Tips on breeding shelldwellers, specifically n.similis

[Hybridfish7]

I plan on breeding shelldwellers pretty soon, (specifically n. similis) in a 20 long. I have a general idea of their care and breeding, and I just had some questions-
-can they be on bare bottom or do they need sand?
-do I need to move fry to a growout?
-can I grow fry out in a 10 gallon?
-what exactly do I feed the fry? once free swimming are they big enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp?
-how fast do the fry grow?
-how big do the parents need to be to breed?
-how many adults do I need to buy to start a breeding colony?
-would PVC elbows or regular shells work better? could I do a mix of both?

 

[Judyok]

I've bred Multis and Gold Occies so I'm thinking Similis will be about the same. I used escargo shells and quite a few, maybe 2 dozen for 6 fish. I started my colony with six fish. A 20 long will work well for shellies and if you can add a couples of rocks to help divide their territories that would be good. I'm guessing my multis were may 1 1/2" before they bred. Be patient it took several months before that happened.

Just observe them daily eventually you'll have a pair or two that are hanging around together as thick as thieves. The female will go in and out of her shell for awhile and eventually you'll notice she just stays in the shell with the male guarding. As soon as you've noticed that she's staying in the shell all day or only comes out 2 or 3 times a day, she's probably laid eggs. At that point I leave her in the main tank for about 7 days and then transfer her shell and all to a 10 gallon. Prepare the 10 gallon with water from the main tank. I used a small hob filter with the output running near the shell, but not directly on it.

If she keeps the fry in the shell and won't let them out try to remove as soon as you can which is a trick because she'll keep darting back into the shell. After 10 or 11 days I hatched brine shrimp and fed them that for a few weeks. You can also use Golden Pearls from Ken's Fish the smallest size. When they were big enough I started feeding them crushed flakes. As far as how fast they grow I would say pretty slow, patience is the key.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Ah ok, thanks for the advice
at this point I'm fine with patience, I've got 2 tanks of bristlenose growing out to breed and another one coming, so I've got alot of waiting to do lol