Trimac Setup and Brewers

[OHern4ever]

Good evening everyone. I'm new to the site but not the hobby. I live in the Pittsburgh, PA area and have been keeping fish for about 10 years or so. I enjoy the hobby but as with many, life has kept me from dedicating myself as much as I would like.

I however have decided I have not started up a new tank for far two long and I have decided I am going to start the trimac tank I have been dreaming for quite some time. I have an idea of what I want but wanted it to run it by a place like here first for feedback.

I am thinking of going with a 120 gallon, 48.5 x 24.5 x 25. I am specifically looking for a tank that will give a full grown tri room to turn. These fish do not strike me as needing tons of room to go back and forth, and I can get a way with it I would rather the tank not exceed 5ft ( not many non custom 5 foot tanks out there)

For filtration I will most likely run two Cascade 1500s with Hydor inline heaters for temp control ( less junk in the tank). I think I am going to go with sand for the first time ever which makes me nervous for vacs but I imagine I will get the hang of it.

I will probably aquascape the tank with one or two large plastic plants, and round off with large drift wood and rock. Im scouring the net as we speak to rip off some aquascaping ideas.

Pellets will be the main portion of their diet, with Bio-Gold Plus and another pellet, probably NLS. I plan to supplement with all manners of tasties from krill to mealworms, nightcrawlers, crickets, etc a few times a week.

Once the tank is setup I will fishless cycle with seeding material from some of my other mature tanks. I am looking to break my record for fishless cycling of 18 days from start to finish

Now comes the questions....1.) Best place to purchase. I know the gold standard is Jeff Rapps but there has got to be other options. 2) I plan on getting multiples juvies so I can keep the best of the lot and sell the others. How long until the aggression issues crap up. Can I use rock to break up the tank and try to define seperate territories. 3. Can a mature male and female live in harmony as a general rule or would they need to be seperated, and are tri difficult to sex? 4.) If I wanted to have tank mates until they got too large and aggressive, what are some suggested tank mates. Could I try a texas, jack d or a GT while the tri were growing up?


Any other suggestions or big things I left ut would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

 

[SBrown]

try ken davis (fishfarm) he has some good stock and has some good prices

 

[OHern4ever]

I saw him mentioned in other threads, but did not see the site. Can you provide?

 

[Toby_H]

If you’re wondering what your tank will look like in about a year stop on by, lol… I have a 4’x2’x2’ 120 gal stocked with a 10” male & a 7” female Trimac…

1.) Best place to purchase. I know the gold standard is Jeff Rapps but there has got to be other options.

My female is 1 of 4 Wild Caught female Trimacs I bought from Danny Thacker of TNT Aquatics (formerly Motor City Cichlids) and the male was a gift from a friend on another forum (TheFishGuy from Cichlid-Forum). But if I were in your shoes looking to buy a small group, I would shop with Ken Davis who I know has nice Trimacs currently available.

2) I plan on getting multiples juvies so I can keep the best of the lot and sell the others. How long until the aggression issues crap up. Can I use rock to break up the tank and try to define seperate territories.

I got my 4 Wild Caught Trimacs at 3~3.5”. At that time they got along fine with each other as well as other similar sized tankmates. At around 4.5~5” they became sexable (all turned out female in my case). At around 6” the dominant female started harassing the others.

The largest female now has to be housed alone and will not tolerate tankmates (I’ve not tried her with a male Trimac yet). The #2 female lives with other old/large Cichlids (13” Oscar, 9” JD, 6” & 5” breeding pair of W African Jewels). The #3 female lives in the 120 w/ the male. The #4 female is a slow grower and is living in a 125 gal community Cichlid tank.

3. Can a mature male and female live in harmony as a general rule or would they need to be seperated, and are tri difficult to sex?

That’s two questions in one, you cheated My 10” male has about triple the mass of my 7” female. He is very (very very) rough with her but she takes it like a champ and teases him when he’s done. I have one large pot with a small hole in it which the female fits into and the male does not. She has laid eggs in this pot at least twice that I know of but the male cannot get to them to fertilize. The two fish spend 80% of their time side by side and the female only retreats to her private cave in extreme moments. I think she’s a bit of a masochist.

Mine still aren’t “full grown” so only time will tell if they need to be separated but I really want to avoid using a divider on a regular basis.

Oh, and eventually they are very easy to sex, but very difficult as juvis. Females get a very noticeable dark spot on their dorsal fin (this spot looks just like the dots on her side)… males do not have a dark spot in this area but may have some other coloration (red).

4.) If I wanted to have tank mates until they got too large and aggressive, what are some suggested tank mates. Could I try a texas, jack d or a GT while the tri were growing up?

Since there is no chance a pair of Trimacs will tolerate tankmates in a 120 gal long term… I don’t think it would be a good idea to raise them with tankmates. But… my experience with young females has been my other Cichlids need to be 2” or more bigger than the female Trimac. I would expect males to be a little rougher and to get territorial a little younger.

I have put a couple different Convict pairs in with my Trimac pair in the 120. Despite having many cracks, caves and crevices to hide in, the Convicts are constantly abused and killed. I’ve decided not to replace the Convicts and to try an adult pair of W African Jewels… but honestly I don’t expect them to do any better…

 

[TheOscarGuy]

Now comes the questions....1.) Best place to purchase. I know the gold standard is Jeff Rapps but there has got to be other options.

As already mentioned, Ken Davis is a good alternative and won't cost you very high (if you choose to) in shipping. His website is:

http://fishfarm.home.mindspring.com/

which isn't always updated. You can however, directly email him and ask his stocklist, and whether he has Trimacs at the moment. Here is his email:

fishfarm@mindspring.com


He usually only keeps juvies, but you can ask him if he had larger ones available.

2) I plan on getting multiples juvies so I can keep the best of the lot and sell the others. How long until the aggression issues crap up. Can I use rock to break up the tank and try to define seperate territories.

The aggression should be in control, until you can decide which ones you want to keep I am guessing you want to wait till you see a dominant male/female showing in the group? I think you will have sufficient time to decide aggression-wise By the way, do you care about selling the broods? If yes, you can choose two different stocks such that the parents won't be related.

3. Can a mature male and female live in harmony as a general rule or would they need to be seperated, and are tri difficult to sex?

I have seen a few that live quite harmoniously - my pair however, needs to be separated all the time. The male is rather aggressive, and will beat the female up if she isn't ready to spawn.

They are very easy to sex - the black blotch on the top fin in females is usually visible at a very early age.

4.) If I wanted to have tank mates until they got too large and aggressive, what are some suggested tank mates. Could I try a texas, jack d or a GT while the tri were growing up?

I do not think long term they will work - I have personally kept two male convicts since my pair was very small. I think 48" won't give you much space for keeping any of the above, larger-growing cichlids, but smaller convict like cichlids might work, if they are introduced at very early age.

Any other suggestions or big things I left ut would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Have patience - since you are getting juvies you will have to wait a lot of time before the typical male trimac colors start showing up. I also believe the male has to be the dominant fish in the tank, to color up nicely. So it will take sometime, but it will happen

 

[Fisheyes]

I love my Trimac ! Sounds like you have a great plan !
There is another option in Pittsburgh also. Rob at Keystone Aquatics might have some. I dealt with him on a very large order and everything came in beautifully.

 

[swackattack]

I'll second keystone aquatics. Also aquaworld on Ohio River BLVD in between avalon and emsworth has some good looking trimacs on occassion.

 

[OHern4ever]

I'll second keystone aquatics. Also aquaworld on Ohio River BLVD in between avalon and emsworth has some good looking trimacs on occassion.

Where is keystone aquatics. I have never heard of that place. I have been to the Aquaworld before about 3 years ago and I was not impressed. The size of the place was impressive and I noticed they had some not so common fish but many of the tanks I thought were in deplorable condition.

Wetpets in peters said they could order them for me but I know they would just get them from Jeff Rapps, so I can cut the middleman there. The last place i noticed some nice fish is that place in gibsonia right on the main drag...I can't think of the name. I avoid that place due to the fact they whore out dyed and tattoed fish left and right.

I live in the eastern suburbs so going to most of these places is a day trip.

 

[swackattack]

Keystone aquatics does not have a store front however it is out of Mars PA. He is a vendor here, specializing in larger SA/CA's.

The thing about aquaworld is that the tanks are dirty in the sense that there is algae in there, however water chemistry wise they are in excellent shape. I've never had a fish die I purchased there. There prices are insane too. You could buy 3-4 fish for the same price you'd pay at yuppie pets...oops i meant wet pets

 

[gnuisance]

I just ordered two juvi trimacs and two juvi chancos from Ken. He sent them priority (without a live guarantee) and they arrived just fine. Great value and very nice looking fish. can't wait to see them once they get bigger.