Tropheus Breeding Size

VElderton

Active Member
Hello Folks,

I am new to this forum and live North Vancouver, BC. I often visit Seattle to visit relatives and have visited a bunch of the LFS between here and Seattle.

I am quite active on the BC Aquaria Forum and a member of the VAHS Club ... we are having our big annual auction this Saturday, Oct. 28th if anyone is interested.

I have raised a number of Malawi cichlids for years and have just started to get interested in Tanganyikans. I have a few Tanganyikan tanks on the go now.

Right now I have two Juliochromis ornatus breeding groups and am hopeful that a small group of 4 Golden Compressiceps I have might start breeding ... but I have not noticed anything yet.

I also started to have some T. duboisi breeding success then lost a female during the summer. I'd like to replace her and expand the group ... I want to find a source for another 7 - 8 or so, breeding size and perferably more females than males.

I'd also like to know if anyone on this forum keeps Chilanga's I have a couple and can't seem to find any others. Since they come from the southern parts of Lk. Tanganyika I have read that they could be kept with the Duboisi without inter-breeding ... ?

If you have some and interested in selling let me know ... I am no rush but am hoping that Tropheus may be easier to attain in Washington than here in BC.

Thanks
 

Mike16T

Well-Known Member
Hello Folks,

I am new to this forum and live North Vancouver, BC. I often visit Seattle to visit relatives and have visited a bunch of the LFS between here and Seattle.

I am quite active on the BC Aquaria Forum and a member of the VAHS Club ... we are having our big annual auction this Saturday, Oct. 28th if anyone is interested.

I have raised a number of Malawi cichlids for years and have just started to get interested in Tanganyikans. I have a few Tanganyikan tanks on the go now.

Right now I have two Juliochromis ornatus breeding groups and am hopeful that a small group of 4 Golden Compressiceps I have might start breeding ... but I have not noticed anything yet.

I also started to have some T. duboisi breeding success then lost a female during the summer. I'd like to replace her and expand the group ... I want to find a source for another 7 - 8 or so, breeding size and perferably more females than males.

I'd also like to know if anyone on this forum keeps Chilanga's I have a couple and can't seem to find any others. Since they come from the southern parts of Lk. Tanganyika I have read that they could be kept with the Duboisi without inter-breeding ... ?

If you have some and interested in selling let me know ... I am no rush but am hoping that Tropheus may be easier to attain in Washington than here in BC.

Thanks

Apparently, not a lot of people here in washington keeps Tropheus. I know a few and there are 2 -3 people that I know in this forum who keeps them. Washington state is more of a small planted tank hype.. Not a lot on african cichlids scpecially tanganyikan chichlids.
 

VElderton

Active Member
Oh before I forget, WELCOME!! ^_^

Thanks for the welcome and information. I like your Calvus/Compressiceps Avatar. I am building a small group of Golden C. with the hopes of breeding them. I have 4 now and want to find a couple more.

It’s same general tank scenario in BC pretty much. Smaller tanks, that are planted tanks seem to be more of a focus. I have seen some beautiful tanks. Shrimp frenzy is pretty rampant in my area as well.

As I said in my intro community tanks with a fish focus are my main interest especially Africans Lake cichlids.

There seems to be a lot more African / Tropheus enthusiasm in Eastern Canada as well as in the US ...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Mike16T

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the welcome and information. I like your Calvus/Compressiceps Avatar. I am building a small group of Golden C. with the hopes of breeding them. I have 4 now and want to find a couple more.

It’s same general tank scenario in BC pretty much. Smaller tanks, that are planted tanks seem to be more of a focus. I have seen some beautiful tanks. Shrimp frenzy is pretty rampant in my area as well.

As I said in my intro community tanks with a fish focus are my main interest especially Africans Lake cichlids.

There seems to be a lot more African / Tropheus enthusiasm in Eastern Canada as well as in the US ...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yah...
I used to breed Red Rainbow trophues a while back but stopped it. Used to have mailnly tanganyikan cichlid (Giberrosa moba and karema, calvus and comps.)
 

Mike16T

Well-Known Member
This used to be my breeders
2b25cc39850d1977b92d96b7166f025d.jpg
cd5a80d1575d1e3f517fd8637ac74745.jpg
7dc8e6aee07ab165d0aadc965121fbff.jpg


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
If you have some and interested in selling let me know ... I am no rush but am hoping that Tropheus may be easier to attain in Washington than here in BC. Thanks

Welcome to the FishBox. I have been keeping Tanganyikans exclusively for several years, mostly Tropheus. I don't have Chilanga, but if you ever get down to the Seattle area and are interested in a small breeding nucleus of Chimba, Ikola, or Bemba, let me know.

BTW, you can keep duboisi with just about any other Tropheus. Good luck.
 

VElderton

Active Member
Welcome to the FishBox. I have been keeping Tanganyikans exclusively for several years, mostly Tropheus. I don't have Chilanga, but if you ever get down to the Seattle area and are interested in a small breeding nucleus of Chimba, Ikola, or Bemba, let me know.

BTW, you can keep duboisi with just about any other Tropheus. Good luck.

Thanks for the encouragement.

A couple questions. How do you think Chilenga and Chimba would get along ... they both have the red colour which would look good with the Duboisi.

My other question is about me dither species. I have had success with 5 Bar - Trets and a breeding group of Petricola cats that has gone well ... what you think?
 

VElderton

Active Member
By the way here's a video of the tank when it had a much more eclectic mix of Tropheus that I had been given by another Vancouver area hobbyist. I really became hooked on Tropheus sp. with all the movement but the species number/balance was off.


When I shot the video a few months ago it had:
  • 7 Duboisi,
  • 4 Ikola
  • 1 Bemba
  • 3 Chilengas
  • 3 - 5 bar Trets
  • Petricola group
I found the Ikola balance was problematic. In video you can see a dominant male harassing a number of other fish. I think my problem was that the Ikola number wasn't big enough. I found the Ikola continually harassed each other, Bemba & Chilenga which are in the same species. I ended up giving the Ikola to another hobbyist with a Tanganyikan tank that suited them better and now the balance is far better.

I keep all my tanks well aerated and filtered. For this particular tank before I set it up I had read and watched a couple videos that indicated Tropheus sp. live in pretty shallow water at the lake's edge which meant I wanted to re-create water movement and quite a bit of air diffusion. So the set-up for this tank with weekly water changes is:
  • Seachem Tidal 55
  • Rena Filstar 3
  • Fluval 406
  • Corner Poret foam MattenFilter with 2 jet lifters
  • 2 Ehiem air difusers
  • Hydor 600 gph circulator that is positioned close to one of the air stores to break-up the bubbles even further
At this point several months later the rock algae has grown in nicely on the lava and tufa rock. The fish I have now include:
  • 5 Duboisi
  • 1 Bemba
  • 2 Chilenga
  • 2 - 5 Bar Trets
  • Petricola group
I know I want to add to the T. duboisi and to the T. moorii "Bemba" and/or "Chilenga" so am looking for advice and suggestions.

Anything forum participants could suggest would be insightful and helpful - thanks in advance
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Thanks for the encouragement.

A couple questions. How do you think Chilenga and Chimba would get along ... they both have the red colour which would look good with the Duboisi.

My other question is about me dither species. I have had success with 5 Bar - Trets and a breeding group of Petricola cats that has gone well ... what you think?

(1) I have a well-deserved reputaion for being categorically against hybridization of aquarium fishes in general, and Tropheus in particular. At the moment Chimba and Chilenga are considered geographical variants of the same species (T. sp. 'red'), but most Tropheus hobbyists try to avoid any hybridization at all- 'interspecific' or otherwise- between Tropheus populations. Bottom line- Chimba and Chilenga are so similar that if kept together in captivity, sooner or later they will hybridize. Therefore, I would not keep them together.

(2) I don't keep dithers with my Tropheus populations because they are mostly ignored. If you raise a group of Tropheus together, have a sufficient number of fishes, and a good male-to-female ratio, then all the social interactions of consequence will occur within the group, and dithers are superfluous. In ny view, it is this social structure, where the whole group is the biological unit, that makes Tropheus so interesting.

Good luck.
 

VElderton

Active Member
(1) I have a well-deserved reputaion for being categorically against hybridization of aquarium fishes in general, and Tropheus in particular. At the moment Chimba and Chilenga are considered geographical variants of the same species (T. sp. 'red'), but most Tropheus hobbyists try to avoid any hybridization at all- 'interspecific' or otherwise- between Tropheus populations. Bottom line- Chimba and Chilenga are so similar that if kept together in captivity, sooner or later they will hybridize. Therefore, I would not keep them together.

(2) I don't keep dithers with my Tropheus sp. populations because they are mostly ignored. If you raise a group of Tropheus together, have a sufficient number of fishes, and a good male-to-female ratio, then all the social interactions of consequence will occur within the group, and dithers are superfluous. In ny view, it is this social structure, where the whole group is the biological unit, that makes Tropheus so interesting.

Good luck.

I agree the social interaction within the group makes Tropheus sp. really interesting. I am also in the same camp regarding hydridization ... I keep the strains separate, with both my Malawi and Tanganyikan cichlids that's why I asked the question ... That being said being a Tropheus neophyte how do you tell the difference between two very close geographic variants ... like "Chilenga" and "Chimba" ?

My next question ... what would be consider a reasonable number of fish to start a Tropheus sp. group with?

Regarding the dither species ... for me it's about an esthetic that I try to achieve in all my tanks. This obviously relates to water quality, lighting and water movement but fish behaviour also plays into it. For this particuar Tanganyikan tank the activity of the Tropheus sp. for my taste is balanced by the 5-Bar drifting and the Petricola group swimming and hugging the aquascaping all makes this tank work for us.

Thanks again ... it's been great to find another PNW aquarist willing to share their knowledge.
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
... That being said being a Tropheus neophyte how do you tell the difference between two very close geographic variants ... like "Chilenga" and "Chimba" ?

My next question ... what would be consider a reasonable number of fish to start a Tropheus sp. group with?

(1) That's the problem: in a mixed tank it will be very difficult to distinguish Chilenga from Chimba (or from a Chilenga x Chimba hybrid), so you pretty much have to trust whoever supplied your fishes to be confident that Chilenga is actually Chilenga and Chimba is actually Chimba. Of course, not all Tropheus populations are so similar, but many of them are.

(2) Well, it's very hard to generalize about Tropheus as a group, because different populations can behave quite differently. All I can say is that in my experience the smallest group I've ever been able to maintain stably has been about 12 individuals in a 4-foot tank, and this has mostly been with F2 populations. This works OK for relatively mellow Tropheus like Bemba or Chimba, but it totally does not work for more aggresssive fishes like T. brichardi 'Canary Cheek'. So it's pretty much trial and error, but for sure the easiest route is to stick with the less aggressive populations. Even then, different people have different experiences, for example, you had aggression issues with Ikola when you had a relatively small number of fishes, but I have been keeping Ikola for many years (currently two large colonies) and have never had a single individual get beaten up, although skirmishes are frequent. Go figure.
 

VElderton

Active Member
Thanks again it makes sense ... I thought my Ikola issues had more to do with small numbers than anything else. I also believe in locally raised F1 or F2 fish from other dedicated aquarists.

Thanks ... when I plan on my next Seattle visit I will let you know. If you ever consider coming to the Vancouver area let me know as visits go both ways.
 
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