Topic: Breeding Altolamprologus Calvus

[Vern]

Has anyone on the forum had any success in breeding black Calvus?

I've had two in my Tanganyikan set up and was seriously considering letting go of the larger female as she was beginning to terrorise the smaller male.  Last night I noticed they were both guarding an escargot shell, the female being a damned sight more aggressive than the male in her territorial zone, even giving the usually dominant large male leleupi a good hiding if he came near the shell.  There's no obvious sign of fry or eggs but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a procedure to encourage a successful spawn?

Thanks in advance...

[tommyc]

Hi Vern I must first admit that I personally have not had any luck so far in having these guy breed for me but as you can see from my avatar I do keep them.
I do have a friend that has had great success spawning Calvus to a point he was making good money at it. It sounds to me like the behavior of your fish defiantly indicates spawning activity. The female will find a tight space somewhere and will keep the male away she will do this very fiercely. What worked for my friend Victor he kept high temp in the tank at between 80 and 87 degrees the female then does as I stated above and will not let the male in at all.
The male will release his milt close to the entrance of wherever she has chosen to lay her eggs. When all this has been completed the male will then be allowed closer to the eggs and both will be very active fanning the eggs.
The fertilized eggs are usually a yellowy color and Will hatch in about 3 days In about two weeks they will be free swimming.
The fact that you mentioned you don't see any eggs yet is not unusual as they can be very secretive when spawning.
Feeding the fry should be done in small amounts frequently throughout the day and high protein b.b.s. Victor fed his on N.L.S. growth formula Baby brine shrimp and Cyclop-Eeze
Good luck Vern I hope you have a successful spawn with this amazing fish. Keep us posted.
Tom.

Edit ;;; Forgot to mention the Calvus is a predatory fish and has been used in the home aquarium as a fry control and will also at times consider it's own fry as a food source so a fry tank would help if you wish to keep all your Calvus fry.

[Vern]

Magic Tom, thanks!  Last night's display appeared to indicate the 'fanning' stage as both were in and out of their shell, whereas previously she wouldn't let him anywhere near her. It's the first time they've shown anything close to a harmonious relationship but today they don't appear as frantic and he is back to keeping his distance and the shell is not guarded as close.

I'm assuming spawning in a community tank is unlikely to be successful, what with the Synos and other Neolamps present?  I'm wondering if transfering the shell to my fry tank would help matters?

[tommyc]

I'm wondering if transfering the shell to my fry tank would help matters?]

Yes Vern it would defiantly help with a successful spawn. I love this fish and will in the very near future be concentrating on spawning them.
Tom

[Vern]

Yes, you don't see many around these parts either and when you do they are very expensive, especially the wild caught ones.  This has happened almost by accident.  I've been trying to get my leleupii to spawn for the last couple of years without much success but since moving them to a larger tank the Calvus appear to have taken a fancy to one another.  The Leleupii meanwhile still fight. 

[tracey]

Congrats Vern    These guys are one of my favourite Africans, but very hard to find over here.

Remember, pics are a requirement here when spawning fish 

[Vern]

Remember, pics are a requirement here when spawning fish 

Sure thing.  I only noticed them last night, halfway through a football game but I was too engrossed in the game to get my camera! 

[Vern]

Well it all seems as though it was a one off.  There's been absolutely no activity from the pair since.

I did purchase them separately though and the female is about 3x the size of the male.  I realise they're very slow growers but I don't know if this should make any difference to their future relationship and chances of future breeding? 

[mrbigfish]

good luck Vern, they are beautiful fish

[Katt]

Good luck Vern. 

[iwade4fish]

Good info, guys. Been watching this thread as I too have an adult calvus of unknown origin and have purchased recklessly 3 more fryie.

[Gerry]

good luck to you all on the breeding these 

[Vern]

Well sadly there's been no further action since my last post and their usual aggression towards one another has returned.  I will of course post some more if this changes in the near future.

[Vern]

**BUMP

It looks like I've finally got fry!    I haven't seen them but the smaller of the pair has its head buried in a shell for almost a week now while the larger is frantically fending off any danger and digging pits out of the substrate.  At first I thought it had retreated into the shell away from the bigger fish out of terror but I notice it's giving its anal fin a playful wiggle.  The thing is whenever the smaller fish leaves the shell the larger fish is on it in a flash and really aggressive too.  The larger fish has become a real specimen and is about 3x the size of the other and has large sharp lower fangs and is usually very aggressive to the smaller fish.  New camera for Christmas will come in handy!   

I guess the sensible thing to do is try and remove the shell to a conditioned tank but I'm fascinated watching the action.  And in doing so it looks like the Leleupi have finally paired off after, what 3 years maybe?  I knew they said it would be a slow process but this tank is starting to get interesting at last.  The only downside is that the Syn. Petricola are starting to look more and more like Multipunctatus and have easily doubled in size after not really growing much for a couple of years.  It's going to be fun trying to get those fellas out of there! 

[Gerry]

fingers crossed for you, hope ir works out this time