So I've kept Duboisi to some extent as well as some other tropheus intermittently. I know everyone sells them as an veggie only fish but in the aquarium is that the best for them??? does the make a stronger healthier fish for the trade???
Let me outline my thoughts on this I originally got tropheous having absolutely no idea they were veggie only fish. As a matter of fact I actively feed my oldest one to this day shrimp and he eats mostly(probably 90%) meat in his diet(this is one extreme but its true). I've since purchased a small group of 10 fry that where less than 1/4 of an inch in length. I started them on spectrum fry pellets, and then onto regular spectrum pellets with the occasional cichlid attack making it in there. NONE died. I then learned the "error" of my ways and 3 or so months later switched em to spirulan pellets exclusively with the occasional batch of algea and other veggies getting dropped into the tank. probably 8 months on this diet they are reaching adult sizes and we move them into a 75 gallon with some frontosia that we bought at the same time and had been growing up. We go back to a cichlid attack/spectrum/spirulna mix in the tank. about 1.5 weeks later we stop feeding them anything with meat in it because 3 had died from bloat. over the next month or two we lost all but 3 of that batch to bloat. The tank was clean it even had crypits in it for them to chew on (they weren't big fans)
Basically I'm of the opinion I could have conditioned the fish(or atleast their digest system) to eat a more diverse diet with no ill effects similar to my monster male who is 5 years old. I still have 3 beautiful adults but I'm not sure how to handle them. I fear its to late to do anything with them. My notion is if they live to breed the two females with my old stud and then try this experiment on their first batch of fry. Anyone else out there have any experience in this arena??? I know its not "natural" but the aquarium isn't natural and if I can allow a better quality of life(longer being the key to this notion) I'm all for it.
Let me outline my thoughts on this I originally got tropheous having absolutely no idea they were veggie only fish. As a matter of fact I actively feed my oldest one to this day shrimp and he eats mostly(probably 90%) meat in his diet(this is one extreme but its true). I've since purchased a small group of 10 fry that where less than 1/4 of an inch in length. I started them on spectrum fry pellets, and then onto regular spectrum pellets with the occasional cichlid attack making it in there. NONE died. I then learned the "error" of my ways and 3 or so months later switched em to spirulan pellets exclusively with the occasional batch of algea and other veggies getting dropped into the tank. probably 8 months on this diet they are reaching adult sizes and we move them into a 75 gallon with some frontosia that we bought at the same time and had been growing up. We go back to a cichlid attack/spectrum/spirulna mix in the tank. about 1.5 weeks later we stop feeding them anything with meat in it because 3 had died from bloat. over the next month or two we lost all but 3 of that batch to bloat. The tank was clean it even had crypits in it for them to chew on (they weren't big fans)
Basically I'm of the opinion I could have conditioned the fish(or atleast their digest system) to eat a more diverse diet with no ill effects similar to my monster male who is 5 years old. I still have 3 beautiful adults but I'm not sure how to handle them. I fear its to late to do anything with them. My notion is if they live to breed the two females with my old stud and then try this experiment on their first batch of fry. Anyone else out there have any experience in this arena??? I know its not "natural" but the aquarium isn't natural and if I can allow a better quality of life(longer being the key to this notion) I'm all for it.
