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Keeping Tropheus: A basic guide for beginners
It occurred to me the other a day when a new member joined the box and asked for information about keeping Tropheus that we did not have a post or article outlining the basics to help those interested in keeping them. So I thought I would write a beginner's guide of sorts to help out. Please keep in mind I am not offering anything new to those who keep these fish already, but trying to lay out the basics for beginners and those thinking of keeping Tropheus. While I am relatively new to keeping Tropheus myself I invite those more experienced to add anything I may have overlooked or correct anything they may disagree with.
Numbers: Tropheus tend to work best in a colony. As a rule of thumb a minimum of 15 fish is recommended. While some may disagree on the optimum male to female ratio it is a given that that having more females than males is best. More females will not only help with breeding but help minimize aggression.
Recommended numbers for various tank sizes:
4 Foot tanks: 12-14 fish in the first 55 gallons and 1 fish for every 6-7 gallons over the first 55
6 Foot tanks: 20 fish per 60 gallons
Filtration: Tropheus will produce a fair bit of waste. In order to maintain good water quality and handle the biological load it is highly recommended to over filter. A good rule of thumb to aim for is to turn over the water in the tank 10 times per hour. Some prefer to try for a little more but 10X per hour should work in most tanks.
More specific to type of filtration:
Canister/ Hang on the back: Minimum of 10X per hour (ex. 4 ft 90g - 900 Gph, 6ft 180g - 1800 Gph)
Wet/Dry: Minimum of 4X-5x per hour (ex. 4 ft 90g - 360 Gph, 6ft 180g - 720 Gph)
Opinion: It is a matter of opinion when figuring flow rate or turnover per hour whether flow from power heads should be included in the numbers. My personal opinion is that it can be used but you should focus on flow over media (filtered flow) as this is what maintains water conditions. Total water movement is great but does not benefit the fish in terms of water quality.
Flow: Using power heads to move water is recommended. It not only provides additional oxygen in the water but helps to minimize aggression. The amount of flow is subject to opinion but should not be so great as to cause the fish to have to fight the current to the point where they are pushed rapidly across the tank when they stop swimming.
Opinion on flow: It is my observation from watching videos of Tropheus in their natural environment that power heads help reproduce the fishes natural environment. Most who have watched these videos have observed wave like motion gently pushing the fish around almost like you would see in the ocean.
Tank size: The unquestioned rule here is the bigger the better. However a 4 ft 75 gallon is generally recognized as the smallest that should be used. This is not to say you cannot have success with a smaller tank but it is not recommended.
Substrate: Any number of substrates will work for a Tropheus tank. However if you are looking to reproduce their natural environment light colored sand would be the preferred choice. They will naturally pick up and spit the sand in the tank.
Decorations: The natural habitat of Tropheus is rocky sandy bottoms. Those keeping them in aquariums should make an effort to reproduce these conditions in the tank. When "Rockscaping" an effort should be made to create caves and/or nooks and crags for the fish to hide in and use in spawning. There are several schools of thought in regards to rockscaping. Many believe the ideal rockscape is two piles (one at each end of the tank, with an open space in the middle). Others prefer a rockscape which extends the length of the tank (Reef style). Success can be had with both styles but appears to depend on tank length and size.
note on rockscape: A typical Tropheus tank will contain a minimum of two and often more dominant males who use rock piles to establish their territory. These dominant males will aggressively defend this territory against any unwanted visitors. It may be necessary to adjust the rockscape to control aggression.
Water Parameters:
Ph: 8-9 (but stability is more important than an exact number)
GH: over 10
KH: 10-18
Temperature: 77-81 Degrees F (lower temps can sometimes help minimize aggression, Higher temps can sometimes help with curing disease and other health issues)
It is highly recommended to perform weekly water changes of 30 percent or more to maintain water quality. Some prefer to perform larger water changes or to change the water more often at smaller percentages.
Food/Feeding: Tropheus are herbivores and should be fed foods which do not contain high levels of protein. There are numerous commercial foods which are commonly used I have listed some below.
New Life Spectrum Cichlid formula (NLS)
Hikari Cichlid Excel pellets (sinking and floating)
Dainichi Veggie FX & Veggie Deluxe
Any flake food which contains a high percentage of Spirulina
There are many theories about how often and how much they should be fed. I will leave that to your research as there are so many different opinions on this subject.
Medication: Tropheus are prone to Malawi Bloat. Please reference the following article for more information on bloat:
http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/content.php?255-Malawi-bloat
It is advisable to have medication on hand in the event your colony should start to show signs of Bloat. The most commonly used medications for Bloat are Clout and Metronidazole.
There are many opinions as to which is better and in what circumstance to use which. I will allow you to research this subject as many people feel strongly about it one way or the other.
The Fish: Selecting the Tropheus to keep is one of the most interesting and fun parts of preparing to keep them. One of the unique qualities of Tropheus is that all Tropheus have the same shape and confirmation but with an unbelievable number of color variants. There are 6 recognized species of Tropheus:
Moorii
Brichardi
Annectens
Kasabae
Polli
Duboisi
There are also several informal or unofficially recognized classifications:
Species Black (sp. Black)
Species Red (sp. Red)
sp. Mpimbwe
sp. Ikola
While researching you will probably find many contradictions. There are often many names used to describe the same fish. This is because most of these fish do not have designated scientific names and are often referred to by trade names and/or collection points from Lake Tanganyika.
Example: Red Rainbow (trade name) T. Moorii Kambwimba, T. Moorii Kantalamba, T. Moorii Kasanga (collection point names) All of the above fish are similar in appearance with slight variations based on their collection points but all are to referred to as Red Rainbows.
Example: Pineapple Trophs and Moops (trade names) are known respectively as T. Moorii Kasakalawe and T. Moorii Mpulungu (collection point names) Again these fish are similar in appearance but vary slightly by collection. There is also a T. Moorii Mbita Island which is similar but slightly varied from the Moop and the Pineapple. All three of the fish are routinely called Pineapples and Moops by hobbyists.
As I said you may find contradictions when researching for the Tropheus you want to keep but that is easily solved by asking questions of the members here on the Houston Fish Box!
I hope this helps someone who is considering keeping Tropheus. Please don't be intimidated about keeping these fish. If you follow the basics and start with the right numbers you should have minimal problems. These fish are much hardier than most believe.
As I stated above I invite the more experienced Tropheus keepers on this site to offer their opinions or correct any information they may disagree with.
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