Altolamprologus calvus
| Common Names: | Calvus Cichlid Pearly Lamprologus |
| Synonyms: | Lamprologus calvus Lamprologus compressiceps Neolamprologus calvus |
| Family: | Cichlidae |
| Category: | Cichlids |
| Distribution: | Africa; Endemic to Lake Tanganyika |
| Main Ecosystem: | Rift Lake; Endemic to Lake Tanganyika. |
| Temperament: | Predatory; Fairly peaceful cichlids, but they may eat up smaller tankmates. They lock on to their prey, then strike. |
| Diet: | Carnivore; Though they will accept flake foods, they greatly prefer live food. A high protein diet is crucial, and they will greedily eat live and freeze-dried foods. Do not feed anything with mammalian products, though. |
| Care: | They prefer hard, alkaline water. These Tanganyikan cichlids can be kept in tanks as small as 20 gallons. These fish should not be kept with small tankmates, as they are liable to be eaten. |
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| Potential Size: | Male: 15.2cm (6") Female: 10.2cm (4") |
| Water Region: | Middle, Bottom; Middle-Bottom |
| Activity: | Diurnal |
| Gender: | Males are usually quite a bit larger than females, and they tend to have more elongated finnage. |
| Breeding: | Spawning takes place in a cave, shell, or flowerpot too small for the male to enter. The male releases his milt at the entrance, which the male and female fan into the cave onto the eggs. The female remains in the shell until they hatch and become free swimming after roughly 10-14 days. She may not come out at all during this time. The male then guards the territory, preventing any other fish from coming near. The female will gaurd the fry as well, but the male will usually abandon the area leaving the female to guard the eggs and fry. The male will eat the free swimming fry if given the chance, so steps should be taken to remove the female and eggs to another tank. |
| Variants: | Several geographical variants exist throughout the southwest corner of the lake. These variants include: White Black Inkfin Blackfin Yellow The Inkfin and Blackfin are difficult to differentiate between the two. |
| Comments: | These cichids generally mind their own business, though they can hold their own in a fight. Their scales are very thick, so they can easily take a few attacks. They are very good fish for Tanganyikan biotypes, as long as there are no small shell-dwellers present. |
| Main Colours: | Black, White, Gold |
| Markings: | Spots Small |
| Mouth: | Normal |
| Tail: | Convex |
| Search: | Show similar species Find compatible species |
| Image Credit: | © FishProfiles.com |
| Submitted By: | sirbooks |
| Contributors: | renegade545 |
| History: | View changes to this profile |
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