Amphilophus Trimaculatus

[bstanley]

I have 5 trimacs that seemed to have reached a certain point in growing and they have just seemed to stop. These are the survivors of about 30 fry I got from a friend more than a year ago who just couldn't seem to find anyone else to take the fry. Right now the smallest one is just shy of 3" and my largest is 4". When they were smaller I had 8 in a 30 gallon which at that point in time was just about the right size. Due to moving I lost one, one jumped out of the tank by the filter and the other was severly injured, and died as a result, by the other 5 in a matter of just a couple of hours. I fed them at lunch and everything looked as normal but when I got home it was barely breathing. So the largest two are in a 55 gallon with some other red zebras and a nimbochromis venustus. So as of right now the three smaller ones are still in the 30 gallon and none of them seemed to have grown even a millimeter withing a month. I cannot find any lfs that can order this species let alone consistently carry them so when I ask about them, I might as well have just spoken a different language. The two my friend came across individually were traded in to different lfs in different cities about 1.5 yrs apart. I was just wondering if anyone had a good experience with these or can at least make some recommendations.

Thanks - Brock

 

[Jason_S]

got a few questions for you?

1) what kind of filtration do you have on the tank?

2) how often do you do water changes and how much water do you change each time?

3) exactly what kinds of food and approx. how much do you feed and how many times a day?

4) what's the temp of the water?

at a year old a trimac should easily be at least 6-8" if not bigger.

 

[scottv]

Damn! Those Trimacs really got stunted!

First thing I can think of off the top of my head is, how frequent are your water changes i guess. Or water quality.

 

[bstanley]

As far as water changes go, in my 30 gallon, I change 10 gallons every other week. On the weeks I don't change the 10 gallons, I take out 15 gallons because I also suck the junk out of the bottom of the tank. My filter is a HOB rated for up to 30 gallons, so it couldn't hurt for me to upgrade. A lfs in slc, ut sells food by the bulk so I go and by a 1/2 lb of wafer type food about 3/8" in diameter. I don't recall the name off hand but I mix two kinds, one is for carnivorous fish and the other is for omnivores. The carnivorous is recommended by the store owner for cichlids so.

Tubifex worms (those are used pretty sparingly because they prefer the wafers.)

Wardley essentials - cichlid premium flakes (these were just purchased on a spending spree I had so those get used up just so I can rid of them.)

Wardley cichlid floating pellets, medium sized.

My feeding is about the same amount, approx 5 wafers per fish, and just some of the flakes in the morning and at night. They could eat a little more than this but I would rather slightly underfeed rather than overfeed. Then in the mid day, whenever I get lunch 12pm-3p I will use the flakes again with the pellets. My water temp is right about 76-78 deg F. I recently bought a test kit because I never used to really care about water quality because just being young and inexperienced I never got into the habit. But the ph is approx 7.8 ammonia 0 ppm nitrites 0 - 5 ppm and nitrates are a little high at 40 - 80 ppm. I am looking to get denitrator but from what I have read, these aren't quite as critical as ammonia and nitrites. Not that it probably matters in this situation but I do have some hornwort that is thriving. It is the only plant that I have got that hasn't been totally demolished. So that is what I have got going on right now.

 

[gtlaw]

your tanks are too small for trimacs, females grow slow 3 - 4 inches at a year old isn't uncommon, if they are stunted it's a water quality issue i consistently starved the hell out of a trimac and it still grew rapidly.

ph is approx 7.8 ammonia 0 ppm nitrites 0 - 5 ppm and nitrates are a little high at 40 - 80 ppm. I am looking to get denitrator but from what I have read, these aren't quite as critical as ammonia and nitrites.

nitrite should be zero... something wrong if the reading is anything but zero..

the only true denitrator is water changes you need to do more of them

 

[bstanley]

Thanks for the info, I guess that it just confirms more water changes. So I was just wondering about food as well but it looks like that doesn't play to big of a role, obviously they have to eat, but the main thing that I should primarily focus on is the level of nitrite to ensure it stays at 0 ppm and making sure to do plenty of water changes.

 

[Jason_S]

yes, water quality is probably the most important. make sure to get the nitrites down to 0 and don't let the nitrates get too high. do you have a larger tank to move them into if they start putting on some good size?

 

[SiestaSkyy]

i would say forget it. your fish are already done. get some new fish ( ones you can afford to house correctly) and go from there.

 

[bstanley]

yes, water quality is probably the most important. make sure to get the nitrites down to 0 and don't let the nitrates get too high. do you have a larger tank to move them into if they start putting on some good size?

Yeah i do have a 55 gallon that I just traded in about 8 or 9 Red Zebras out of there, so there is plenty of room in there right now in comparison with the size that they are. But would you go along with SiestaSkyy and possibly get news one to start doing everything correctly right from the get go or just continue with these ones?

 

[Jason_S]

Yeah i do have a 55 gallon that I just traded in about 8 or 9 Red Zebras out of there, so there is plenty of room in there right now in comparison with the size that they are. But would you go along with SiestaSkyy and possibly get news one to start doing everything correctly right from the get go or just continue with these ones?

I agree that if you start over, you should stick to something that will not outgrow your 55 gallon. even a female trimac will grow far too large for a 55 so imo you should stay away from trimacs until you have a larger tank. you might consider giving salvini a try. a pair should be fine for life in a 55 and they have a somewhat similar look to the trimac.