9 replies to this topic

[kiitsch]

I now only have 6 tropheus doboisi adults from a school of 9, they are fully grown, the biggest ones about 12cm.
They started picking on each about 2 months ago and the 2 dominant males were slowing picking the others off and they have deteriorated substantially in fin and body quality. I separated out the most dominant male and he has been separated for a week. I then was told to put them in a smaller tank so i put them in a 3 1/2 footer from a 6 foot tank (which also has 8 moliro in it) and then today i just put the other separated fish back in and he was massacred within 2 hours so have separated him back out!
I feel absolutely terrible, the fish are just in hiding, i just want to stop the killing, what should I do ?

[bradfitzy]

The general rule of thumb with T's is you keep them in the largest colony possible in the biggest tank possible.
T's can be very aggressive and the larger the colony the more the aggression is spread.
In my personal opinion Tropheus colony's should be at least 12 fish (20+ would be better) in a min of a 4ft tank (6ft would be better.)
Try filling the tank with as many hiding places as possibly using rock work or even pvc pipe cut in to lengths will provide good hiding places.
If it were me i would keep the aggressors separated and give the victims a bit of time to heal up and get there health back.
When the time comes to reintroduce the fish back to the main tank maybe try rearranging the rock work a bit to allow new territory's to be formed and see how it goes.

hth
Brad

[kiitsch]

well original i had 10 duboisi and 12 moliro so there was 20+ in the 6 footer but I have since been told you may need 55-60 in this size tank so no one fish can dominate. Do you mean 12 of the same tropheus ? And there is a fair bit of rock and hiding spaces plus 2 blowers at each end that do something like 1000+L/s water movement as I was told this would help break up fighting.
Yeah I have chock packed the 3 1/2 foot tank with rocks and hidey holes, it seems to be working as I don't see them much. I think I may just keep them in the smaller tank
thanks for the advice though brad, definitely going to keep the most dominant seperated, hopefully they recover and maybe I'll start again with more fish like 40+ in the 6 footer, I was told 20 would more than be fine originally in my 6 x 1, now I'm all confused.

[dazzabozza]

Bigger (longer) the tank the better IME. When the tank is longer the dominant fish will typically chase for a certain distance and then give up. Shorter tanks will lead to longer chases and more stress on the fish, often leading to death.

Mixing species in the tank may not be enough to lower the aggression.

Got a tank shot for us? Changing the layout may help.


Daz

[Bowdy]

Dubs are ment to be the more calm tropheus a lot less agro then most. I have colony of 20 and at the moment there with a lot of other tang some a lot smaller to.

[bradfitzy]

There is really no need to keep 55 - 60 Ts to help spread aggression.... i mean its not going to hurt but not necessary either.
There will always be dominate fish ... you can have 1000 in there and you might have a few dominate males ... more fish isn't going to stop there being dominate fish it is just going to give the dominate fish more targets to prey on so to speak. eg if you have 2 fish then the non dominate fish will get all the aggression from the dominate fish....if you have 3 fish then the non dominate fish might get hassled only half as much because there is now another target for the dominate fish....... if you have 20 then it might be 1 twentieth as much because there are now lots of targets .....hence the term spreading the aggression.
Both my chipimbi and chiakita colony's are only 12 fish and they are in 4 ft tanks and there is no aggression at all.
My dubs and bembas are in separate 6 ft tanks and both colony's are 30 - 40 fish.

Alot of tropheus keepers use 2 rock piles in there tanks, a pile at each end... 1 pile for each dominate fish which seems to work well ( this is the way my t tanks are set up) but alot of others just fill the tank with rocks and have no probs either... i think it is just alot of trial and error to see what works best for your fish.

again hth

Brad

[kiitsch]

cool thanks for the responses.
i have a consistent level of rocks throughout the tank, although there are 2 main dominant spots, 1 in the middle where the autofeeder drops and one on the far dark side end. both of which they have burrowed (i presumed for egg laying)
would changing the diet make any difference ? i started adding shimp into the tank because i was advised it would encourage breeding.
have attached pictures, sorry not so good ones of the main dominant seperated fish and the main middle section of tank, thats all i have on my phone.
so daz would you recommend all duboisi ?
thanks claire

Attached Files

•  15112010752.JPG   307.7KB   34 downloads
•  15112010751.JPG   65.02KB   44 downloads

[kiitsch]

poo! please don't judge the picture of the dominant male but basically i put him in with what i thought was a female who was getting picked on, thinking "male, female, they will get along and i can save 1 fish from being picked on and take out an agressor" and that is her after 1 day, she died overnight, obviously picked on, you can see her behind the filter tubing, all white and dead, so sad stupid now, i know!

[dazzabozza]

Are the moliro and duboisi aggressive to each other? If not, it may not be helping to decrease the aggression if anything it may create more competition for spawning sites.

That's the 6x1 that they're in now? What's that in litres, just under 200? 12-15 T's should be comfortable in there, but make sure you have enough filtration to support extra numbers if you plan on adding more.

First thing you should do is remove all the rock work for a day or 2 and watch their behaviour. Then try adding rock piles at each end with nothing in the centre of the tank creating a "break" in territories as such.

Also good to keep your rift lake salts (AKA Ca/Mg epsom salts) up whilst they're stressed.


Daz

[kiitsch]

no the duboisi and moliro didn't fight!