"Cichlidiot" wrote in message
...
Shells are such an issue in this area. Very few fish places sell
appropriately shaped and sized shells. What I have now have actually been
gathered over 2 years of searching shops for shells. The conch shells were
particularly a happy find since the wild caught males are about 2" long
and need something the size of a conch shell. Part of the reason the two
rock piles were put in was when I first got the similis, I didn't have the
conch shells yet, so I was trying to give the males a choice of territory.
Turns out the fry like the rocks more than the males.

If you're a member of Cichlid-forum, (www.cichlid-forum.com) Send a Private
Message to "movingsram". He's a nice kids and I picked up my multies from
him. He orders shells on line. Not escargot shells but the place he orders
from has an actual assortment of different types of shells from around the
world. While I was picking up my fish, he'd just received a box of a couple
hundred of shells. I think it was like $50 bucks. Even though I believe
there's a minimum order, you can order a box, take what you need and cut a
deal for the rest with your LFS. ;-)
Another option is to add more rocks to the tank. Similis are more commonly
found among the rocks than among the shells so they shouldn't mind.
AC