Questions about Tropheus cichlids

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mzhantsche

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2010
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I was thinking about stocking my 60gal with species only tank of Tropheus cichlids. Ive never kept cichlids but i run a 180gal with some monster fish. I have feel confident to take on a challenging fish. Are these fish hard to keep? Any experances with any type of tropheus would be rad.

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Wrong section....

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You should have posted this question in the African cichlid section. To answer your question, tropheus are relatively easy to keep if you are willing to do the maintenance involved (regularly scheduled water changes). Tropheus need hard alkaline water (pH 7.6+). Feed a mostly vegetarian diet which contains spirulina. Start out with at least 8 individuals (more is better) of the species you intend on keeping. You may mix two different species in the same tank, but be sure the species are not similar. Lots of good info on the internet including an online forum dedicated to just tropheus.
 
mzhantsche said:
New to cichlids guys. Sorry.

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Don't be sorry at all! That's what we are here for :) I moved this to the African section. I am not familiar with this species so if it needs to go in the riverine section please let me know. Thanks!
 
Trophs are quite easily once settled, start with as many as you can, the more the better. My experience I wouldn't do any less than 20.

Good amount of filtration, about 10x+ works good and wet/dry is probably the best you can go with.

I've been keeping trophs for about 5+ yrs now and have put my trophs to the test with just about all kinds crap.
 
Trophs are actually not that hard. You just have to do your research to understand their needs, and do regular maintenance. The trickiest part of keeping Trophs is going to be in the first week they arrive. Once they are settled in they are not hard at all.

If I were you I would keep them in the 180G, not the 60G. Trophs need to be kept in large numbers to diffuse the aggression of the males out so that the submissive ones dont get picked to death. 20+ is ideal. Any less and it could lead to stressed Trophs and that can lead to disease, and then things can go south quick for your colony. Having a bigger tank allows you to house more Trophs and give them more space to move, more space to create territories, and more space to hide.
 
any less than 15 in a 60g they will just kill each other one by one and like said before its best to overfilter cause they need to be kept in large groups
 
Contrary to other fish, you will want to start with a large colony immediately. Slowly adding small amounts of fish over time will cause you large problems.

The water is going to be hard and alkaline, so ammonia is going to do extra damage...

All of this of course lend to a fishless cycle with rather large amount of ammonia load...
 
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