Are Tropheus Difficult?

Good article !

Great Article Klaus!!! And thanks for sharing it with us!!!

I've been wanting to keep tropheus for a long time, at first fear kept me from trying them and since my confidence has grown enough to try them I haven't been able to afford what I want... but the day is coming. Gotta keep the faith.

Klaus, a couple of questions. You said you tried feeding pellets without success -- did it cause health problems for the fish or did they just not like the food?

And would a tank with the footprint of a 55 gallon be too small to house a small colony?

Betty, they just did not like the pellets. I tried NLS at the time and they just did not go for it. However, I bought some "Extreme" pellets while at the OCA and tried these and they seem to like them. Let's see what happens.........

As for the 55g tank.........well I have kept a group of 10 T. sp. "Zongwe" in a 4 foot 55g and it worked. I have kept many groups of 12-15 in 4 foot 65g and had no problems. Now I do not recommend to do that because a "small" group should not be less then 12 individuals and the smaller the tank, the bigger the stress, the more is the likelihood of bloat.

What is the foot print of your 55g?

My 55 gallon is an old style one; it's an inch shorter and has an extra inch front to back, so it's 4ft. x 13in. I also have a 60 gallon that has the 4ft. x 12in footprint of a standard 55, but it has extra height. The 60 gallon is lightly stocked with some saulosi, so it's the only one with a possibility of becoming usable in the foreseeable future.

Well, Klaus finally talked me into getting my first group of tropheus
back in April of this year.
I currently have a group of F1 "Orange Flame" Bembas that I bought as
juveniles in a 75 gallon tank along with 5 small catfish.
They are doing great and the only thing they have ever been fed
is flake food from Ken's fish!
Weekly water changes are the key to success along with keeping
things scheduled without much variance.
In my opinion, they are very routine oriented fish who do not like
a lot of change!
That's why I love them; they are a lot like me! lol
I love routine, I hate change, and I love to eat!

Wonderful info Klaus,
I am glad I read this.

Ok I am getting ready to take the tropheus plunge. Not converting to Tangs completely but as a lover of all beautiful fish these guys seem right to take a chance with. One question is about what food to use. I started with the extreme cichlid pellets but I ended up with a few fish getting bloat. Since I have switched to NLS I haven't had a fish with bloat since. It may have been I was new at the time when using the extreme but I don't have any confidence in using it now for the tropheus. What other foods would you suggest?

i would say what ever the breeder you are getting from use the food to start off with then maybe try and ween to NLS

I feed my Tropheus either Kens Premium Veggie Flake or HBH Veggie Flake. I do this for many years and bloat has been a foreign wort to me. I have tried feeding pellets but with little success.
Good luck to you. I know you will enjoy them.

Ok thank you Klaus I will try the Ken's flake and very nice article I hope its as easy as you make it seem.

Splash! wrote:I hope its as easy as you make it seem.

Nikki, just stick to the routine, especially the water change every week and leave them allone. I promise you, it will be "a piece of cake".

well so far they are doing good, some of them are getting some really pretty colors and they are eating great. they seem happy and active. yey me!!! lol

Great to hear that your Tropheus are doing fine. You sure sound pretty happy too. No reason to be overly cautious, just keep doing whatever you are doing now and you will have a lot of fun with them.

BTW, how about some pictures??????

Micheal has a thread with some pictures. http://www.riftlakecichlids.com/tanganyika-photos-f14/tropheous-sp-red-moliro-t584.htm
Yeah I'm really happy I love these guys.

Nice article, thank you for the share.