Tropheus

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Marius;2418658; said:
Then stay away from Tropheus. Minimum 4' tank would be a 120gal 4'x2'x2' and a minimum for the colony 24.

Species: Tropheus are herbivourous species from Lake Tanganyika and they can grow ...my wild caught Duboisis are 6"+

Aquarium: As large as possible, with a minimum 4' tank of a 120gal

Substrate: aragonite, one needs the pH and alcalinity to be higher than one's average Malawi tank.

Food: preferably one brand ...exclusively, I've had good results with NLS so far.

Scape: Keep the rocks either to a minimum, you can install one of the AQUATERRA backgrounds with a couple rocks in front, or overdue it (but please research first :D ) ...reason why, less rock=less males claiming a territory.

Colony: minimum 24, the more females the better. Reason for the number is their aggressive nature and the numbers is their defense as it disperses individual aggression within the colony.

Tankmates: I've used shell dwellers, Frontosas, Boulengerochromis Microlepis ...and I'm voting for the shell dwellers. Least impact on the all around health and behaviour of one's Tropheus colony.

Good luck
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Where did you get your info? 120 gallon is NOT minumum, although it is preferred. Min colony size can EASILY be below 24, that would be like telling me that my 20 Duboisi Kigoma is to small of a colony. Also with Tropheus you can have dominant females as well as dominant males. It can be done with lots of rockwork or not lots of rockwork, both ways have been proven to work great. NLS is not the only thing to feed them, there are many options for food. As far as the tankmates I dont know that I would put any of your reccomendations with Tropheus. Microlepis get to big, Fronts get stressed by all of the craziness of the Trophs. Shellies may work but I wouldnt do it. The only fish I would consider mixing with them is Gobies.
 
i agree with his info on tank size, look if you cant house a fish comfortably dont get them. minimum fish is a bit overdone 15+ is generaly the ok rule.

actually gobies arnt the only fish u can mix with them, generally you can have most fish with them, feeding requirements play a big role but people bend that since nls is a main food, like petro's and gobies, ive seen people mix other's too, like shellies, featherfins, sandsifters, and more, NOT frontosa tho there would be a high chance of tropheus becoming expensive fish food.

the only problem with mixing tropheus with other fish is you may not get as much breeding, and not showing natural behaviors, if you want them just in a display without worrying about breeding etc, then mixing with other fish is fine.

feeding another choice is spirulina flake.

thanks mark~
 
mcsx;2421245; said:
i agree with his info on tank size, look if you cant house a fish comfortably dont get them. minimum fish is a bit overdone 15+ is generaly the ok rule.

actually gobies arnt the only fish u can mix with them, generally you can have most fish with them, feeding requirements play a big role but people bend that since nls is a main food, like petro's and gobies, ive seen people mix other's too, like shellies, featherfins, sandsifters, and more, NOT frontosa tho there would be a high chance of tropheus becoming expensive fish food.

the only problem with mixing tropheus with other fish is you may not get as much breeding, and not showing natural behaviors, if you want them just in a display without worrying about breeding etc, then mixing with other fish is fine.

feeding another choice is spirulina flake.

thanks mark~
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Dianichi, Extreme, Ocean Nutrition, Omega One are good spirulina foods. I feed NLS, Ocean Nutrition Spirulina, and Omega One Super Veggie are whatI feed. Just make sure you read the label. You will find that if you read the label that some foods that claim to be veggie foods mainly have fish meal or some other high protien ingredient as their main make up. The forementioned foods use Spirulina and Kelp as the primary ingredient.
 
A friend shipped me 16 moliero fry regular priority mail took 2 days and they were all fine and doing well 2 months later.Shipping them is possible,if they are healthy fish.
 
I had a breeding colony of T. Moorii in a 40 gallon with a HOB filter that flowed 500 GPH through a spray bar and an UG. It was 3/4 filled with lava rock. They did fine with weekly water changes and produced alot of fry. Your 60 will work great!
 
60gal 4footer will definitely work. You can get 15 adult trophs in there. If you are going with adults try and get only 3-4 males. If you are getting juvies then 20-25 will do. Some will die off due to natural selection. Keep the rockwork minimal and do weekly water changes. You'll be fine....:headbang2
120gal is NOT the minimum required...:screwy:
 
Filtration and Diet is very important.

The FX 5 is perfect, i'd be inclined to add an internal purely for mechanical filtration too.

Spirulina based diet is a must, NLS is the best IMO for them.

Stock densely at the start because new additions to the colony will end in tears. The hierarchy is disrupted and a new leader tries to take over leading to multiple deaths.

Tropheus are very loyal and thus fall into a pecking order behind the Alpha-male. If you keep the tank stable you will end up with a breeding colony that will end up covering your initial costs with plenty of sellable fry.

Good luck.
 
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