Tropheus

[Joshuakahan]

Hey, I’m thinking about selling off my stock in my 75 rift tank and trying a troph species setup. Probably duboisi. I know they have low tolerance for protein but is there anything I should know about keeping tropheus? Such as-
How many in a 75? I was thinking 15
What’s the best food and feeding practice to avoid bloat?
Are their parameter requirements any different than Malawi cichlids?
Should I scape it like a mbuna tank?
Or just anything that a troph rookie should know
Thanks in advance

 

[Milingu]

75g is too small. I consider 100g or 400 liters to be the absolute minimum that works long-term. Even if you only keep a small group, the individual specimens require a certain amount of space. And a group of just 15 fish seems like a ticking time bomb.

When I see how actively my fish swim every day, I sometimes feel even my Tropheus aquarium with dimensions of 150*60*70 cm and 630 liters or 166 g is barely enough. If I could change it, I would go for a minimum length of 180cm.

Protein itself is not the problem with Tropheus. It's the composition of the food that matters. They need enough fiber. They are fine with high spirulina algae flakes despite the high protein content. I feed flakes with 36% spirulina and 48% raw protein. That's more protein than most carnivore flakes have.

"Small" tanks = less rocks to minimise potential territories.

The most important thing besides that is to keep your hands out of the tank. Means every change can lead to fatal stress.


Maybe this video gives an impression how they use every bit space. And that's in the evening when everyone is quite relaxed.

 

[Joshuakahan]

75g is too small. I consider 100g or 400 liters to be the absolute minimum that works long-term. Even if you only keep a small group, the individual specimens require a certain amount of space. And a group of just 15 fish seems like a ticking time bomb.

When I see how actively my fish swim every day, I sometimes feel even my Tropheus aquarium with dimensions of 150*60*70 cm and 630 liters or 166 g is barely enough. If I could change it, I would go for a minimum length of 180cm.

Protein itself is not the problem with Tropheus. It's the composition of the food that matters. They need enough fiber. They are fine with high spirulina algae flakes despite the high protein content. I feed flakes with 36% spirulina and 48% raw protein. That's more protein than most carnivore flakes have.

"Small" tanks = less rocks to minimise potential territories.

The most important thing besides that is to keep your hands out of the tank. Means every change can lead to fatal stress.


Maybe this video gives an impression how they use every bit space. And that's in the evening when everyone is quite relaxed.

Ok thanks. I was under the impression that trophs were a shoaling species and that keeping the numbers up was to diffuse aggression and prevent territorial behavior. When you say 15 is a timebomb, is that meaning that it’s not enough?
But I’ll wait until I get something bigger

 

[Milingu]

Yes, 15 is not enough diffuse aggression. If one fish shows weakness it often gets attacked by a few others. You start with 15 juveniles and maybe lose 1 or two till they are adults. Even if you don't lose any it would still mean 1 fish trying to escape 2 or 3 attackers can only hide in group of 11 or 12 fish. Which are normally spread over the whole tank which means even less fish to hide behind.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Yes, 15 is not enough diffuse aggression. If one fish shows weakness it often gets attacked by a few others. You start with 15 juveniles and maybe lose 1 or two till they are adults. Even if you don't lose any it would still mean 1 fish trying to escape 2 or 3 attackers can only hide in group of 11 or 12 fish. Which are normally spread over the whole tank which means even less fish to hide behind.

So let’s say I get myself a 6ft tank, what would be a good number of duboisi to start with?

 

[Milingu]

Depending on the tanks other dimensions 25-35.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Depending on the tanks other dimensions 25-35.

Probably a 6x2x2 or a 6x18x

Depending on the tanks other dimensions 25-35.

Probably a standard 125, if I end up doing this I’ll be sure to post about it
Thanks!

 

[punman]

On two occasions I had thirty Tropheus in a 180 gallon and that worked out fine. I have kept fifteen in a 90 gallon but breeding activity seemed less and more water changes.

 

[Joshuakahan]

On two occasions I had thirty Tropheus in a 180 gallon and that worked out fine. I have kept fifteen in a 90 gallon but breeding activity seemed less and more water changes.

How was the aggression in the 90? Was it manageable?

 

[punman]

Never lost a fish in the 180. In the 90 gallon on two occasions I lost a quarter of the fish. Was it the tank size, the tropheus variety? A disease? I have no idea. They seemed to get along. In all cases the fish were juveniles raised together with only one variety in the tank.