Tropheus Tank

[fischfan13]

How about some opinions.

72g bowfront (4' long)
Group of 20 Tropheus Lupota Blood Throat
Seven 3" Clown Loaches

What else would you add?
I thought about Cyps.

I have also thought about taking the Clown Loaches out and adding Syno Petricola with another species. The Clown Loaches have been doing WAAAAY too much hiding.

[YoungAquaticPhotos]

How about Eretmodus cyanostictus or Spathodus erythrodon? They always went well with my ikola's and Ilangi's I had.

[fischfan13]

I thought about the Gobies, but these Tropheus spend an awful lot of time near the bottom and they swim around like they are spiked up on caffeine.

[color]

I would def go with some petricolas. I have them in with my moliros and no bother there. I just added some mbuna in the tank and moliros did not like them in there at all. Just experimenting:) but I think cyps are to calm for tropheus they would jump out your tank.
Hey Fisch a quad of some petros or simochromis the smaller ones go well with tropheus.................

[fischfan13]

I have six Petricola growing out (Ed Castro's stock---BTW, grab him in here!).
The Simochromis would worry me in a 72g with Tropheus and Petricola. I once read about someone keeping Cyps with their Tropheus, but the Cyps fry would never survive (I always wondered why the person who wrote the thread never stripped the fry).

[Aqualung]

I've kept Erets Red Tail Botias and I always keep Clown Loaches with my fish. I have 1 clown about 8 inches and 2 close to 7 inches with my Tropheus,they dont even bother the newly spit fry..They come out and beg for food with the Ts in the morning,they are FAT n Lazy!!LOL

[fischfan13]

Joey, I think that the Clown Loaches have gone into hiding because of the dominant male Tropheus.

[Aqualung]

The only time the male Ts bothered the clowns is when they were spawning and the clowns came in the area, other than that they ignored each other

[Afreakin]

I tried Utintas with my moops and the cyps were not happy at all. Some people get away with it though :rolleyes:

[yourfishstuff]

Petricolas do well with tropheus. For breeding I have them in seperate tanks, but the juvs all get along fine in grow out tanks.

While I haven't tried the combination myself I've heard julies do well with tropheus, as do the gobies as was mentioned.

[AMBUSHPREDATOR]

The best success I've had number of fry wize per group was in a tropheus only tank, they still breed with other fish in the tank but spawn numbers and frequency of spawns is not even close.

[fischfan13]

Looks as if I am not adding anything else into the tank...the Tropheus are taking care of that for me. At least two releases plus what looks like two more females holding.
I still notice that the Clown Loaches are only present when the lights are shut off. I might swap them out of this tank and place my Petricola in there.

[AMBUSHPREDATOR]

I've found it easy to change out the dom male , It's the females that really don't like they're new friends.

[fischfan13]

I have to thank Joey (Aqualung) for the huge explosion of fry and holding females. I have always been a huge proponent of many little water changes instead of a weekly or biweekly large water change.
The last time I saw Joey he told me about the large water changes he has done with his T's. They now get 50% water changes weekly.
Thanks Joey!:thumb3d:

[fischfan13]

Update:
About a dozen fry and two more females holding.
The Clown Loaches are not in hiding any more either.

[wayne]

How 'bout some pictures of your tanks, Bill?

[fischfan13]

Wayne, once the Christmas Tree is down I will post pictures (maybe a video) of the Tropheus tank. At last count there looks to be about TWENTY fry in the tank. Once I went with Joey's suggestion of 50% water changes the breeding went nuts!

[AlishanAS]

They should be nicely grown out in time for 04-04

[fischfan13]

Tommy yes they will. I will pull them out once they have some size...what a nice auction prize about 20 Tropheus sp Red Throat Lupota would be!!!

[fischfan13]

Update:
There are now more than 20 fry/juvies in the tank.

Dominant male...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/Fischfan13/100e0073-1.jpg
Their 72g bowfront home...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/Fischfan13/100_0090.jpg

[Heyguy74]

Looking good Bill. I think tropheus may be my next tank

[fischfan13]

Update:
There are about 30 fry/juvies in the 72g with the adults.
In about two or three weeks all of the fry and juvies will be pulled out (auction bound).

[fischfan13]

These Troph's are not stopping. There are now 30+ fry/juvies in the tank with the adults. The first fracas, however, just broke out. Two males have been going at it, and one of them might have to be pulled.
The weekly 50% water changes made the difference, as these Troph's are definitely stimulated by the water changes!

[Ironman]

I have a colony of 35 Illangi's with 9 kitumbas cyps and everybody gets along. Right now i have 1 of the kitumbas holding. oh, i forgot to mention + 2 clown loaches. No problems

[fischfan13]

So the Cyps can breed with the Troph's in the same tank?
What size tank and are all of the Trophs adults?

I have about 7 Clown Loaches in with the Trophs and at first they hid, but over the past few months they are all over the place.

[AMBUSHPREDATOR]

Congrat's Bill , The tank sounds awesome and not having to strip the fem's makes it all the better !!!

[fischfan13]

I broke down the tank tonight to pull all of the fry/juvies out.
33 fry/juvies in all!


...and they will be at the auction on 04-04!

[YoungAquaticPhotos]

Great Bill! More Tropheus for me to kll!

[fischfan13]

It's no surprise that the juvies and fry are doing great. They now share a 55g and have no others to worry about with food.
As for the adults...
There are now three males battling for tank dominance. The colors on ALL of the adult Tropheus have improved since the juvies were pulled.
Really pretty tank.

[AMBUSHPREDATOR]

I've had great success over the years with troph's, however at about the three year mark I start running into problems with fighting and death. then the group dwindles and everything falls apart. Maybe having all the fry mixed most of the time will tone down the violence and give you better long term result's than I've had.

[fischfan13]

As many of you know 24 of the juveniles were auctioned off...all going to Maryland members of the CCA. There are nine additional juvies growing out that I am holding as a donation to the CCA auction in May.
Now the adults in the 72g are back at it! I see there are three fry in the rocks and another female holding.

[TOMMYN3D]

congradulations Bill, the new fry should be grown and ready for our fall auction.:hat:.... lets see some pics of the tank if you can .

[fischfan13]

Well, the tank was cleaned out of all of its fry and what do you think happens???
More fry!!!
I just checked the tank today to find more fry with more females holding.
Picture from a few months ago...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/Fischfan13/100_0088-1.jpg

[Longstocking]

Congrats Bill !!

Maybe some NJ guys will want them :) Tropheus usually stop breeding if there are too many fish. Smart little guys.

Nice tank btw...

[fischfan13]

Sarah, how did your fry/juvies settle in?

As you can see the two dominant males are always spitting sand...looks neat if you ask me. The plants, yes they are plastic, serve two purposes...one, fry have a little safe haven and two, there is always a nice growth of algae for everyone to graze on.

[Longstocking]

well I put the ones Julie had right into the big tank 125g... as she basiclaly quaranteened them for me lol

They freaked out for the first two days... a bit scared of a 7 inch petro LOLOL

The ones I got at the auction are in a 10 gallon.

All 16 of them are doing great... eating and fighting like they should be :) They aren't afraid of the Petros now.

[fischfan13]

I came home tonight to find NINE nice little surprises in the tank!:fish::fish::fish:

[Longstocking]

That is a nice size spawn for letting them spit in the tank.

Mine would eat them lol

[fischfan13]

Ok, so I believe that you and I will disagree...

I cannot believe that all nine fry came from one female.
Tropheus fry are pretty big fry, as we all know.
In your defense I will say that ALL nine are the same exact size, but I cannot believe that they could ALL fit in one females throat.

Maybe one day I will have to strip one of my females but, as you said, the way that I am doing it right now is working...and I would hate to mess with success.

[Longstocking]

I've pulled over 20 from a female I have. Reds can have enormous spawns.

[joe_jaskot]

Depending on the size of the female, 20 - 25 fry is about average for a tropheus spawn. Young females may hold anywhere from 3 to 15 fry. Some varieties of tropheus ignore their fry while others eat them.

[fischfan13]

Huge water change yesterday...and six more fry found in the rocks.:rotate::rotate::rotate:

[AMBUSHPREDATOR]

Wow they're breeding like PSEUDO-TROPHEUS . Congrats :rotate:

[fischfan13]

The breeding has become so prolific that I might have to take the tank apart to start grabbing fry. The last time I rearranged the tank I must have placed the Pagoda Rock even tighter, helping out the survival rate of the fry (yes, Sarah and Joe were right).
I think after I pull these fry I might place some oyster shells in the tank as well to help out the fry.
Also, I have increased the protein in the tank. Dainichi has become a daily staple of the tank along with HBH Veggie Flakes.

[wayne]

Bill, I have like 50 moops in a 125G and very much female heavy but I have never observed breeding frenzy that is being described in this thread. What is in the water?

[AlishanAS]

Bill dissolves his left over Viagra in a cup of water and adds it. :neener:

[Longstocking]

OMG I just about fell out of the chair.... :lol:

[fischfan13]

Wayne, on Sunday I feed the T's heavily on macaroni, mozzarella and ricotta!

The heavy water changes that Joey talked me into did it.
50% per week.
Also, I think that the Pagoda rockwork was not tight enough to hide the fry.
The far ends of the tank are bustling with fry up and down the rocks.

[fischfan13]

Bill dissolves his left over Viagra in a cup of water and adds it. :neener:

Those are from the extras that I get from Pennsylvania fishkeepers.:playball:

[AMBUSHPREDATOR]

Bill dissolves his left over Viagra in a cup of water and adds it. :neener:

Or maybe it's the nuclear reactor around the corner:1devil:

[AlishanAS]

Those are from the extras that I get from Pennsylvania fishkeepers.:playball:

Now Bill, you should not talk about Julie that way. :)

[fischfan13]

Or maybe it's the nuclear reactor around the corner:1devil:

Gotta love it.
Just in case no one knows what Jeff is talking about...
I live on the Jersey Shore and the Pine Barrens.
Nestled in between is this...
http://www.thecancerblog.com/media/2006/03/oyster-creek.jpg
Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant.

[wayne]

I have long suspected something which was strange about Bill, I mean, uh, never mind...

[fischfan13]

It's come time to break down the Tropheus tank again.
Nice problem, fry have begun to overrun the tank. I seriously believe that there is more of a waste buildup in the tank from the fry than the parents.

[fischfan13]

Lupota tank just went thru another change. Last week as many of you know I took out 46 fry/juvies (for sale in the classifieds).
The T tank is now a very calm and mellow tank. About 20 adults going around looking for food...as opposed to almost 70 of them darting around trying to pick up each and every morsel.
My newest Tang guru (See, I never mentioned your name Sarah) has me feeding them more protein. I now have the adults down to the fry on HBH Veggie Flakes, NLS and Dainichi.

[zebra7]

Which variety of Dainichi are you using for your Tropheus Bill ?

[fischfan13]

Veggie Deluxe
I have been giving it to all of my Africans, as well as my Geophagus.

[Longstocking]

It's not about what pellet IMO.... it's about the protein level and the type of protein. I think that is just what Bill has on hand??

I actually use a very inexpensive pellet and the breeding is great with all my tropheus/gobies/petrochromis. And I don't go broke feeding it.

One thing I don't like is too many filllers. But I don't feed my fish like everyone else... I feed tropheus raw shrimp :p

[zebra7]

What inexpensive pellet do you use Longstocking that isn't loaded with filler's, I'm interested to know ? IMO I feel there is a difference with different varities of Dianichi pellet, that's why I was asking Bill. I've been using Dianichi pellet's for some time now, and see different pellet's benefit different fish in certain way's, and some don't. I fed Freeze dried Krill to my Tropheus for year's with excellent result's. Now I feel there isn't a need for it any longer with the improvement's of Pellet's on the market, made with quality grade's of Krill.

[Longstocking]

I keep shrimp on hand due to the petros.. the tropheus just get it too. Tropheus are just dithers :lol:

I feed the same pellet RSC switched too ;)

No carb. I have been very happy. I've tried most pellets and I have not liked the results. But in truth I just throw anything I have on hand into my tropheus/petro tanks... except for BS and black worms.

[zebra7]

I talked about Xtreme Pellet ( the food RSC switched too, :) ) when it was fairly new to the market, and have been using it, and selling it since then. I also mentioned to a few keeper's the sucess Doug was having with it at RSC, and witnessed the result's for myself at his facility. I also feed it to my Troph's, but I still prefer Dianichi for most of my other Tanganyikan's.

[Longstocking]

He switched again.

He's not using that any more... he's using the NO CARB.


I talked to Ken about the food at length at the catfish convention last October. Made a lot of sense to me... so I tried it out. At first I was over feeding the food... the fish got fat lol.... now all is good I'm feeding less of a very inexpensive pellet and they look and breed better than ever. I have never been able to condition fish this fast.

Of course this is not all they are getting. They also get shrimp mix ( or something like it I should say )...

[fischfan13]

I remember when I got my first Tropheus group. The person who I bought them from only fed the Veggie Flakes. The first week that I had them I started to mix NLS into their diet...they looked great.
I believe that people are absolutely terrified to feed their T's anything but Veggie-based foods.
I have a few Shrimp recipes, and I will be using one shortly.

[Longstocking]

I'm not going to go into why....

but I stopped the NO CRAB all together because of some suggestions from Ken at the ACA.

Going back to Kens Pellets.

[AlishanAS]

I'm not going to go into why....


You opened a can o' pellets, Sarah, so fess up!!! :boink:

[Longstocking]

mmmmmmmmmm

well it's the same as ULTRA color...

NO CARB...

Lets just say some of the bigger "breeders" had some issues if feeding it exclusively. I never only fed one food, maybe that is why I didn't have any issues. I am still going to play it safe and I am going back to what I used to feed and what everyone else feeds. RSC, frybabies... etc...