[ramcrazy]

I know it's a shock, but I have more questions to ask.

I recently purchased 2 1" black calvus from my LFS. I bought 2 only because that is all the store had at the time. They have now been living for 2 weeks in my 40g with no problems, although they do not venture out of the rocks unless it's feeding time. During the feeding time I have noticed a difference in the 2. One is clearly black and very slightly larger than the other. The second calvus is almost white in color but does have the dark bars covering its body.

I can't tell if I was mislead in my purchase and actually received 1 black calvus and 1 white calvus or perhaps I have 2 males and one is just dominant. I have done some research but I can not find too many pictures of calvus in the size I am dealing with.

Is this common for fish this young to show different colors, or do I have 2 different species? Does anyone have any pictures of their own fry to compare with? I would post a picture but my camera is not so good and I can not get a clean picture worth posting.

Thanks in advance

 

[DJRansome]

Same thing happened to me, I could have sworn one of my calvus was a mistake and white. But now they are all black as night.

 

[prov356]

My white calvus turned ink black when they came of breeding age. Now they vary, it's not uncommon. There are various 'black' calvus that come from different collection points. You'll never ID them from pics. And don't try to add to the group if you intend to breed because there are so many variants out there, and odds are the new ones wouldn't be the same.

 

[FishFlake]

I have 6 blacks all about 1.5". When they hang out over the white sand they are white, when the hang out around the rocks they return to black. Pretty cool actually

 

[FishFlake]

First time trying to post pic. Here's a poor quality photo of one of my black calvus in white mode hanging out with shellies (Lamprogus Meleagris). I think the calvus is hoping for a fry snack.

 

[Razzo]

Few thoughts:
1) color can change pretty dramatically in a given calvus.
2) Males can be much darker.
3) I've got a black calvus that can get very light. I'll try to dig up a pic of her.

She can get dark too (I call her Misty Lady)

Males can change dramatcially too. This is my dominant male (black congo white pearl) pretending to be an Inkfin

Same dude/same tank/same lights - only change is that he is now the undisputed dominat male.
When he was dark (above), he was competing for the top dog spot (there was a battle).
He now wears his "I'm the King and all the chicks dig me" lighter colors.
His fins stand more errect now too and he is dramtically outgrowing his former competitor

 

[ramcrazy]

Ok this gives me hope that i did not buy 2 different strands. I will keep an eye on both as they get larger, which I know will take a while . I am not sure of the collection point seeing as my LFS is proving to be less and less helpful every time I visit.

It looks like I will wait this out and see what happens. I have 3 more calvus coming in tomorrow from Daves rare fish so perhaps I will see a change then, or atleast have some to compare to.

Thanks, as always, for the responses!