Water chemistry

Try to keep all of your tanks at the same pH and temperature so that you can easily move a fish without having to re-condition the tank in an emergency situation.

A pH of 7.6 - 9.0 is fine for Tropheus. It is important to keep it constant and not move a fish to a tank with a radically different pH.

Water hardness is not crucial to proper Tropheus keeping. As long as your water is moderately hard to rock hard your fish will do just fine.

I use four gallon buckets to do water changes, which generally are about 30-40% every week (or two if I'm feeling lazy, but really it is important to keep a good schedule).

To Each Bucket I Add:

• Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Conditioner
• 1/2 teaspoon SeaChem Tanganyikan Buffer
• One squirt Kent A F Cichlid Rift Lake Trace Elements
• Make sure the temperature is the same or slightly warmer

Tank Parameters:

• Temperature is usually 76-78F, which is a good range for Tropheus and most Tanganyikan cichlids, but tends to rise during the summer. I use a fan aimed at the tanks if they get too warm.
• pH 8.0 - 8.2
• Hardness is around 150 ppm (moderately hard)