# tankmates for multies



## camelworm (Aug 16, 2011)

So i have another thread up on here but i was lying down looking and the structure i build in my 29g tank and got to thinking what else instead of julies could i put in with my multies i have the shell bed and im set on the shell dwellers but for tank mates I'm open to ideas they don't have to be very colorful but i would like a neat personality with them


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## Cooder (Jul 19, 2011)

A calvus or comp pair of course!! they wont touch your other fish except for maybe when breeding. they have thick, sharp scales that they stick out by bending there body in a U shape to deter attacks. they are tough, but they grow slowly.

They are attractive as well and eat just about anything, including fry because thats one of there main food sources in the lake.

They are also quite colourful.


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## Lanaka (May 18, 2011)

camelworm said:


> what else instead of julies could i put in with my multies i have the shell bed and im set on the shell dwellers but for tank mates I'm open to ideas they don't have to be very colorful but i would like a neat personality with them





Cooder said:


> A calvus or comp pair of course!! they wont touch your other fish except for maybe when breeding. they have thick, sharp scales that they stick out by bending there body in a U shape to deter attacks. they are tough, but they grow slowly.
> 
> They are attractive as well and eat just about anything, including fry because thats one of there main food sources in the lake.
> 
> They are also quite colourful.


I second Cooder, especially with the calvus since I have them with my multis! They definitely have personality and this quirky way of hunting. Seems they are an ambush hunter in that they hang in the tank as if the point of their jaw is nailed to a single point in the tank and they just literrally pivot around the point of their jaw. As soon as they seen a potential target they 'fine tune" their aim, again pivoting around their jaw point. Then BAM they dart forward, gaping open their entire mouth, sucking in their target. Odd thing is one of my calvus is acting atypical (compared to my other two calvus, but that may be because its alone in its quarantine tank), in that it currently feeds like a 'normal' cichlid. The other two calvus are each in different quarantine tank with the multis they came with.

I agree also in that they appear (so far!) to be rather mild mannered around their tankmates. When aggressd by their tankmate (usually the breeding male) they definitely bend themselves into an u-shape, with the bottom of the u towards the attacker. You can easily see the specially adapted scales, it makes the calvus' bent side look almost like a pine cone, at least to me that is.  Its also fascinating to watch the calvus stalk the multis fry and watch the parents vigorously defend the nest and young. I purposely chose these two just for the fun of watching these two interact! Plus am hoping the calvus help keep the multi population under control as within just a month after i acquired my first pair, theyve already bred and had at least a half dozen fries. Now a month later it appears the fry population is down to 2-3 free-swimming young about 0.25" (~6mm). I don't mind a few surviving to adulthood, just not dozens at a time, as what the heck am I gonna do with so many fries?


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## camelworm (Aug 16, 2011)

But would they be ok in a 29g this is the setup i have (i was originally planing to do juiles in there) sorry i dont know how to upload pictures but i have shells on one side small plants in the middle and a pile like stack of slate with caves in it


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## Lanaka (May 18, 2011)

camelworm said:


> But would they be ok in a 29g this is the setup i have (i was originally planing to do juiles in there) sorry i dont know how to upload pictures but i have shells on one side small plants in the middle and a pile like stack of slate with caves in it


Hmm, eventually, my crowd gonna be in the 55gal., where there should be no problems (unless it turns out i have more than 1 male calvus, I'll know for sure in a few years). Your 29g should be ok with a small colony of multi (15 or so). OTOH, with the calvus, you may be limited to one (if its a male), or two (a pair or 2 females). *** read that the males can grow to 6-7", while the females dont get much bigger than 2-3". *** been told here in this forums that it may be a bad idea to have more than 1 male altos in any single tank <=55gal. The males are supposed to tend to beat the snot out of each other for territorial rights.

I intend to let nature dictate how many young survive by using the calvus as natural population control. However I will give the young multis a fighting chance by providing lots of shells of various smaller sizes as well as java moss and java ferns to hide in. Now I just gotta figrure out what kind shells the calvus and the multis like the most...


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## Lanaka (May 18, 2011)

I just came back from a website that sells fishes that suggests keeping calvus in schools. To be honest, I sorta view stockng suggstions by such sources as slanted towards making sales. However, *** seen enough conflicting information elsewhere to make me go find out the old fashioned way. Stick a bunch in a tank and oserve them and see what happens. Hopefully, I can catch things before they get out of hand...


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