Black Calvus' sneaky enough to clear out brichardi fry?

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señor_pescados_felices

señor_pescados_felices

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 26, 2006
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The Real Norcal
I have ten black calvus right now and 3 brichardi.one brichardi is a male the other two Im not sure but im leaning toward female.they havent bred yet but when they do will my calvus be sneaky enough to snatch the brichardi fry given the protective nature of the brichardi parents but also the nearly undetectable stealth of the calvus?
here is the tank they are in as you can see the calvus have alot to work with.

Picture 178.jpg
 
here they are in quarantine at 1.5" and then there is a pic of an adult.

BTW I am hoping that they will eat my brichardi fry,which im not sure you want as you mentioned a desire to sell your brichardi fry......

SMALLBLACKCALVUS.jpg

largecalvus.jpg
 
Don't be so sure. In theory, yes, calvus will eat just about any fry - its what they do. But brichardi parents are ruthless, when they start breeding I'd be worried more about what the parents will do to the calvus, not what the calvus will do to the brichardi fry.
 
appreciated,but I have a rather unique setup and unless you duplicate it then it will most likely work out differently for you than it does for me.

things to factor in are:
I have over 150 Lbs. of lava rock wich creates alot of pathways and "trapdoors", for lack of a better word, which will make it difficult for the brichardi to defend no matter where they go.

also I have ten black calvus,putting the brichardi in a position of having to defend against 10 calvus with multiple entrances to any cave.I got lucky and found a really good deal on them wholesale.IME not many people have that many calvus because unless you get lucky and find a good deal they are rather $$....IMO.Everywhere ive been able to find them they are like $15 to $25 each,with there being a big difference in size and quality between the ones toward the $15 end and the ons toward the $25 end.

keep me updated on how it works out for you,Ill do the same.
 
The crevices will give the brichardi some help but like you said the shear #s game goes favor of the calvus. Thing is will the calvus eat the calvus fry. Unless you are sure the brichardi are both sexes & providing they do pr. or trio. off. the calvus will more then likely breed too. If the 3 brichardi work together,which brichardi tend to do in multy species tanks then the fry have a chance. i've never kept calvus. but have witnessed the brichardi effect(think lion pride but not as kill oriented). great tank also.
 
great thought. I am not in shear numbers has high as you. I do have a lot of other fish. A few of them have the taste for fry. I plan on getting something to just keep the pop at slow growth.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the brichardi will be a lot more successful at protecting their brood than the calvus will be at thinning it. I think you're going to find that, given a consistent diet, the calvus will be more than happy to find a comfortable crevice and stick with it. Calvus are no match for the faster, more maneuverable brichardi and will avoid a confrontation. If a young brichardi wanders by then it *might* become a prey item but in my experience, brichardi parents do a marvelous job keeping their brood together. You will end up with a HUGE number of brichardi over time because it doesn't take long before the offspring take part in guarding and raising the new fry.

Just my opinion...
 
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