I picked up a group of Tropheus sp. Red from a local pet shop in Green Bay that I use to work at. They did not have much color. I they were unmarked, but came from a local friend of mine in town. I thought they were Tropheus moori of some type. When I got them home into an aquarium with a higher pH ( of around 9.0), and with a salt solution in the water, this group colored up vividly. Called my friend and found out that they were from Moliro, and were infact T. sp. Red. This type comes from the Southwestern part of Lake Tanganyika around the village of Moliro, Congo. The total distribution is unknown, but most can be found along the store around this village.

The base body color consists of a red-brown, which can be much darker or lighter depending on mood and décor. An overlay of bloody red can be seen in the posterior parts of the body; including red speckles on the anal fin. Males are usually more black in color than females with larger foreheads, pectoral regions, and longer dorsal/anal fins. This species in a maternal mouthbrooder ( female incubates the egg/fry in her mouth). The adults were housed in a 125gallon, sand bottom aquarium with lots of midsized Tanganyikian, and Malawian cichlids. They are used as dither fish. Few decorations are added, but in some cases you may find adding more décor is better. I choose to use less. Less décor, less territorial aggression.

After spawning the female holds for about thirty days, but if you strip after 14 days the fry are developed enough to swim with this large yoke sack. They will also take food at this time too. The breeders are fed marine protein pellets with a high veggie content. The fry are fed a veggie powder for the first month. As time goes on they are introduced too veggie flakes. When the fry are stripped I actually place them in an alone ten gallon aquarium with sponge filter; inside a livebearer net. Later they are released after about a week of the yoke sack being gone. Water changes are 25-50% once per week. A salt solution is added after water change. The fry grow fast with good nutrition and water changes.

Long term Tropheus are best in larger aquariums (100 gallons plus). Most species can be spawned in smaller aquariums, but aggression lays in a pecking order they picks the less dominant fish off. Be careful, and have fun with Tropheus.