Tropheus "red" Updates

[phishphorphun]

The male Ts are starting to sort things out in the group. It seems that a dominant male is controlling each rock pile, while the biggest bully has claimed the rock/plant garden in the middle of the tank as it's territory. He is the biggest bully of the bunch, in size and pugnaciousness.

The "Big Bully"...

Meanwhile, the sub-group is just taking it all in for fun and games in the tank...

I never noticed that some of these fish developed "egg spots" on their anal fin. This particular one has a pretty obvious one starting to show....

In quick summary. I'm noticing that the Ts that are maturing quicker, seem to keep a darker coloration than the rest of the group. However, they all seem to change shades at different times of the day.

 

[daniel4832]

Bobby,
They are looking good, maybe you need to add to the colony, to you know cut down on the aggression. :angel2:
Thanks,
Daniel

 

[DeeCee]

That male is gorgeous Bobby. And the rest sure aren't shabby either! What size tank do you have them in?

DC

 

[phishphorphun]

They are looking good, maybe you need to add to the colony, to you know cut down on the aggression.[/b]

That male is gorgeous Bobby. And the rest sure aren't shabby either! What size tank do you have them in?[/b]

Thanks.

I think I'll stick with the nineteen size group I have now. They'll get a little cramped in this five foot 120g as they get bigger. Except for the few males that are making their dominance known, it is normally fairly peaceful. They aren't as bad as my all male Malawi tank. :fighting0097:

Remember, I also have ten cyps (four young adults, three juvies, and three fry), and five shellies sharing the tank too. I am very pleased with the set up. The cyps fill the mid and upper ranges very well, while the Ts and shellies roam the bottom. Quite an entertaining tank. :happy0021:

 

[phishphorphun]

A few days ago I noticed a bunch of troph fry in the tank. :jumping0045:

Not sure how many, but I know of at least eight that I counted together.

 

[daniel4832]

Bobby,
Congradulations!!! and as always great shots!
Here is "proof" that allowing the parents to raise and imprint their fry, leads to new adults that will raise their fry without our intervention. I lost a lot of fry by allowing the WC parents time to learn to raise their fry "naturally", but I feel that by taking this lost has allowed me to sell a better, stronger fish then one that has been raised artificially, as seen by the fry that Bobby has gotten. Has anyone bought fry that been stripped, been able to breed them "naturally"? So as not to completely hijack Bobby's thread, this question should be answered in the thread on Old World, "favorite stripping methods".
Thanks,
Daniel

 

[Tim]

They are looking good, maybe you need to add to the colony, to you know cut down on the aggression.[/b]

That male is gorgeous Bobby. And the rest sure aren't shabby either! What size tank do you have them in?[/b]

Thanks.

I think I'll stick with the nineteen size group I have now. They'll get a little cramped in this five foot 120g as they get bigger. Except for the few males that are making their dominance known, it is normally fairly peaceful. They aren't as bad as my all male Malawi tank. :fighting0097:

Remember, I also have ten cyps (four young adults, three juvies, and three fry), and five shellies sharing the tank too. I am very pleased with the set up. The cyps fill the mid and upper ranges very well, while the Ts and shellies roam the bottom. Quite an entertaining tank. :happy0021:
[/b]

What do you feed the tank? Any problems with die off when feeding non-vegetable based foods?
Tim

 

[phishphorphun]

What do you feed the tank? Any problems with die off when feeding non-vegetable based foods?
Tim[/b]

Tim, I haven't lost a fish in this set-up yet...except for one L. Brevis and one Cyp jumping out through the glass top near the tubing space.

Feed them New Life Spectrum twice a day. Except for frozen baby brine shrimp for the fry occasionally, that is the only food since I have given them. The cyps have bred and spit a couple times. The L. Stappersii have produced about 75 fry (I currently have about fifty growing out in three small tanks). And the trophs seem to be normal to me (?).

I have only had the setup for about a year now. It may still be too early to judge. In my experiences with Malawi peacocks and haps, diet illnesses (like bloat) have appeared to be a concern after about three years. And then, I'm guessing if the illness is diet or water parameters related. Perhaps the combination of both could create the ill effects.

Are you suggesting I fix it, before it is broke? Your suggestions are appreciated. :smile:

 

[cyradis4]

How long are those little buggers? They LOOK like they should be small, but in the picture they are quite large!

:happy0007:

Amanda.

 

[phishphorphun]

About a 1/4". :smile:

 

[Tim]

Are you suggesting I fix it, before it is broke? Your suggestions are appreciated. :smile: [/color][/b]

Not at all. Most compatibility charts for Tropheus suggest species only tanks or keeping them with gobies. The primary reasons for this are the aggressiveness of the Tropehus and their special dietary needs. Typically Tropheus fed anything but Spirulina tend to have digestive problems and die. This diet isn't optimal for many other fish, like the Cyps and shellies. However, NLS is a small, easily digested pellet and I've spoken with several people who feed NLS to both Tropheus and Mbuna with a lot of success. I've been feeding my Tropheus and M. estherae a mix of spirulina and NLS pellets. (Separate tanks.) I enjoy a tank full of Tropheus but would enjoy the tank more if there was more variety than a couple of gobies. That's why I was asking how it was working and what you were feeding. I didn't know if feeding NLS alone would be enough to keep Cyps and shellies in good breeding condition. I may set up something similar in one of the 200 gallon plywood tanks I'm going to build, so I hope it continues to work out for you.
Tim

 

[Charlutz]

I don't keep tropheus, but my cyps don't take dry NLS well at all. They suck in a lot of air and generally look uncomfortable. I started soaking it in a cup for a few minutes to soften it up before I put it in the tank and they deal much better with it.

Awesome pics and fish Bobby. Do you ever get tired of hearing that?

 

[daniel4832]

Tim,
I have been feeding NLS since Ron became the local distributor, I think that was around 2002. I have been feeding the cichlid formula to all my Tang adults (Fronts, Tropheus, Lamps, and Julies) and fry food to my fry , including Tropheus. I have started adding Omeda veggie flakes to the Tropheus. Some of the Lamps and Julies have only gotten NLS since 2002.
Thanks,
Daniel

 

[phishphorphun]

Tim, I am not so much interested in "breeding" my pets as I am in being entertained by them. While I admit I get all "warm and fuzzy" when they successfully spawn, it is not my primary goal. That is why I don't mind mixing them up a little and experiment with the compatibility of a few variety of species. As long as they provide me with photo opps, I'm happy. :happy0012:

So far the shellies are doing okay, while I admit when the parent is guarding the shell from the tropheus, the little guys have to work hard and show all of their pugnaciousness to win control. But, even with all the activity provided by the tropheus, the L. stappersi are on a regular spawning pattern. Five times in the last few months from the one mated pair have produced more fry than I need.

As for the cyps, they seem to be in good harmony with the trophs. Spending most of the time in the middle and upper column of the tank suits them fine. I always have at least one female holding all the time. But their success for going the full term is not that great. Then again, they are not full grown yet either (only about 3"). If I don't get any more fry from them, that's fine too. I'm guessing that they will out grow this setup as the tropheus group grows in size (and quantity). I'll probably have to make a decision on who gets evicted next year.

The neat thing about the diet for the tropheus fry is that they were probably feeding on the algae on the back glass for a few days before I even noticed them. The painted black conceals the algae and the fry very well. When I first noticed them on the back glass, they were grazing up and down on it. Then I noticed two in the rocks grazing on the algae too. There must be two separate groups, because a few are twice the size of the others. And I noticed the bigger ones being corraled by the mother in the rear of the tank under the anubias leaves. There, she provides them with smaller expelled NLS pellet granules that are floating by with the current. So the fry seem to graze on the algae between the two daily feedings of NLS. Pretty cool stuff. :cool0027:

Awesome pics and fish Bobby. Do you ever get tired of hearing that?[/b]

Never :happy0021:

Here is the setup again.

This is the tank setup after I redid the rock work in July...

And a shot taken yesterday with the algae growth showing on the rocks (a quick shot, not so good color rendition)...