# Raising Calvus Fry



## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Hello folks. This is my first time posting here, a friend of mine said this is a great place for cichlid info.

For the last several months I have had 5 congo black calvus. My large male finally picked a female and they have spawned. I have a calvus cave full of tiny calvus. I have no experience with egg laying fish so this is a first for me. I believe they still have some yolk sac attached so not free swimming just yet.

The parent tank is a 55 gallon. I have a 1 gallon hang on tank that I could use for them with a pump to cycle water in from the parent tank. I also have a 29 gallon in the other room that is well cycled for them to grow a bit in. Like I said though I'm out of my element here so any tips would be greatly appreciated.






Thats a video of the little buggers.


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## GMfrontosa (Nov 8, 2012)

I would separate them once they are free swimmers&#8230;I had mine in a breeder box with airstone to keep the water oxygenated and keeping it from getting stagnant. 1gal hang on tank i think would work but i never used them. I also feed them decapsulated brine shrimp they are always hungry&#8230;also watch out when doing WC they are very delicate and sensitive minor change on the water will have them belly up.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Hey, thanks so much for the reply. The box seems to move water pretty well. I actually had to put some filter floss around it because it made it way to turbulent.

I have some Hikari fry powder on hand and I also ordered some decap brine shrimp eggs.

How long would you say they should live in the box before I should move them to a grow out tank?


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## bakl (Nov 29, 2013)

I'm curious, what size is the female? Thanks.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

I would say she is about two inches. Maybe a bit bigger. If I can figure it out I'll post a picture or video.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

There is mom. I'll see is I can get one with dad, he is really stunning.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

OK I finally got it. Here is both parents. There are 4 female in all in this tank. The mum is the smallest darkest one. Don't mind the streaks on the tank, it's in my living room and the three year old can't get enough looking at the fish.


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## bakl (Nov 29, 2013)

Beautiful! Good luck with the fry.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Thank you. I have heard they are extremely difficult to raise because they are very sensitive and slow growing.


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## hose91 (Mar 5, 2014)

User Razzo has had some success with these, and iirc, has put up a pretty detailed post at least once. A site search should turn it up. They do seem to be sensitive, but he had some good tips on how to get past the early danger stages


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Thanks hose91! I'll see if I can dig them up once I get this little monster on the bus


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## GMfrontosa (Nov 8, 2012)

Amber29 said:


> Hey, thanks so much for the reply. The box seems to move water pretty well. I actually had to put some filter floss around it because it made it way to turbulent.
> 
> I have some Hikari fry powder on hand and I also ordered some decap brine shrimp eggs.
> 
> How long would you say they should live in the box before I should move them to a grow out tank?


once they can swim on their own, then you can move them into a grow out tank..normally around 1/4" or 3wks old..hope this help


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Thanks so much! Hopefully they do well. I'm having a heck of the time digging through all the post to find info.


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## steve617 (Nov 10, 2003)

*** raised one batch of comps mainly from Razzos advuce. I hatched bbs. I kept 2 bbs hatching stations going since the best protein is short lived.*** heard decapaulated brine works i may try that next time. At 1 month old introduce crushed flake and get them switched over aroundb2 months. Make sure you use a high protien flake. I use nls freshwater flake 50% protein.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

I use a lot of nls, that's what the staple of the big ones diet is. So far I haven't noted any losses. They are free swimming (if you can call it that) and in the gallon tank attached to the parents. They seem to be starting to eat the Hikari first bites. They seem a bit too small for the decap bs eggs.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Freshly hatched BBS (while they still have yolk sac) seemed to work best during the first month. Second month I started introducing my own staple flake which included a high protein flake and some other goodies. I was not impressed with Hikari First Bites by itself. Very common to have unexpected mass die offs in the first two months. Once you make it to two months, fry mortality seems to greatly reduce. 95% fry survival is possible.

Best wishes,
Russ


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

I have some nls small fry starter coming soon. Says it's supposed to be good for very small fish fry. Will see if it's small enough. I also have the decay brine eggs, and some nls grow. I was thinking about some micro worms and hatching brine shrimp. I need to do some more reading because I have not a clue how to do it. So far so good though.


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## steve617 (Nov 10, 2003)

If you need help hatching brine shrimp let me know. *** done lots of it.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Thank you. I'm hunting around for a hatchery for them.


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## steve617 (Nov 10, 2003)

Dont need a hatcher 2-1.5 liter soft drink bottles, eggs, aquarium salt and baking soda. Oh and a air pump and airline plus a light is whata needed.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Oh well I'm sure I can find all of those things easy enough.  Thank you.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

I would run two BBS hatcheries. Liked to always have them with the egg sac as that has the most protein when they have the egg sacs. Try to feed them soon after hatching.


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

OK sounds good. I'm also going to try micro worms and test that. Want to experiment a bit and see how everything goes. I'm going to get my 5 gallon up and running soon. From there I have a 29 gal that they can go in. I'm hoping I can get them going well enough to make my 50 gal a grow out tank.


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## Skie (Apr 13, 2014)

Separate the female from the cave and put the cave in a separate tank. Get a air pump, air stone and a gang valve and slowly fan the eggs. Feed ground up food. That's just a very general answer. Feel free to ask questions


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## Amber29 (Oct 6, 2014)

Here they are at about ten days. They all pile up when I'm near but I caught them out all over the place this morning.


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## GMfrontosa (Nov 8, 2012)

awesome&#8230;make sure you constantly feeding them and be careful on the WC slight change on the water and they will go belly up...


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

That's a nice ball of altolamps Amber :thumb:

There are many things that can contribute to high survival rates. I have a theory that environmental stimulation is one of them. Altolamp fry are programmed to seek out cover to stay alive. I always liked to enrich their environment at all stages of development. Few examples from some of the groups that have passed through my fish room...











Best wishes on raising them!

Cheers,
Russ


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