Tropheus: Keeping them alive!

Q&A about Tropheus and Petrochromis

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Pam Chin
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Tropheus: Keeping them alive!

Post by Pam Chin »

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Dear Pam,

I recently bought a dozen Tropheus moorii "Mpulungu" that were approximately 2.5 to 4 cm long and all but 2 of them have died within one month. What is the secret in keeping these fish? Is it possible that the food they were raised on and the food that I fed them was not something they could tolerate? What is the mystery behind keeping them? I feel real bad about my genocidal experience.

Signed - Confused and Distraught
Last edited by Pam Chin on Tue Dec 02, 2003 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Pam Chin
Site Admin
Posts: 1798
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2003 9:11 am
Location: California, USA
Contact:

Post by Pam Chin »

Dear Confused and Distraught,

Tropheus can be hard for some hobbyists. I had a horrible time before I got it right, and even after some success, I continue to kill my share. This summer I killed all but three of my Tropheus moorii "Moliro". It was stupid on my part, the tank got too hot, and I wasn't keeping a very good eye on it. Only because I was careless.

Good water conditions, which means frequent large water changes, and a proper diet of only green flake, are a couple of important keys to keeping Tropheus alive. Getting that water blessed by a priest is optional. They need a large tank with lots of rocks and/or rubble. You must have plenty of caves; for places to hide, or spit fry. They do better in large groups ( 24+) I think, and you need to pull out the extras males when they come of age, this will keep aggression down.

When you have spent a chunk of change on a new species, it is best to keep it alone for awhile, and in the case of Tropheus I don't recommend keeping them with anything, ever. Housing them by themselves is the only way to go. I like to let the algae grow on the rocks and the back of the tank, they like scraping it off, this is really good for them too.

Don't give up, but next time get some good green flake.
Cichlid Power!
Pam

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