# Few Pics of my Altolamps



## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Hey Guys, took a few pics of the altos tonight. I've got some comps & calvus in a 55 gallon tank. Here are a few pics - hope you like 

Female compressiceps (Muzi gold head)









Male calvus (black congo white pearl)









Female calvus









Female calvus with brood


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## smidey (Mar 15, 2007)

mate, nice fish! i will be attempting get some red fin comps in a few weeks. they are extremely rare in this part of the world.


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

Awesome pic of mom and fry!


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## Digilistan (Mar 26, 2010)

Very nice Altos, Razzo.

My pleco has taken over the shell in my tank this morning. I have Gold Comps and Black Calvus as well.

Slow growers but well worth it. Great looking fish hey.


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

Love the ink fin and the Zebra Nerite! :wink:


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

smidey said:


> mate, nice fish! i will be attempting get some red fin comps in a few weeks. they are extremely rare in this part of the world.


Thanks smidy - best wishes on securing some altos down under!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Another pic of my Muzi gold head female. I just love the color on the muzis. Just for the record, I did photoshop that black background to get rid of the smear on the glass that reflected back. Must say, Muzi gold head comps just may be my favorite altolamp.


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## bearded lab (Apr 28, 2010)

Didn't know that you could keep calvus with comps, are those two varieties of calvus? Your fish look awesome. The altolamps remind me of crappies!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

bearded lab said:


> Didn't know that you could keep calvus with comps, are those two varieties of calvus? Your fish look awesome. The altolamps remind me of crappies!


Thanks 

Here is their scientific names:
A. calvus (black congo white pearl)
A. compressiceps (Muzi gold head)

Russ


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Couple more pics at feeding time today.
Can't wait for these two to start breeding (their calvus tank mates are going nuts).
They swim around the tank together all the time (shadowing each other) but no spawning yet.

*Male A. compressiceps (Muzi gold head)*









*Female A. compressiceps (Muzi gold head)*


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## melpi65 (Jun 2, 2010)

Amazing pics, specially the last one on the first post, congratulations!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

melpi65 said:


> Amazing pics, specially the last one on the first post, congratulations!


Thanks mate, here are a couple of the calvus...


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## melpi65 (Jun 2, 2010)

Amazing jajaja, really nice, tell me, did you buy it when they're littles fishes? how many months did they need to be like that? thanks!


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## Digilistan (Mar 26, 2010)

Razz, how big are you Calvus and Comps? Are they fully grown yet?

I put in a couple more female Calvus today. The males have relaxed a helluva lot with their addition.

Mine are about 8 months old at the moment - but I did notice that as of this evening there is a definite pair formed. The chick hides in the shell, and the guy hangs around out the front giving my Occies the crook-eye. Art imitating life!

Love these fish!


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## spyder-CT (Nov 16, 2004)

Since there are lot's of people here talking Calvus, I would like to ask a question. I have a large tank, 300 gallons. I had a pair of Black Calvus but I lost the female. My male is about 4 1/2" long and I would like to add a few more but all I can find are little 1" fish. I'm afraid to buy them because I fear my big male will kill them. Any thoughts on this??

I absolutely love you pics, beautiful!!!


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## Digilistan (Mar 26, 2010)

Maybe just grow them out for a while in another tank, but I don't think it should be too much hassle. 300gallons is a fair bit of room. Shouldn't be too many problems.

Maybe trade in the big guy and just get a group of 1" juvies and start again is also an option, as frustrating as that may sound! Grow em all up together, and let them pair off.

Good luck mate.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

melpi65 said:


> Amazing jajaja, really nice, tell me, did you buy it when they're littles fishes? how many months did they need to be like that? thanks!


I purchased this group in December. They were a recent wild caught import.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Digilistan said:


> Razz, how big are you Calvus and Comps? Are they fully grown yet?
> 
> I put in a couple more female Calvus today. The males have relaxed a helluva lot with their addition.
> 
> ...


Thanks mate 

The Muzi gold head male comp is probably 5+ inches
The dominant male calvus is probably 4+ inches (he seems to be growing lately)
The largest female calvus is close to 4" and the rest are a good deal smaller.
The female muzi gold head comp is probably 3.5 to 4".

Sounds like some possitive pair activities - how big is are they?

Got any pics


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

spyder-CT said:


> Since there are lot's of people here talking Calvus, I would like to ask a question. I have a large tank, 300 gallons. I had a pair of Black Calvus but I lost the female. My male is about 4 1/2" long and I would like to add a few more but all I can find are little 1" fish. I'm afraid to buy them because I fear my big male will kill them. Any thoughts on this??
> 
> I absolutely love you pics, beautiful!!!


Thanks 

1" ???? I usually wait for fish to be about 2" before adding them to a mature altolamp tank. I recall reading others being comfortable with 1" If it were me, I'd wait till they got 1.5 inches at least.

Good luck!

Russ


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## dmiller328 (Nov 17, 2008)

*Spyder-CT wrote*


> Since there are lot's of people here talking Calvus, I would like to ask a question. I have a large tank, 300 gallons. I had a pair of Black Calvus but I lost the female. My male is about 4 1/2" long and I would like to add a few more but all I can find are little 1" fish. I'm afraid to buy them because I fear my big male will kill them. Any thoughts on this??


Buy some Wild caught adults, one male and 2 females to have 2 pairs or heck with a 300 gallon buy even more!!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

If I ever do a huge tank again, it is going to have some awesome looking F1 C. Gibberosa (Mikula) fry and two or three mature male altos from three or four different species (Muzi gold head, Inkfin or BCWP, Kigoma red, orange fin, etc...). It would be a show tank only (with no cares for any spawning by the fronts).


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