Starting a Trimac Tank

[dk66gt]

Here is a couple pics of mine

He's a beauty fishluvr12!!! Thanks for posting your pics. By the way, who did he eat in the middle pic, that's some belly

 

[dk66gt]

tank mates aren't likely in a tank that size as for tank size thats big enough i suppose but bigger is better a male trimacs get around 15'' so an adult would really like a bigger tank i'd go with rapps cichlids that way there MUCH more likely to be trimacs and not flower horns and for growing them out i would pic the one with the best color and has the most personality look for one that comes to the glass to see you first out of all of them and try to decide which one you like fast or they will start killing each other

I've been reading that they grow really quick then slow down a lot at around 8". How long do you guess it'll take a trimac to get to 15"?

Thanks for the heads up. I definately don't want to end up with a flowerhorn when I'm looking for a Trimac.

Hopefully they'll give me a little bit of time before all hell breaks loose

 

[DarthV]

Both Jeff and Ken are reliable, so you wouldn't get hybrids from either of them.

As for growth rate, expect roughly the same growth rate as a midas. To around 8-9" or so in the first year of their life (if you buy a 2.5", it's probably 1.5-2 months old, give or take). 2nd year, length will start slowing down, but the fish will start to put on some bulk. By year 4 or 5, you're probably at the point where they won't be growing much. My midas is around 4.5 years old now and is somewhere around 14" and very tall, thick and chunky! A friend bought a batch from Rapps and the growth rate was pretty much identical to how my midas grew. It was around 10" or so at close to 1.5 years old before it died to some weird infection (lesson everyone, NEVER add a fish from an unknown source without quarantining!!).

 

[TheOscarGuy]

3. Would he tolerate any tankmates if they grow up together? I know it depends on the fish. I only ask since I wanted to use YOYO loaches and BN Plecos for cleanup. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I have been (so far!) able to keep a male convict with trimacs - he has been with them as they grew over last 8-9 months.

4. Any difference in buying Trimacs from Rapps or Fishfarm? I'm leaning towards Rapps since he's local and they're a bit bigger. His are $7.50ea @ 2-2 1/2", and Fishfarm has them on Aquabid @ 1" for $5.00ea. Any feedback?

Wow, can you pick them up from Jeff? Mine came from Ken Davis and are absolutely amazing (and needless to say, *pure* trimacs) - I would definitely recommend him.

 

[balton777]

At what size should I be able to be certain it's a male or female?

Thanks again!!

I bought mine from Rapps at about 1.5"-2" and asked him if he could sex them because I wanted a male and 2 females. He sent them no prob and I could clearly see the blotch on the females. The male and a female mated at 3"!!! I sold the odd girl out and kept the pair but then my Jag killed the male a few weeks ago.

I'm including a few pics of them at a couple of inches so you can see how easy they are to sex. The next two are my female as a baby and now. I sure miss the male...might have to get another.

 

[balton777]

This was my male Trimac. He grew from an inch and a half to 6" in less than 4 months and bred with a female during that time which I quickly broke them up and separated them.

 

[TheOscarGuy]

Balton~

That male was amazing! Too bad it was killed so early - it would have developed into quite beautiful fish.

 

[slick216]

I have a Trimac(11") , Midas(9") , Plec(8") and one convict (1") in a 75g. The Trimac is the boss and he makes sure the Midas knows that. I was using the con to cycle another tank and when his time was up in that tank I put him in the 75g and for the most part is ignored unless he tries to go for food at the top of the tank. The Trimac and the Midas are about 18 months old. Both of them were at 1" or so when I got them, The Trimac is the best of four and the rest of the fish were single buys. I feed the cichlids Hikari Cichlid Gold , blood worms , Omega One brine shrimp and once a month I throw in five crayfish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdeckTQ_5W0. The Plec gets some veggies from the freezer at night. All is good for now but I know it wont stay that way so im saving up. I wanna go for a 180g in the near future. Good luck with the Trimac

 

[dk66gt]

Thanks for the excellent info and awsome pics guys. This is why I love this forum I guess I'm pretty set now. I'll talk to Jeff and pick up the 7 next Friday (payday )

Just a couple more questions I forgot. How hardy are they? Are they suseptable to any certain ailment I need to be aware of? I gather they'll be similar to a RD/Midas health wise. I just wanna be sure because I don't want another fish that needs the white glove treatment like my EBJD's.

 

[Toby_H]

I'm accustom to Blue Dmepseys as well... the only difficulty I've had with keeping Trimacs has walking past their tank and not feeding the little beggers... I've had a lot of fish beg but these guys act like they haven't eaten in 3 days... 10 minutes after they ate!!!