Right or Wrong in Tropheus Keeping?

Right or Wrong in Tropheus Keeping?
By Fredrik Hagblom

The mere word Tropheus always means something special when mentioned among aquarists. To some it is a dream to others it reminds them of a failure, to some it is a life long dedication and to quite a few it can only be described as a passion. One thing that is very rare is someone keeping Tropheus in a tank in the living room that just sits around as decoration. Tropheus is a species that makes people dedicated to cichlid keeping, or maybe it is dedicated cichlid keeping that sooner or later make you enter the world of Tropheus.

Tropheus moorii "Lufubu"

Some people are even scared of them. You need such big tanks and so many fish and they are so expensive and worst of all, they might die on you. And when they die they really die and you loose a whole group in just a few days. It is actually the only fish I have heard of that people give up on. After setting up about three groups and loosing them all one after another you just don't want to go through it anymore. It makes you feel like a bad fish keeper and you loose all self esteem. It's kind of hard to put your finger on what it really is that goes wrong when it does. There are tons of explanations but you can never be sure that the one you get is the actual cause. I know some aquarists who have very little problems yet others who have lost all of their Tropheus and just given up.

Am I trying to scare you away?

So, am I trying to scare you away from them? Absolutely not. I believe that if you are just observant and a little extra careful you will probably be able to keep this cichlid just as well as all the others. But I would like to point out that there are things that can go wrong even if you follow all the right steps that you have been taught from web sites and books. You often hear the phrase "There are no wrongs or rights in aquaristics", well I would like to think that there are at least a few definite wrongs but when it comes to Tropheus I sometimes wonder.

Tropheus moorii "Mbita"

You are normally told that Tropheus should be kept with a lot of rocks and hiding places. When I set up my first group of wild caught Tropheus moorii I filled the tank with slate and made caves and hideouts all over. The fish were fighting like crazy. This guy I know tells me to empty the tank out completely and after having lost 5-6 fish I finally follow his advice. The result is that they calm down and start breeding. Now please don't blindly follow this because I still have a group that works fine with lots of rocks and I know allot of people having great success that way.

Large groups keep aggressions down?

You are also normally told that you need to keep a group of at least 15 individuals to keep aggressions down. I did this for a long time until I came across this guy in Denmark and I was blown away by his tanks. He was able to not only keep but to breed something like 5-6 variants in two 70 gallon tanks. The smallest working breeding group he had was a pair. Can you believe it? A pair of Tropheus? They didn't cross breed either he said and I have since seen quite a bit of his results and I believe he was right. Just think of it, people are using entire basements to breed the six groups he had in his bedroom.

Tropheus duboisi "Maswa"

You are normally told that Tropheus needs a vegetable based diet because of their long gastric tract. I feed all mine with my own recipe of shrimp mix. Before I was almost afraid to add any shrimp at all until I visited this breeder outside Gothenburg in Sweden. He is a BIG Tropheus duboisi "Maswa" breeder and his breeding stock is gorgeous. I have never seen such broad, bright yellow bands in my life. And the size of his fish is almost incredible yet keeping the natural shape. I was asking him about what tricks he had and he told me to promise not to tell anyone but he was feeding them high protein pellets. Yes, I know it's not the protein that harm herbivores but this was pure dried fat fish. He told me he feeds all his Malawi haps, mbunas and others shrimp mix but the Tropheus needs meat. He also added that it seemed like the more he gave them the better they were breeding.

If I go on like this I will get too many enemies

I'm not going to go on like this and break more Tropheus rules because I will get too many enemies. Some people get very aggressive when you go against all that they have been taught and so to make sure that no beginners that read this article will make any unnecessary mistakes because of me I would like to clearly state the following.

Tropheus should be kept in large groups of 15 and up. Full grown they should not be kept in tanks smaller than about 80 gallons and they should be fed vegetable based foods. That's how I keep mine but what I am saying is that it can be done differently.

Tropheus moorii "Chaitika"

One of the things that happen in the cichlid hobby is that people really want to help each other. They have come to a conclusion and they believe that this is the truth but many times it isn't. For example your first group of Tropheus can be mooriis. They fight like crazy and several are killed, then you get a group of duboisi and they seem allot calmer so you say that duboisi are calmer and less aggressive that moorii. Duboisi are generally considered to be the least aggressive Tropheus variant but I personally don't believe that they are. I have seen duboisi that have been absolute killers and brichardis that are the sweetest you can imagine. There are just too many different reasons that can turn fish into the individual it becomes to generalize in that way.

I'm no scientist but I can imagine that it must take some tens of thousands of different types of groups of Tropheus brought up under different circumstances to actually determine weather the reason that a particular male Tropheus brichardi has killed 15 fish is because he was first belonging to a group consisting of to many males, as the males were thinned out some new rocks were placed in the tank and all of a sudden he could not see the whole tank so he felt his control over his females slipping and started to go after them harder and finally several of them couldn't take it any longer, or if he was doing it just because he is a brichardi.

As many ways to keep them as keepers

I believe that we can easily say that there are as many ways to keep Tropheus as there are keepers of them. The discussions of how to keep them in tanks are endless at internet forums with people from all over the world participating. I believe that just as many aquarists get hooked on this fish for its behaviour as for its looks. The fact that it has a rumour of being difficult, aggressive and fragile only enhances the attraction. The social hierarchy of a group of Tropheus is absolutely amazing. If you are the type of person who keep a comfortable chair right in front of your tank for long sessions, then this fish is absolutely for you. In pretty much all species of cichlids a dominant leader will emerge in a group. Normally all other group members become citizens of his kingdom but in a group of Tropheus you will clearly notice that there are more to it then that. It is actually a miniature society. They really do form a sort of chain where someone is always over and below all individuals except for the number one and the one at the very bottom. All of a sudden male number two might try to take over and there will be reactions among the others in ways of taking sides behind the two rivals. If the leader wants to kill someone he is normally helped by the others. Maybe it is a way of showing him loyalty or just a way in which they get exited by his reactions since his colours and breeding behaviour obviously has a very strong effect on the group and seems to be able to drive them into doing things that they might not do in other situations.

Tropheus moorii "Mpulungo"

Personally I don't like the idea of keeping fish as decoration and if you are not into the "biological experiment" of Tropheus then maybe you should choose something else. I am a firm believer in that we need to try to make life for our fishes as similar to that in the lake as possible. This includes several things that I might receive criticism for, such as only keeping the best and strongest looking fry and sometimes “stripping”. I don't believe that just letting your fish alone in the tank has anything to do with following nature. In nature a holding female would go far away from the group wile holding and spitting and still hang around in a way so that she wouldn't be forgotten or excluded from the group. So in a tank she will need some help. If you keep her in the breeding tank when she is holding she might not want to spit since she can't find a safe place to do so. This may make her hold too long and damage her fry. Or she might spit them out and they will be eaten by the leader. If she is taken out and placed in a separate tank as you most of the time do with other mouth brooders, she might not be accepted back into the group ones she is ready to go back. She might be killed while trying to find her place, and remember, she probably is the leaders first pick among the females and the leader knows what he is doing. In this case, even though it sounds unnatural. the most natural thing might be stripping. Now there is a big discussion going on out there about weather cichlids pick up actual mouth brooding techniques from their mothers but let's discuss that separately some time.

Tropheus sp. black "Bulu Point"

There have even been times when I have doubted weather it is such a good idea to keep Tropheus in aquariums at all. It seems a bit like they are cramped up in there if the tank is smaller than 1000 litres, but then sometimes it just works perfectly. I feel that the best way to go about it is to buy them young and let them grow up together. A wild caught group never totally calms down and gives you that perfect display of harmony with fish in all corners of the tank. Of course wild caught is important for good genetic quality when it comes to breeding but I seriously do believe that the tank raised cichlids have a better life in captivity.