Why Tropheus?

DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Ok, so I'm looking for input on tropheus. Anyone is welcome to comment, whether you currently keep tropheus or not. I'm looking for reasons why people like them, reasons why they don't, things that are difficult about keeping them, or why you'd like to keep them. I'd even be curious as far as what are people's favorite variants.

I'm also curious about people's feeding experiences. Diet seems to be the key factor in tropheus health. Does anyone feed them NLS? I've heard some people use it without problems, and other people won't use it due to fear of bloat. Is it really necessary to feed all spirulina flake and pellet, or can it be varied within reason?

What success or failures have you had with tankmates? I've asked for advice on what are suitable tankmates, I'm just curious as to what people have actually tried and experienced.

I'm sure our speaker is going to give us plenty of reasons to want tropheus, which is why I wanted to ask the question prior to the meeting. I want some original ideas and input.
 
Reel Addiction

Reel Addiction

Members
I think there is a meeting this weekend somewhere about them. You should try to check it out:angry3::D Im interested also but nothing has caught my eye so far.
 
RIFT_LAKES_RULE

RIFT_LAKES_RULE

Member of the Darkside Tang's Rule!
When I first got into the hobby to keep Tropheus was like the ultimate achievement for "African Cichlid" keepers. Back then there were far more horror stories than success stories. I'd say that's what got me interested in them but because of all the horror stories and I was a noob... I just did research rather than wasting money and killing fish. Since then, much has been learned about how to keep them and because of that the number of Troph keepers has blown up which is awesome. I waited 8 yrs before trying them but in hindsight... it's not that difficult and I wish I would have tried them years ago. I had my mind set on a wild caught colony and was very leary about spending that much money on something I'd never kept. Our guest speaker really helped me out as far as reassuring me that they weren't that difficult and that really helped my nerves while I was awaiting shipment.

Aside from the challenge of keeping them, the activity level and behaviors of these fish amazed me. From seeing them in person to watching youtube vids, what I was seeing was different from the other fish that I'd kept. The other thing that really blows me away is the evolution of these fish, there are so many location variants among each species.

Now that I have them... they are the most active fish I've ever kept... never a dull moment in that tank. The behaviors are incredible, I absolutely love them.

My favorite variants would be the "rainbows" of the moorii species. I have the Red Rainbow variant currently and wouldn't trade them for anything.

I feed NLS Thera-A to my wild caught group. I did something that I wouldn't recommend to anyone else... I started feeding them NLS from the start but very lightly. I also fed Ken's veggie flakes at first. I ran 4 t5HO tubes 24-7 for about 2 weeks before the fish arrived which grew a ton of green algae, I couldn't even see in the tank. The fish started grazing on the algae almost immediately after being released into the tank (I've noticed that when stressed they like to graze, maybe it calms them?). I let the fish graze on the algae as the main diet while feeding them small amounts of nls and flakes, when I saw they were passing the nls with no problems I started upping the amounts. By the time they had thinned the algae down they were eating full servings of nls with no problem (approx 2 1/2 weeks). I still run lights 12hrs a day, 8hrs with 4 tubes burning, 2hrs in the morning and evening with 2 tubes burning and that keeps algae growing for them to graze on, which they love to do.

No other fish has been as satisfying for me as my Trophs and I can't wait to get another group. ;)

(Hope I didn't put anyone to sleep :lol: )
 
cmcpart0422

cmcpart0422

Members
I think what scares most people away is the threat of losing them due to bloat. I cant speak for other tropheus owners but I love my tropheus more then any other cichlid I have kept and they are the only fish that I haven't gotten tired of yet and wanted to switch out. They are extremely active fish that are constantly chasing, displaying and looking for food. I offer my tropheus three types of main food and some veggies every so often. I feed HBH veggie flake, which I like because of its low protein content, pure spirulina flakes that I get from kens fish (he also has a tropheus lovers flake which I hear is good), and I also offer NLS cichlid formula. They get all three of these daily. I have had one instance of bloat when they were younger and my colony of 25 went down to 20 but I treated with clout and saved the rest and they are now all really healthy and spawning.

As for tank mates you have a few options the most popular from what I know are synodontis petricola, s. lucipinnis, s. multipunctatus, petrochromis, and gobies. I keep a group of 6 lucipinnis with my tropheus and they get along great.

My tropheus ignore any and all fry in the tank too so I have often times used my tropheus tank to grow out fry of other species. I have grown out plenty of peacocks from .75 inches to about 2-3 inches with my tropheus. To add to that tropheus are prolific and once your colony starts to spawn you will have tons of fry in the tank.

I like sp. black but there are tons of tropheus out there so you should look around to see what you like. Here are some links to some polls from tropheus owners that can give you some info.


http://trophs.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1048

http://trophs.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2723

http://trophs.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=989

http://trophs.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1632

http://trophs.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=850
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
I've always shied away from them due to lack of a properly-sized dedicated tank for a colony. I heard that 75 is the minimum size for a group to minimize aggression (and that is for smaller, less aggressive types).

I have a lot of tanks now, but also have a lot of Malawi stuff and they get preference over a totally new group of fish that I don't own yet.

Either that or I need to sell all my Malawi stuff.... hmmmmm......

.....then I can get tropheus and geos and discus and fronts and angels and ......



Yeah, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. :rolleyes:
 
longstocking

longstocking

Members
I actually kept Petrochromis before I kept Tropheus :lol:

I guess I'm one of those people that does things backwards I guess :lol:

My husband was/is the one that loves Tropheus. I love their tank mates.... Petrochromis and Gobies :lol:

Don't get me wrong, I like Tropheus and they are all very pretty for different reasons. The group evolves with time and it is interesting to watch them age over the years that you have them. The best advice I can give you is to keep the one that you like most. You will be happier with them and keep up on the water changes they need if you pick the one that most apeals to you.

Keep things stable too in terms of water changes etc !

I feed almost anything to all of my tropheus groups except for black worms and brine shrimp.

I haven't had too many failures with tanks mates... although they did not breed for me when S. multipunctatus was in the tank.

I've tried all of these:

Julidochromis
Chalinchromis
S. multipunctatus
All species of gobies
Many sp. of petrochromis
L. dardenni
Simochromis
C. horei
S. petricola


I'm sure there are a few more I am forgetting... but some of these need 6 feet.
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Great information guys. Thanks for all the input. I didn't hear anything negative from anyone (except for Larry and Curly better known as Tony and Chris) so it seems that everyone that has kept them enjoys them. I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow's talk.
 
M

mrkillie

Members
I have had my Tropheus sp. Ikola Kaiser for about a year and a half and I agree with everything everyone else has said. I have them in a 6 ft. long 100 gallon tank. I had some Chalinochromis ndoboi with them for about a year, but now I have Juli. transcriptus in with them, and some young ndoboi that I couldn't catch. They are aggressive, but only towards each other-never saw them chase any other fish, even the Chal. fry when they spawned. I feed them any suitably sized algae/spirulina pellet mixed with a staple pellet, about a 4 to one ratio (it's just easier to mix them together when I start a new can than to open two cans every night when feeding). I will occasionally add some flakes if i see any fry of any kind in the tank. I do monthly water changes (or at least I try) and the tank is filtered by just one big sponge filter. I've been contemplating adding a canister, but I don't know where I'd put it, and the fish have spawned, so why bother.

Joel
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
After a great presentation by Klaus last month, I was convinced I wanted to start a tropheus tank. Some misconceptions were cleared up and I am convinced tropheus aren't as scary as some people make them out to be. After about 1000 emails to Sarah and countless hours spent on the internet while I should have been working, I'm almost there. I'll start a new thread once I get the group and have them settled in.
 
iamzrad

iamzrad

Members
Nice Mike!
My new tank is hopefully going to get setup soon. After years of deciding to go or no with Tropheus, and having room for them, it's officially a go :)
 
buntbarsch

buntbarsch

Members
Michael and Phil, I am very happy to hear that you will take the plunge and give these awesome fish a try. Knowing that my presentation has answered some of your questions makes it all worth while for me. You will not regret your decision.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions and keep us up-to-date on your progress.

Good luck.
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
buntbarsch said:
Michael and Phil, I am very happy to hear that you will take the plunge and give these awesome fish a try. Knowing that my presentation has answered some of your questions makes it all worth while for me. You will not regret your decision.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any more questions and keep us up-to-date on your progress.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Thank you Klaus. Being able to ask questions from people as knowledgeable as yourself is one of the reasons I feel confident enough to take the plunge. I'm looking forward to the adventure, and I'll be sure to post progress of the new acquisition.
 
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