firthy13 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 looking at getting some black calvus. just wanted to know off someone who has had experience with them and after information about there: -growth rate. (i know its very slow, but how slow) fry to full grown adults. -at what age are they sexually mature. -are they prone to any diseases or deformities. -aggression between themselves and towards others. -food recommendations.(planning on using nls n brine shrimp). thanks guys also if anyone has some to sell plz pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Hi firthy seeing as you haven't had an answer I start things of yep growth is slow it takes about 7-9 months to get them to about 3.5 cm and the size difference in spawns usually show male (larger) and female (smaller) which is why you may get all males if the fish are all the same size growth is all down to water and food (live food increases growth rates and starts with micro worms, new hatched brine shrimp, live fry especially with egg sack on) I have found breeding isn't far away when the females are about 4 cm and the males about 6 cm so around 12 to 18 months of age Alto's are a very hardy fish so long as the water is good and they have protien in their diet (live shrimp and small fry are excellent suppliments to a base diet) the most common problem is when they yawn and hyper extend the mouth membrane looks weird but doesn't worry the fish some times it retracts but most times it doesn't and trying to manually rectify it can cause more stess than you want to the fish another fault to check is the head and jaw for misalignment aggression will only be about territory or spawning defense so it comes down to tank size to the number of fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firthy13 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 thankyou for replying. yes i have heard of this over extention of the jaw. is it possibly to fix it? as live brine shimp is quiet expensive and i have no idea about how to hatch my own. i was thinking of getting a breeding pair of convicts. and using the fry from them to feed them. would this have the same effects as brine or other live foods like worm species? i do 40-50% water changes weekly. the tank i will be putting them contains 20kg of holey rock and chunks of coral. so kh and gh are usually good. so water parameters should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Hi firthy the chance of permanent reversal of the membrane extension is very low the problem usually happens in adults live brine are fine for juveniles and adults but it is used as a live suppliment that you can give once a month as a change if the expense is a problem any of the substrate spawners can be used to produce live food and convicts are one of the easiest another I liked to use were Jewels consider a group of Guppies as tank mates ....... young livebearers are snack size I have also used Malawi fry but only for larger fry and adults preferred size is before the egg sack is absorbed for maximum nutrients with worms you start at microworms which can be smelly depending on medium you keep them in and how often you start up new cultures - grindal & white worms about pin size but have a high fat content so use in moderation - earth worm size is an issue as they will try to eat bigger than they are capable of and fry can choke you can always cut the worms up the other issue can be bacteria, pathagens and toxins in the compost remember that you shoud use a varied diet and this should include a staple dry food like crushed flake or pellets (use a pepper mill to grind up) for raising fry you should look at raising brine shrimp pretty simple have a search on youtube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Will you be using precondition water for water changes ? even with holey rock and coral you may still need to use a kH and gH hardness generator tank size for 2-3 males and 4-6 females at least 120 cm (4ft) 45 cm (18") wide if possible for males @ 7+cm females @ 5+cm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firthy13 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 tank size is a 4x2x2 with my malawi's after draining the water, i turn the filters off, adding conditioner to the existing tank water and throw the hose in it. might have to do things a bit different with the alto's. well i feed nls cichlid 1mm and have a few kilos of it. so they will most definately getting that + live something. when feeding live food, how offten for juvies would you recommend. is once a week to often? what have you found to be the best and cost effective way to buff your water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Yep time to invest in 200 lt drum, large airstone, good air pump some hose and a pump to pump the water into your tank with gets the water treated ready to go for when ever you need it unless the water level drops below the filter intake I would leave the filter running I'm sure one of the others can advise on bulk buying chemicals also check Age of Aquarium just hit the sponsors button top of the page how many tanks are you running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firthy13 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 just the one tank for now. still living at home and dont have the room for a full breeding set up. thanks alot for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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