Black Calvus Altolamprologus Calvus "black"

[kiriyama]

Hi, I would like to find out a bit more about this fish. From what I understand a pair needs a tank of 3 foot and a group would need a tank of 4 foot. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thing is I have a 20gallon tank of TWO and a HALF foot and know I will NEVER get a larger one . Do you think it would be possible or fair to keep a single species in this tank? At the moment there are 6 Multis and 1 Juli and a small BN Plec. Just wondering if you think this would work or if the tank is way to small?
Any info greatly appreciated

 

[lalo99]

Calvus don't require much space at all. I've seen many breeders keep a group of calvus in 3 ft tanks. I am talking 8 or 9 fish. Only one male per tank. The rest were females. You could go with a trio. 1 male and two females. They will need shells for each of them. Conch shells are prefered (A long and narrow shell). A few extra shells wont hurt. The key is to get shells that only the females can fit into. The males shell can be much larger. The tank should be for them only. They will stress the multis. Plus eat any fry.

Males can be very tough on females. Epecially when breeding. He will force the female to stay in teh shell. Its agood sign of breeding when the female doesnt leave the shell for a few days. If you want to keep any fry the shell should be moved to another tank. By the time you see fry they will be in trouble. The father and any other females will eat them.

 

[kiriyama]

Calvus don't require much space at all. I've seen many breeders keep a group of calvus in 3 ft tanks. I am talking 8 or 9 fish. Only one male per tank. The rest were females. You could go with a trio. 1 male and two females. They will need shells for each of them. Conch shells are prefered (A long and narrow shell). A few extra shells wont hurt. The key is to get shells that only the females can fit into. The males shell can be much larger. The tank should be for them only. They will stress the multis. Plus eat any fry.

Males can be very tough on females. Epecially when breeding. He will force the female to stay in teh shell. Its agood sign of breeding when the female doesnt leave the shell for a few days. If you want to keep any fry the shell should be moved to another tank. By the time you see fry they will be in trouble. The father and any other females will eat them.

Cheers for the response lalo99 , shame they couldn't go with the Multis, really interesting fish, ah well maybe one day will change the set up but for the time being Multis rule