Just got some Tropheus..cool

[lovdiscus]

I love them....(but not as much as my Discus..lol) But I just got a colony of young fry..all black with white polka dots.
They are really cool.....they swim around in a school with the leader in front.
I hear they are pretty hard to keep....but I heard Discus were also :) No problem there.
Anyone here do Tropheus as well?
Donna

[ronrca]

Ive look at these fish in evny! I like them but dont have the tanks for them......yet! Do you have any pics? ;)

[lovdiscus]

Hi....the tropheus are doing great. I just took some pics....I will download them soon.
Donna

[edgeguy]

HI, I used to have Tropheus and loved their look. I feel they are probly harder to keep than Discus because of their digestive system and behavior.

Digestive system is very long and winding and thus can get plugged easily. Lost one of my first Tropheus this way. He stopped eating (though look fine) but bloated up and never came out of it and died. He was like the ones you have.

Behavior is very aggressive and this can cause the picked on ones digestive system to also get plugged up.

The only way I would keep them is alone and in a large group, which is how it reads your keeping them.

I prefer Discus over Tropheus for the simple fact of the aggression :whip:. I got tired of telling my little girls that this is how fish act in the real world when explaining to them when a fish was getting "beat up" by the others. :spank:

[lovdiscus]

Yes..they are aggressive. I also prefer the Discus, esp. the coloring. But the Tropheus are interesting to watch as well. Very active. I have them housed in a species tank alone with many hiding places. They seem very content.
I read up on them as well. I hope they do not die.....but know that they are suseptibe to bloat quickly.
Here is a pic...not very good....but the little guys move so fast...lol

[heavyp83]

are those duboisi? yellow or white stripe?

[lovdiscus]

Yes they are...yellow. Arent they nice? I really like them.
They are still doing great.

[Nightowl]

Very interesting fish...just too dang nasty for me! Want to keep them more congenial towards each other? when they're older, put a couple of med. sized Frontosa in the tank(if there's room, of course).... I've seen this work, although didn't try it myself.... never kept Tropheus. J :vanish:

[tedd47]

Those are T. duboisi. There are 3-4 locality variants of them, some with thin white stripe, and one with broad yellowish stripe. Only T. duboisi have spotted young. T. duboisi are the least agressive Tropheus, if you forget the one inch of fish per gallon rule you will do alright with them. I had 55 T. duboisi and 20 T. moori "rutunga" in a 110 gallon for 4 years and never had any problems with agression, there were enough fish in the tank that no one fish could be the boss.
I sold them to a friend with written instructions on the feeding care and what NOT to feed them. He went against this and decided to add some Synodontis petricola to the tank and fed the Syno's bloodworms. One T. duboisi got bloat and that was the end of them. Only add fish to your tank that can live with a spiralina and very occaisional brine shrimp feedings. This cuts out about all of the Lamps, and Frontosa, I have two colonies of frontosa they are almost exclusive meat eaters who would eventually waste away on a spirulina diet. You can add some of the dwarf zebra species with no trouble, I had P. salousi with my tropheus and everybody got along great

There are plenty of articles on the web on Tropheus, read all of them and make a composite of what you learned, then throw it all out and do it your way!
Good luck with the Tropheus, I like discus but I still have my Africans and my Synodontis. If you have any specific questions about them drop me an e-mail. Ted

[lovdiscus]

Hi......thanks Ted.
So far so good.....they are very active and growing.
I too am tempted to throw some some blood worms...but I am restraining myself....lol.
I am just giving them spirulina and a weekly bit of brine for protein.
That is what I was told by the seller.
I am enjoying them.
Donna

[Discus_KC]

Donna,

Can't wait to get back to see all your fish !!!!!!!!!

Jack

[tedd47]

Good, stay away from the meaty foods. I would also recommend a weekly 1 day fast to clean them out. And you can soak the spirolina flakes but I never really got around to it but I would crush them up a bit so they wouldn't get so much in a mouthful. I still haven't let my friend live down killing all of my tropheus. I'm sure he feels worse about it than I do since he lost 500 bucks on them. Good luck with them. Ted