# Feeding Wild Caught Calvus



## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

I recently got a F0 Yellow Calvus and he has been with me for a few days but up til now he wont eat he would swallow the food and spit it back up.
I try to feed him DAinichi or NLS but still no luck all his tankmates are eating very good what should i do to make him eat?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Give it time, what you are experiencing is quite normal. If after a few days he isn't eating, try some ghost shrimp, cinnamon shrimp, or feeder guppies if necessary.


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

He is housed with Sumbu SHells, fronts and a calvus

Thanks Fogel will do that if he still does not eat


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

if you feed guppies make sure you've bred them yourself, lfs ones can and, most likely will bring all kinds of nasty bugs into your system.

Many of my F0 Calvus took a week or so to begin feeding well, but they always do. At 2 weeks they should be quite settled in, normal in most respects I guess. Good luck, you've got great taste!


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

Yes he's still in the process of settling in but now he now comes in the open i have some fries here but i'm a little afraid of their quality as they are from a pond but they have been in my growout tan for quite some time. And i have only 3 pieces  so the other fishes might eat the fries first.

How bout cut up shrimp?


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

I would say that if they're not eating cut shrimp, frozen krill, frozen mysis, brine etc. then they're not ready to eat yet. Whatever you present (Just feed what you want their staple to be.), feed just enough for the others until you see the Calvus making an effort. They can hold on for over two weeks though I very much doubt they will starve themselves much longer than a few days or maybe a week. If they never eat and end up starving to death it'll be the first time I've heard of such a thing and it'll mean they were very sick with something else when you got them.

Feeding too much variety (IE trying everything) can prolong their diet acclimation so I would just fee them your intended staple. Once you've got them settled in try supplementing their diet with live ghost shrimp (I breed cherry shrimp for this) because it stimulates cool hunting behavior and they cannot contaminate your fish with species specific diseases.


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

might try breeding shrimps on my grow out 75 gallon tank it has only 10 fries as occupants and it is filled with plants and moss.

The calvus staple would be pellet of course. he attempts to eat but he immediately spits it out
Could it be bloat?


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

WowieM said:


> Could it be bloat?


Yes it could or it could be a similar digestive problem or pathogen introduced with live food.


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

I would be treating the tank soon what option can i take these are the medicine i have in hand. Clout, Metronidazole and Jungle Parasite CLear. Also I have medicated jungle foods

So if you where in my situation what med would you use?


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

I would use a quaerntine or treatment tank and use the paracyte clear first and then the bloat treatment (clout is prob generaly the most effective of the two). Unless you know or can find out witch ones you can use together. Sorry we can not get clout or paracyte clear here over the counter in the UK so I am not so familiar with these treatments together as I am with some others.
Some guys hit all new WC with these in quarentine so it is not extreeme if you have a problem.

You could also dose the treatment tank with epsom salts if you suspect it is not pooing properly.

I would rather not subject the none ill fish to these treatments (except maybe the paracyte clear).
I would use some Metro to soak the food in, if you think any is getting into the fish.

All the best James


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

Thanks 24 Might dose the main tank with parasite clear tank buddies to prevent transmission because the food that was spat out was eaten by his tankmates.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Sounds good. If the paracyte clear works you can prob leave it there. If not and you can not arrange a treatment tank I would still go on to a bloat treatment for the main tank but read up on your individual fish, some may require a low dose only. (Advantage of a treatment tank is you can dose high as that species can take and reduce/remove all stress from bullying etc and keep it so clean there is little or no poo mouthing and eating (a great spreader of disease and paracytes) and keep the opertunistic anaerobic bacteria numbers down by high airation (helps prevent/reduce secondary infections etc.) :thumb:


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

Thanks 24T i chose the Jungle TAnk Buddies first because its milder than Clout Will start feeding tom metro soaked food.


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## dmiller328 (Nov 17, 2008)

I personally have not seen bloat in Calvus,even wild ones.They are picky eaters at first but you have to give them more time.Soaking the food in metro will make him spit it out for even longer time.


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## newby23 (Dec 25, 2009)

This works for me it may work you. When adding my calvus to my tank I used some stress coat to relax the them. Shortly after say the next day they were quite comfortable and started eating right away. I've only had them a week and already they have established themselves in the tank


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

Thanks for all the tip, I wish it really is not bloat

But i personally experienced bloat in my previous Calvus and they really bloated up, Have lost 2.
He is wasting away he is now very thin and when i got him 2 other Wild caught was DOA so i really do not want to loose him.

THanks for all the info


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## dmiller328 (Nov 17, 2008)

I had some wild cyprichromis waste away and not eat and several treatments of Clout was the only thing that was strong enough to cure them.Metro was used at first and did not help one bit.Just my experience.It will stain your silicone blue,so it is best to use in a quarantine tank.


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## bossfish (Jun 1, 2005)

If you can find it NLS makes a finicky fish formula. It contains garlic and some other attractants. It's like nothing I've ever seen. Unless your fish is dead it will eat this food.

Also live daphnia may work to get him eating becauise thier movements trigger a natural feeding response in fish even if they arent hungry. They also seem to have a laxative effect and if your fish is suffering from intestinal problems they may help.

Hope this helps


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

Thanks for all the replies guys the Calvus just ate
fed him with a swordtail fry which he ate immediately after 1 of the front has eaten a fry he become a little aggressive hmm..


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

I have lost a female Calus (Wild) to bloat, or some form of it. Most, if not all species of known fish are capable of contracting some form of "bloat" which is vague for aome kind of kidney disfunction, innfection or disease.

That being said I think it's VERY hasty to treat this fish! Depending on your setup, how long this fish was in vat, how long in transit, how much stress it had been under verses how much it may be under now, hew will take his time eating. I have had a number of F0 Calvus of all variants who ate nearly immediately, A feat I attribute mostly to their conditioning and handling before they got to me. However, the vast majority would not eat for roughly 4-5 days. They would always "hit" their food, then subsequently spit it out. This only indicates that it is a knew food they're not familiar with and are not hungry enough to eat a foreign dish yet.

A bloated or sick fish, in almost all cases, will not even attempt to eat. The only disease I can think of where a fish tries to eat and can't is goiter or swim bladder disease, a disease I have not yet seen in Calvus and even if he had those ailments you would be able to visually detect them.

This fish, imo, is fine, can go weeks without food and is being over attended which, unfortunately, tends to drag the acclimation process out with these guys. I have been guilty of throwing every food in the world short of a cheeseburger at new wild Calvus and they always end up eating what I gave them to begin with, eventually.

I suggest starving the whole tank for 3 days, feeding normally for one day and repeating this procedure up to 3 times (You won't get to 3 times unless this fish was already sick.)
If this fish is sick, you, most likely didn't do it, your other fish should be sick soon, and it isn't bloat. At least based off the info given so far.

Metro is an effective drug but can cause reproductive failure in many fish so, needless to say, if you do't have to use it, and I REALLY don't think you do, than don't.

I know how hard it is to be patient (Patience is a virtue, it's just not one of mine!) with these guys but you've got to just shut it down and leave him alone for a few days, he start feeding in no time. Maybe I read too fast but NOTHING says disease here. It sounds like very typical WC Calvus acclimation. Just trying to help


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

Sorry I posted the long message after realizing their were 2 pages :roll:


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2010)

test


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## WowieM (Aug 17, 2007)

Thanks for the info Bio G, Yes hes not sick he's pretty healthy in fact he just seem not to like prepared foods he goes after them but keep spitting em out so I'm feeding him live food once a week until hes hungry enough to swallow the flakes or pellets i offer him  He really dont like em


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

I think Big G may well be right and I may have suggested treatment early.
But then I hit my WC with these weather sick or well (if they have not already been treated by the deeler) and not seen any reproductive problems.
Early treatment gives the best results. Treating with Metro ect once they are bloated it pretty much a waiste of time.
The death of some of the WC that were delivered is worrying. What do you think (Big G) they died of?

All the best James

PS I am getting a new pair of WC calvus this month. I will look at em carefully before treating them. But first sign of not accepting food that they are used to (nice I can talk to my deeler) then I will treat them I think.


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

I usually try to get them eating in a quarantine tank first for about a week and then sick the quarantine drugs onem  I use Praziquantel to deworm via "General Cure" (which has some metro in it in small amounts) and I too have not seen any reproductive problems but they do warn of it on metro only products.

I think "bloat" in Calvus is mistaken the majority of the time because indeed the fish is usually experiencing a blockage, however, when/if you open them up post mordem you will learn more than you think even if you're not familiar with basic biology.

Calvus are more susceptible to kidney infections via overfeeding as they are carnivores and do well from at least 2 starvation days per week I have found (2 separate days not back 2 back). I don't feed mine sundays or Thursdays but they get krill or Ghost shrimp on Saturday.

Anyway, when you open up a visibly "bloated Calvus" you will, usually, find that a bomb of sorts has gone off in the abdomen indicating a massive infection had been eating the fish for quite some time. "bloat" as it's typically diagnosed, is an infection either within the kidney or intestinal tract which would be detectable by trapped gas or within the effected organ but the fish will otherwise be intact internally (I'm a total nerd I am just now realizing).

The "bomb" symptom is why we usually find that once the belly is bulging it's way too late as it is bulging with infection not blockage. Many times it starts as a swim bladder infection when they are transported (air pressure changes etc.) and, because of the location of the swim bladder, the infection swells the organ causing the organ to depress the intestine creating a blockage whenever you feed them. This, of course is why quarantine is good practice.

Spitting food (my expertise is limited to Calvus and other Altos even though I keep many other species I indulge in Calvus) does seem to be a taste issue, although I wouldn't discount it as a symptom of discomfort and, if it persists, and you're unable to train him to pellets I would suggest a physiological digestive tract issue is the culprit, no biggie, he'll just be a fancy eater his whole life  .

Another way to test for "Bloat" post mordem without "autopsy" is to lightly squeeze the dead fish's swollen belly and if liquified guts vs. discernible organs emerge from the orifice (sp?) or anus than it aint "Malawi Bloat" but, as I said earlier "bloat" is used very loosely and diagnosis is only necessary if you fear other fish in your setup are at risk.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

I am kind of out of my deapth giving advice to someone who has mixed WC calvus with other fish without a quarentine period alone (and the normal cleaning up procedures). It is sometimg I have not risked myself. Not that I know it is a risk just it is someting I have no experience of. Sure I have mixed Altolamps with other tang cichlids but I tend to keep WC separate for a good while first (six weeks or so). Argg I once disobayed this and lost not only most of a good colony of WC Tropheus by mixing em with TB and lost many of the TB too to something yet to be identified.
I treat WC with caution these days and do not skip on quarentine irrespective of what the guy selling them to me says they have been treated for.

All the best James


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

much agreed, always quarantine, but ALWAYS quarantine WC fish. It's not that they're weaker, It's that they're so dang expensive!


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## ghostrebo (Jun 4, 2008)

I had 5 calvus, 1 out of the 5 actually ate NLS pellets, the other 4 would put the food in its mouth then spit it back out. I tried and tried just feeding NLS but no matter how hungry the fish were they would not take the food. Then I bought some frozen brine shrimp and they really liked that but it got my other fish sick and it was messy. So I bought Omega One Freeze-Dried Shrimp and they eat it. So thats what I feed my calvus.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

All my calvus eat NLS. All my FISH eat NLS. :lol:


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

huh, never met a fish that wouldn't eat NLS. I would feed frozen shrimp (mysis or krill), it just scares me to feed freeze dried stuff as it expands in their gut


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