tropheus

[Fishful Thinking]

I am thinking about possibly getting into Tropheus and I have a couple of questions:

1. If I bought any, they would be going into a 90 gallon. Is this too small for a colony?

2. If the answer to question #1 is "no", then how many should I buy as juveniles?

3. If we are still working on the premise that the 90 gallon would work and I do buy the recommended amount of juveniles, how many of those could I expect to keep around once they reach adult size?

4. Still the same premise as above, decor requirements?

Thanks for the help.

[Blue Ram]

A 90 gal is an ideal tank size for a group. I would not recommend any less than 18 and you could possibly go to 24. I have 19 adults in my 90 gal and it is not overcrowded, however, I expect some of them to still put on some size. My 3 males are almost 4".

[firestorm]

I agree with blue ram, you can easily keep a good colony in a 90 gallon, but they really do best in groups of more than 15. I would suggest trying to get them all at the same time, or it will be difficult later on to add to the group. As far as I know as long as you get them young, you can get them from different sources, but don't wait too long. For deco I would go with all rocks, live plants will just get eaten by them, or you could go with fake plants if your heart desires.

[African_Fever]

Bare tanks do help with aggression among Tropheus if you find that it gets too bad. No hiding places or rocks means nothing to fight over.

Edited October 11, 2008 by African_Fever

[Boom]

I agree with what has been said so far. i have not kept tropheus yet myself but was seriously considering a colony of them in my 55 and did a bunch of research on them. That research seemed to indicate that a 90 would be perfect, get more than you need / want because some will likely die off anyway, and adding more later is much more difficult. (The group likely won't accept them in). And as African Fever suggested, limit the hiding places, a few large rocks just to break up the swim lines seems to be the perfect/recommended decor. They eat algae so if you have lots of green stuff growing, that would be ok. Real plants won't last. If you go on Spencer Jack's website, he has an awesome picture of a tropheus tank that seems to be a real good setup (in the gallery section).

Good luck.

[Fishful Thinking]

Thanks for the info. Is it reasonable to think that I could purchase 20 juveniles and still end up with a colony large enough to sustain itself. What I really want to avoid is those stories of tropheus tanks where they kill each other off until there is one lone male survivor.

[Boom]

I'd imagine that 20 would be o.k to start with, but it also depends on how many you want to end up with. The larger the colony in the end the better (within reason obviously). So if 20 was what you wanted to end up with (I personally wouldn't want less), you may want to start with 25 or 30.

Here is a bunch of very helpful articles on Tropheus.

Tropheus Corner

[JORG]

I've Had 5 Bembas 2m/3f in a 90 now for almost 18 months I bought them as young adults, they have shared the tank with a variety of peacocks and haps over the time. The smaller male occasionally gets a bit roughed up but there are enough hiding spots in the tank where he can retreat to. They have produced probably a couple hundred fry now.

[punman]

I have 30 in my 90 gallon. See link below.

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=21089

They were in my 180 for awhile but I temporarily needed the space so they have been in the 90 for a month and are fine. I started with 30 in case I lose a few but so far have not lost any. Started with them just under 2 inches.

I may have juveniles for sale in a month or so.

[firestorm]

Yep the more the better. From my experience, I made the mistake of not researching heavily enough on them, bought 5 and 3 of them have died, leaving me with 2 in my mixed african tank. I think 1 is male the other is female by the way they act with each other now. But as far as im concerned the more, the better. Wish I could have done things different, but I will keep the 2 that I have now since it is probably too late for them to accept other duboisi. So all I am trying to say is that don't get less than what you think would be a good number. If you can get 20, great get them all. If you can get more, buy more if you can afford them.

[Fishful Thinking]

Could I put two different type of tropheus (different colors) in a 90?

[Boom]

Not sure if you read the articles in the link I gave, but this article discusses mixing them.

Mixing Tropheus

[Fishful Thinking]

Yes, I did read through Tropheus corner and a few other sites and I really appreciated the suggestion, Boom. Like always, I like confirming information off of websites with the people on this site because I find there can be different experiences and suggestions. Plus I trust people here more because I know them better. :thumbs:

One possible issue that it says on that site is that by mixing you risk that the colors of one group will not be as strong as the other. Has that been anyone's experience? One other issue goes back to the size of each group, a point that I didn't see addressed on Tropheus corner. If I mix two groups, am I still aiming for at least 25 fish in each group or do I just aim for 25 total fish.

[Fishful Thinking]

Well, I took the plunge this week with 22 Tropheus sp. "Red" Chimba! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the help. I will be picking up some kiriza (Kaiser II) this month too. For anyone looking at getting tropheus, I have to way that so far I couldn't be happier. Even though the ones I have are 1.25 inches, they are so entertaining to watch. Such an active species!

[Malawi Maniac]

Have fun with the Tropheus Greg, we'll be waiting to see what they look like when the get older

Stacey