Ronald Revolinski 02-01-00

At the June 1998 general meeting of the Milwaukee Aquarium Society the presentation by the guest speaker was on the species Tropheus. The presentation peaked my interest in Tropheus and the fact that I needed to breed a 20-point species for the Milwaukee Aquarium Society’s Breeders Award Program made obtaining a group of Tropheus a must. Since I went to the American Cichlid Association convention in St.Louis obtaining a quality group of tropheus was not very difficult. I purchased a group of 6 Tropheus sp. Black Kiriza, which where between 1 and 2 inches in length. Tropheus sp. Black Kiriza has also been known in the hobby as Tropheus Sp. Aff. Moori, Tropheus Kaiser II, and the Emperor Moorii. The name Kariza refers to a small village, which is located on the Ubwari Peninsula. This peninsula is on the northwest coast of Lake Tanganyika.

The 6 tropheus I purchased are housed in a 55-gallon aquarium. As luck would have it my group of tropheus consists of 3 males and 3 females. Since I do not find bare bottom tanks aesthetically pleasing a substrate consisting of red flint gravel and an equal part of crushed coral were the first added to the tank. Large rock formations were arranged at the opposite ends of the tank. 6 pieces of PVC pipe 2 inches in diameter and 6 inches long were placed in the middle of the tank. The 2 largest males claimed the rock formations as their terrorities. The last male and 2 females were left with the middle of the tank. The third female spent most of her day hiding behind a Hydro IV sponge filter, which was located in the corner of the tank. The Tropheus provided for an active but peaceful tank. Occasionally the male tropheus were observed fighting with the lips of the combatants locking, but no injuries resulted.

Caring for the group of tropheus has proven to be relatively simple. While many of the articles and books I have read recommend large tanks and large groups of tropheus the above combination has proven to be quite successful for me. Water changes of approximately 50% are carried out once every 2 weeks. Large water changes seem to induce the tropheus to spawn. If my fish do not spawn in a reasonable time, several water changes are carried out in a week. These water changes always result in the fish spawning shortly after the water changes. Filtration consisted of an Eheim canister filter and a Hydro IV sponge filter. The water is kept at 80 degrees. Talking about feeding the species Tropheus is like opening Pandora’s box. It seems that the people in the know cannot agree on what is the best way to feed this species. I have been feeding my group spiriluna and OSI Cichlid flake food. Frozen brine shrimp and Tropheus shrimp mix are feed occasionally. The main ingrediance in the tropheus Shrimp Mix are shrimp, peas and spiriluna powder. The complete recipe can be found on the Internet at the Tropheus Basic web site (http://www.cichlidae.com/tropheus).

During the first year things were pretty uneventful. The tropheus matured into healthy and colorful adults. Fortunately illness was not a problem. In June of 1999 the first spawn occurred. For 11 days the female held a mouthful of eggs. On the 12th day disaster struck. While feeding the tropheus I noticed that the female that was suppose to be holding eggs was feeding and had obviously disposed of her eggs. All 3 females carried on this routine on regular bases. Each spawn ended with the female disposing of the eggs. Watching this happen time after time made me feel like dumping this group at the next available auction. Somehow I was able to resist this temptation and was rewarded in December 1999.

After feeding my Tropheus I watch for a short time hoping to find a female holding eggs. Well this time while watching the fish feed I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. Much to my surprise I found 2 small fry feeding. The fry did not appear to be threatened by the adults. Since I was too lazy to tear the tank apart for 2 fry they stayed with the adults until the next water change. During this time the adults never harassed the fry. I felt quite comfortable knowing they would still be around at the next feeding. When the fry were removed they were placed in a five-gallon tank filled with water from the adult tank. They were fed baby brine shrimp and finely crushed flake food.

On January 3,2000 I noticed a female was holding again. After 17 days I decided to remove the fry from the female. Much to my surprise 7 fully developed fry were removed from the female. Stripping the fry from the female proved to be more difficult than any of the mouth brooders that I have stripped. I don’t know if it was the location of the mouth or the strong jaws of the tropheus. Although I thought I had removed all the fry several days later I saw 2 more fry swimming in the tank. This group of 9 fry is now housed in a 15-gallon tank. After numerous spawns this is the system I use. The females are allowed to hold the eggs for 15 days. At this time the females are stripped and the fry placed in a specimen container. The container has an air stone and water from the parent tank. The specimen container is placed in a 15-gallon tank, which is where the fry will be raised. At 15 days the fry still have a large egg sacs so feeding is not necessary. On average the egg sac has been ingested after another 6 days. At this time the fry are feed crushed flakes. After raising many broods, the 15-gallon tank seems to be the ideal size. The fry reach saleable size faster than when they are raised in a bigger tank.

Breeding tropheus was not too difficult. One thing that I have learned is that patience is truly a virtue. The fish will spawn whenever they want and when they are ready they will start holding the fry. All the frustration I encountered was my problem because there was nothing I could do about the lost spawns but wait until nature had decided it was time for them to produce fry.