# A.Calvus (congo black pearl)



## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

Hi everyone. These are my 4 A.Calvus. The goal is to end up with a pair and breed them. Any comments and advice upon the process, are more than welcome.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Looks like you've given them all they need. Now to just sit back and let them grow out and pair up. They look a bit small yet, so patience is needed at this point.

Good luck wiith them.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Indeed patience is needed. They grow VERY slow. It looks like a good home for them, just feed them good foods, lots of water changes and in time they'll breed.


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## paronaram (Oct 13, 2009)

Looks good!

Add some MTS snails to cleanup that algea you have there :wink:


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

Thanks for all the kind words.

@paronaram

This is bga that you see at the substrate. I suppose it came because of the zero nitrates combined with high phosphates as a result of the overfeeding. So I am trying to get rid of it. What I've done is less frequent water changes (30% weekly) and a more careful feeding. I want to fight the cause of the bga in my tank and that's why I didn't use any of the products proposed for it.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Fogelhund said:


> Indeed patience is needed. They grow VERY slow. It looks like a good home for them, just feed them good foods, lots of water changes and in time they'll breed.


ditto


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## marvo (Nov 24, 2010)

my fave


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

More photos along with lots of wishes for a Happy New Year for you and your fish.


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## Furcifer158 (Feb 16, 2008)

nice set up. looks great


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## baslozer (Aug 22, 2010)

patience, patience and more patience. Your fish look good, and very nice tank. Good luck..


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## ramcrazy (May 7, 2004)

Great looking fish and setup! I have a question for you though. I just bought 2 calvus about the same size. I only bought 2 because the LFS did not have anymore. My fish refuse to leave the rocks and caves and barely eat. Now granted I have only had them for about 3 days now so they may be a little skittish.

Did you encounter any problems with them or were they out and about quickly.


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

Hi ramcrazy,

to be honest the first week they were only out and about, refusing to enter any of the rock caves. Even at night I could see them sleeping out of the rocks.

Don't you worry though, they need time to relax although they will never become as social as other Tanganyika Cichlids.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

The rocks look great - only problem is waste accumulating in hard to reach/clean spots. Watch your Nitrates: if you find them on the rise even with weekly water changes, filter cleaning, and vacuuming, you may need to pull rocks out once in a while to get at hard to reach waste deposits.

Are you going to add any other fish? I'd add some julies and maybe a 3rd species 

Maybe some zebra nerrite snails too.

Looks great though.


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

Razzo said:


> The rocks look great - only problem is waste accumulating in hard to reach/clean spots. Watch your Nitrates: if you find them on the rise even with weekly water changes, filter cleaning, and vacuuming, you may need to pull rocks out once in a while to get at hard to reach waste deposits.
> 
> Are you going to add any other fish? I'd add some julies and maybe a 3rd species
> 
> ...


Hi Razzo,

thank you for your comments and your kind words.

I watch closely the nitrates and if needed I'm going to pull some rocks as you suggested.

The tank is 60x30x40 cm. Don't you think that it would be overcrowded with a 2nd species?


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

karydas said:


> The tank is 60x30x40 cm. Don't you think that it would be overcrowded with a 2nd species?


24" x 12" x 16" hmmm?

I would, maybe a Julidochromis ornatus (Kasakalawe) ou Julidochromis transcriptus (Pemba).

Maybe put in 3 of them (2 f & 1m) and watch for a pair????

Julies would ove all those rocks.

Curious what others think?


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## Manoah Marton (Feb 17, 2009)

Hmmm...I have a 20L with a calvus pair, and a similis colony. Seems like a pretty good mix...maybe try that?


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

I think you could add a pair of shellies, maybe brevis. If the brevis spawn the fry make great calvus food. The only other thing I would do is add a black background to the tank, it may bring out some more color in the calvus, and it makes for better looking photos.


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

Thanks everyone for the comments and the kind words. The black background is something that I'm thinking about cause it's true that it will bring more color in the Calvus.

Here is an update with some more photos


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

Some more...


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## spikeyoda (Sep 30, 2010)

I just ordered three of theses guys myself. I am looking forward to seeing future posts and updates.

Mine are going in a 125gal with my featured fronts. I like your setup.


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

Thanks spikeyoda. Good luck with yours too.


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

It's been some time since my last update in this thread, so without further delay I present what I hope to be a happy couple.


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

They certainly look like a happy couple. Did you remove the other two?


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## karydas (Mar 21, 2005)

I lost the sub-dominant male a few months ago and now I'm left with this couple and one more female. The tank is different as well, as I transferred the fish to a 30g tank.

I hope I get some action with those two.


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