less for the cave dwellers.  Also added sand.  Lets see if this stops the behavior.