# Calvus Battles



## jwolfe (Aug 2, 2013)

So I fishless cycled my 72 Gallon Bowfront and decided I wanted to get into calvus. I fell in love with Razzo's Black Congo White Pearl and finally found some! They are a good 2 to 2 1/2 inches and there are five of them. I was told to put a handfull in and let them settle things and match up. I was told by the seller that he believed there were 3 females and 2 males but Im really thinking there are at least three males. I put them into the tank yesterday and since they opened up and began venturing its been a battle between 3 of the larger calvus. Looking at the side profiles im thinking at least three are males. One suspected female stays by a shell and the more dominant male hangs out with her no problem, but then he goes after the other two large calvus puffin its gills and pushing them around. Meanwhile the fifth calvus which is also very small, smaller than the suspected female stays on the other side of the tank all by itself. The confusing part about this smallest calvus is *** seen it just fine with the other calvus, but then *** seen a few try driving it into the ground. I THINK its a female but also concerned that perhaps its just a small male from another fry batch. Is there rough play between males and females? Luckily I have a 29 halfway through a fishless cycle and will get a divider for it to house another pair and single male. Keeping my finger crossed the smallest one is a female. The previous owner said one pair dropped fry in a shell once so I have to have at least one pair!

Im very happy they took to the new tank so well, but concerned about the aggression. The more dominant male seems to want the whole tank! No matter where the other two go, he goes and picks on them, but at the same time, they keep going near him too!! Any input on your own experiences is much appreciated. *** read males dont like other males, which is why I started my cycle on the back up tank before I got these guys. Hopefully it finishes soon!


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Yep calvus can be a handful. IMO you want more in there to cut down the picking on any one individual. That is untill they are breeding.


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## jwolfe (Aug 2, 2013)

Im having trouble finding more of this variation, would it be unwise to mix another type of calvus in there? Id rather keep the same so I will keep looking, but it was tough to find the 5 black congo white pearls to start. :/


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Sorry about that. Because they are so lovely and being bred in huge numbers its kind of becomming hard to find variants other than _Altolamprologus calvus_ (Black Congo White Pearl) in the UK.

Erm you could try some cheap comps. Seemed to do the trick with some of mine.
Best would be more of the _Altolamprologus calvus_ (Black Congo White Pearl) as most aggression saved for more similar guys so best dithers and at spreading aggression. Other calvus variants, well may be too hard to separate out later.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

I agree, numbers can help. If you can't find any calvus, comps may help as suggested.

Can you post a FTS?

Russ


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## jwolfe (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks so much for the advice! I will look into some more comps/calvus and see where that gets me! In the mean time I had a few sword tails and mollies around so I tossed them in. The calvus couldnt care less, but perhaps they can add even the slightest distraction while I hunt down some more Altos!

Excuse the swords and mollies, I put them in because I read the calvus was a shy fish and I hadnt any other tangs. To my amazement these guys were out an hour later voting on a new president!
Tank Shot


Group Shot of 4 (The three big ones I suspect as male) The smallest of the bunch(maybe female) is in this photo and is only about 1 3/4 inches. The big ones are between 2 1/2 to 2 3/4



The other smaller one that seemed to have pair off with one of the bigger dominants. This one frequently goes to one of the shells and goes in it. Its about 2 inches


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

They're beautiful! Good job on acclimating them- calvus are notorious for pouting for weeks after getting moved. I'm sure your dithers (swords and mollies) are helping.

I really would hesitate before adding any other altolamps if you can't get the same species. Calvus and Comps are very ready to interbreed, and then you've got a bigger problem. In my experience, comp males can be much pushier than calvus males, and so you could end up with damaged calvus and hybrid offspring.

I would wait it out, or if it's getting worse, pull out the aggressive male for a long weekend time-out. Rearrange the tank, and let the other four settle in. Keep the aggressive male in another tank for a few days and then introduce him again. It might be enough to make him cool down.


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## jwolfe (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks Triscuit! Before anyone had mentioned getting more, I was just going to take the large one (who is most dominant) and the small one it seemed to have pair off with and put them in their own tank. Then see what the last three do in hopes that another pair would form in this tank. One of them has a flaw in its top fin from either getting stuck when it was young or beat up. NONE of them seem to like him/her so I was going to take a 30 gallon, put the pair in it with a divider, and put the flawed one in its own half of the 30 for a while. This way I could most likely grow everyone out so I can see what everyone is better. My other filter just finished fishless cycling today. Decision decisions!!! I love these guys so much though so what ever it takes!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

jwolfe said:


>


Wow, love seeing the yellow on the foreheads (their dad was loaded with yellow)! Especially that bloke on the far right - he is amazing. I always wondered how much of that yellow would transmit to their F1 offspring - question answered - their loaded  Just love seeing them!!!

If memory serves me right, that group I sold Steve was from one of my first batches of fry and I am pretty sure I even know the female that produced the larger ones.

I will need to keep an eye out for your future posts - I really look forward to seeing them continue to develop.

Take care,
Russ


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## jwolfe (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks Russ!! You did a great job with these guys! *** read raising these are tricky! I hope to do the same some time! So is it possible that these are from the same drop? Or is it possible some are older than others? There are three big ones and two small ones which if were the same age could indicate sex.

After watching these guys for hours not really being able to afford more ATM, I decided to split them up and as of now everybody seems to be doing well. One of the larger ones was missing part of its top fin from an injury when it was young. NONE of them would accept it, perhaps from said deformity. Still gorgeous, just missing a few segments in the front, im sure it will throw beautiful babies is I can get it pair some day. The other One I took out was the super aggressive one that beat on the other two big ones and even the smallest at one point. Another looker, but just too much on the other fish. The one I kept was the one farthest to the right that you commented on. He seems to get along with both smaller ones, gently nudging them to the shells on each side of the tank. He is my favorite so I lucked out that he gets along with the two! The two removed are in a 30 gallon with a divider and some dither fish to keep them company. They seem to be doing well and are taking food. I'll just sit it out, raise them all up a while and see where things go


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

jwolfe said:


> ...I hope to do the same some time! So is it possible that these are from the same drop? Or is it possible some are older than others?...


I stand corrected, I went and looked back at my records and Steve's shipment was a year later than I thought it was. So, you may have fry from as many as four females (one male). I did not always save every batch of fry from each female (LOL - that would have been madness); however, I will say that, I saved almost every batch of fry from the biggest and my most favorite female. Now, of course, I can't be dogmatic, but when I first saw that male on the right, his pearls immediately reminded me of that favorite female. Very non uniform with some bigger and some odd shapes.

Again, I can't be dogmatic, but you have another one that reminds of a smaller female that I called Misty as she had a smokey/misty appearance on her sides. Also, her pearls were smaller and more uniform in size.

If I had to choose for myself, I would want fry from different mothers.



jwolfe said:


> ...The one I kept was the one farthest to the right that you commented on. He seems to get along with both smaller ones, gently nudging them to the shells on each side of the tank. He is my favorite so I lucked out that he gets along with the two!...


That sure sounds like male/female behavior :wink:


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## bwestgsx06 (Sep 21, 2011)

I think these black Congo white pearls are my favorite Calvus and maybe even altos, although I really like my muzi gold heads as well.


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