# Thoughts on Calvus with Multi Shell dwellers?



## KrnAndy (10 mo ago)

Hello!

I currently have a 75 Gallon with some Multi shell dwellers and 6 Cyprichromis Leptosomas, I'm planning to get a few more leptosomas (maybe 3-4) but my LFS had only 6 left and not seeing anymore in the near future as they were hard to come by (Utinta Fluorescent F1)

Fish are doing great and getting along very well, but I would like to add a centerpiece fish. I have thought about adding a single Julie Transcriptus to add diversity but take out the possibility of a mating pair and was recommended only 1 to prevent breeding aggression with the shellies.

but for the main question, will it be okay to add a single juvenile or sub adult Calvus into the mix in my tank with what I'm planning?

I have read multiple threads posted here and other forums regarding the matter and people have seem to have very good outcomes doing so. Some say it will eat the fry(and leave adults alone), others have also said they haven't even touched the fry but feed well) but I don't mind if fry won't all make it, this will be a display tank and not particularly looking for a huge colony made but won't be against it if fry survive here and there. (Same goes for my other 75 Community with guppies and various community fish)
Reason for asking is the info was dated years back and times change! I would like insight in what your thoughts are now 

Here's a fun little clip of my tank!  Dont mind the vall, if they get uprooted in some areas I'll be placing them in other tanks.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Why not plan on having a pair of calvus instead of a single? Buy an already mated pair that has produced fry together. Or buy six and allow a pair to form in your tank.


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

A single specimen would work fine, maybe even a mated pair, if you can find one. But unless you want to upset the apple cart and deal with all the resulting drama, I wouldn't compromise the relative tranquility of this tank by using it as a grow-out for six calvus juveniles. Good luck.


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## Cowpuppet (11 mo ago)

If you're looking for a center piece fish I'm not sure Calvus is good one and I'm not even referring to compatibility. Every Calvus I have ever owned has been a lurker who is rarely visible except for during one of the 3 F's: Feeding, Fighting, and Friendly cave co-habitation. 😂

Maybe a solo Jeweled Goby Cichlid? Eretmodus whatever. 

Honestly I've kept multiple breeding groups of Transcriptus and Ornatus with shellies in tanks smaller than a 75g with great success. Their breeding aggression for a Tang is pretty tame from my experience but it is more work eventually.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My calvus are always out and about, but I have pairs or a colony so FWIW.


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## Cowpuppet (11 mo ago)

DJRansome said:


> My calvus are always out and about, but I have pairs or a colony so FWIW.


I'm jealous! Never had the issue with Comps but all my Calvus are hiders. I'm shamed.


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

Cowpuppet said:


> ...Maybe a solo Jeweled Goby Cichlid? Eretmodus whatever...


I wouldn't do that, as these guys can be super nasty, a tendency that seems to be exacerbated when they are kept solo and/or with smaller fishes that they can easily bully.


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## catscanman (10 mo ago)

sir_keith said:


> But unless you want to upset the apple cart and deal with all the resulting drama, I wouldn't compromise the relative tranquility of this tank by using it as a grow-out for six calvus juveniles. Good luck.


I've had them before, and I did it to myself again...only four, but one of them is always a d*%k. I just can't resist how pretty they are as adults.


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## KrnAndy (10 mo ago)

DJRansome said:


> My calvus are always out and about, but I have pairs or a colony so FWIW.


Well, I went ahead and got a juvenile Calvus about 1-1.3in in size, about the size of the most dominant male multi that I have. It's been in the tank for about 2 days now, and surprisingly is doing very well, multies ignore it completely even near shells, but only time will tell I guess, and he/she is eating well. 
Something interesting though, and side question all 6 of my leptosomas are starting to color in now, starting to think I literally got 6 males. They have the black dot on the top back fin and blue is coming in pretty fast on the bottom and top fins as well.
Should I be worried about having all males? I read they could be territorial but they have small mouths that they don't do any damage to one another. Not sure if I can even find another LFS that has more of these guys. Let alone get another batch of 6 and hope that even half is female


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

KrnAndy said:


> ...Should I be worried about having all males?...


Not yet. It is difficult t sex fishes during transitional coloration, and the likelihood of having just one sex amongst six fishes is small (but not zero). Stay the course and see what happens over time.


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## KrnAndy (10 mo ago)

Update on the tank, I have a gold calvus along with an inkfin calvus, they are very mild and actually butt in to do their defensive stance when the two male multis kind of nudge at each other  very nice tank mates. Only problem though! I have 6 Leptosomas Utinta "Fluorescent" F1 or at least labeled as that from fish store.

I've had these guys for a while now, 3 seem to be confirmed females, the other 3 are males I believe.

Male #1 (2nd Smallest of the group, white tipped pelvic fin, blue head, does the mating dance with the other females and chases Male #2 relentlessly)

Male #2 (Smallest of the 6 leptosomas) Has a yellow tail, missing scales, and clamped front dorsal fin.

Male? #3 Largest of the group of 6. White tipped dorsal fin, zero yellow/blue coloration. Unsure if this really is a male as the male #1 does not bother this guy at all while #1 tries its mating dance with other females. This male does not chase Male #2 or show any sort of chasing.

The 2 out of the 3 I know for sure are male are the SMALLEST of the group, and their coloration have come in. One of which has a yellow tail, and the other has a blue tinge coming in at the head and white tip pelvic fins. The 3rd "male" I think is a male is the biggest out of the six leptosomas but no colors. Only white tip dorsal fin. This large male is very docile and doesn't chase anyone around, he did when I first got him but he has chilled out.

Male #1 has been chasing #2 relentlessly and has been causing a bit of damage now. I have been keeping an eye on them for a while as I was told this was mostly normal, but I'm worried as this guy needs to be taken out now. I was informed leptosomas give a little chase here and there and do no damage as they have small mouths but I'm seeing otherwise.

Unfortunately I would love to get more of these guys to spread out aggression but the store only had 6 at hand and can't get more, I can't seem to find anymore either. I would not want to chance at getting more males again.

#1 Male surprisingly has chased the gold Calvus a bit as well. Here and there, but since the calvus doesn't seem to run, #1 leaves it alone again.

Is my best course of action to rehome Male #1 or #2? #2 will be quarantined for a bit to heal if kept.
I attached a picture of Male #1 and #2

Don't mind the red on my heater, as it's set to 77.5 and on hot days my tank will max out at 79 and stay red until night time.


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

I'm surprised the Cyps are damaging each other, because they should have plenty of space in a 75. That said, if your fishes are damaging each other beyond a missing scale here and there, it never hurts to move the damaged fish (male #2) to another tank to recover. What you really need is more Cyps to spread the aggression around, and the sex ratio is less important that just having more fishes in the colony. Cyps breed precociously, so it's not beyond reason to hope for some fry of your own over the next couple of months. Good luck.


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## KrnAndy (10 mo ago)

sir_keith said:


> I'm surprised the Cyps are damaging each other, because they should have plenty of space in a 75. That said, if your fishes are damaging each other beyond a missing scale here and there, it never hurts to move the damaged fish (male #2) to another tank to recover. What you really need is more Cyps to spread the aggression around, and the sex ratio is less important that just having more fishes in the colony. Cyps breed precociously, so it's not beyond reason to hope for some fry of your own over the next couple of months. Good luck.


Yeah.. that's why I was also very surprised. Unfortunately 6 is all my LFS had and I can't get them anywhere else. I figured homing these 6 to my 75 would be way better than leaving them in the 40 breeder they were in. I can quarantine this guy in a smaller tank, but what are your thoughts on me putting him in my OTHER 75 gallon tank, live bearer tank (Same parameters). No aggressive fish in there. Would like him to be able to swim pretty freely and healing naturally vs putting him in a smaller tank by himself. Won't be medicating anything unless I see any signs of infection. I had good luck healing stressed fish in a happy environment vs medicating right away.

I did also find another source that I can rehome him too, but I'm not sure how #1 male will react with #2 gone. If he will suddenly start chasing the BIGGEST #3 that he has paid no attention to all this time. I know #1 has been doing the breeding dance almost constantly now 24/7 for about a week with the females not seemingly paying any attention to him as he his pretty small compared to the females.


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

A single Cyp in a small tank will be very unhappy, so irrespective of who you move, I'd move that fish into your other 75. You can move either #1 or #2; hard to know which option would work out best, but moving the aggressor (#1) is probably the safer bet right now.


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## Plantedshelly (9 mo ago)

Endler’s livebearers go very well with multi shell dwellers and they just mind their own business. The endlers make the tank pop and are very active. They also only go to the top half of the tank and don’t bother the cichlids even when there’s food that’s floating to the bottom and the endlers follow it to the bottom and they don’t fight. They also are small. I don’t know anything about the fish your thinking of getting though sorry.


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

Plantedshelly said:


> Endler’s livebearers go very well with multi shell dwellers and they just mind their own business. The endlers make the tank pop and are very active. They also only go to the top half of the tank and don’t bother the cichlids even when there’s food that’s floating to the bottom and the endlers follow it to the bottom and they don’t fight. They also are small. I don’t know anything about the fish your thinking of getting though sorry.


This is actually not a bad idea, the thought being to give the Cyps some dither fish until you can find (or raise) some more Cyps. Endlers are inexpensive and commonly available, so it might be worth a try as an interim solution if just moving one of the Cyps doesn't solve your problem.


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## Plantedshelly (9 mo ago)

If you want to buy awesome endlers, go to endlers ark yet some types of packs may be out of order yet there are multiple different packs for each fish. The person that owns Endler’s ark is also super nice


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## Plantedshelly (9 mo ago)

Good luck with your fish!


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## KrnAndy (10 mo ago)

sir_keith said:


> This is actually not a bad idea, the thought being to give the Cyps some dither fish until you can find (or raise) some more Cyps. Endlers are inexpensive and commonly available, so it might be worth a try as an interim solution if just moving one of the Cyps doesn't solve your problem.


nah doesn't work in mine. I tried out livebearer dithers like endlers and they died off from the multies. I already have a 75 gallon full of them and this 75 is a display tank strictly for tanganyikan species.
good news though.
One of my female leptosomas is holding babies in her mouth. AND I saw a bunch of multi fry hiding in and out of the shells too.


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## Plantedshelly (9 mo ago)

Maybe the tank size is the reason your endlers died? Mine is 30 gallon and both species are minding their own business and endlers are growing up fine even though the multies had babies a couple weeks ago. I’m sorry that that didn’t work out


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## Aussieman57 (Dec 18, 2021)

Plantedshelly said:


> Maybe the tank size is the reason your endlers died? Mine is 30 gallon and both species are minding their own business and endlers are growing up fine even though the multies had babies a couple weeks ago. I’m sorry that that didn’t work out


Time will tell. Your Endlers have not been with those multis very long. I do hope this works out for you as Endlers are not very fast moving to avoid aggression. This was my main concern. You may be having a "honeymoon period" until they get into it. Be interesting to see how the Endlers work out.


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## Plantedshelly (9 mo ago)

One of my Endler’s I think is pregnant and everything is doing fine together. A lot more babies over the weekend too.


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## Plantedshelly (9 mo ago)

Babies for the cichlids I mean


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## Wilkho (8 mo ago)

Plantedshelly said:


> If you want to buy awesome endlers, go to endlers ark yet some types of packs may be out of order yet there are multiple different packs for each fish. The person that owns Endler’s ark is also super nice


Nice tip! I'll keep it in mind


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