Tropheus Duboisi question.

C

congealedmeat

AC Members
Feb 2, 2005
186
0
0
43
I have a Tropheus Dubiosi, but he's in a tank with a ph of a little less than 7. I understand that they prefer alkaline water, but will he survive in this water ok? Or is there serious stress/health issues with keeping cichlids in slightly acidic water over the long term. From what I can tell the fish is doing great, has nice colors, is active and has been munching on some guppies with my eel.

Thanks for any help.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would strongly adivse you read up on these fish.... They have very special water and diet requirements.

What size tank is it? What other tankmates?

I do not personally keep them, but what i know about them is this:

They are a cichlid from Lake Tangynika in Africa. They are a fish that lives in colonies, and really needs a group of about 10 to be happy. They prefer hard, alkaline water higher than 8.0 pH... since that is what thier natural habitat is. They are primarily a vegetarian fish, and should be fed mainly vegetable foods and spiraluna. They frequently suffer from deadly bloat from improper diet. Do not feed this fish high protien foods, however an occational snack on brine shrimp is probebly ok.

Here is a site you should check out if you are serious about keeping this fish:
http://www.tropheus.info/
 
Well, I've already got the fish, and I paid a bunch for it....plus, it's a really cool fish. I just want to know what the long-term effects of keeping fish out of their desired pH levels are. Worse comes to worse I can give it to my brother, but that's a last resort.

The fish is fine with its current tankmates, I'm just concerned about the water parameters that are listed as required, especially since mine looks healthy as healthy can be.
 
Well, if someone told you it will have ill-effects on the fish would you move it anyways?

I cant imagine it good to be keeping a fish that requires hard alkaline water in soft acidic water. Im sure there are long term effects on the fish, loss of color is one that occurs frequently. But all my african tanks are at thier proper ph... 8.0 and above.

Are you going to change its diet? Or do you not care? Why ask for advice if you will not take it? You really should be feeding it spiraluna and vegetable matter.... not live feeder guppies.

Tropheus are not the most hardy of fish... and being vegetarian means they succomb to bloat extremely easily. If you do not change its diet, it will die, simple as that. ;)

Hope that helps...
:)
-Diana
 
It also depends on what water conditions the fish was bred/born in. F1 or later generations of tank-raised fry may already be adapted to a lower pH than the native conditions of the lake. I once put several young electric yellow labs into a lower pH community tank. They spawned, then died off not long after, but the fry were fine; they grew and spawned with no problems. There are also a lot of other fish being kept with african cichlids, in water much harder and more alkaline than their natural conditions, and they live. Be warned though, as a duboisi matures, it becomes VERY aggressive, and may cause problems with your other fish. The best way to keep them is in a school of at LEAST 8, otherwise they will kill each other off as they mature. I tried 4, ended up with 1, then did my homework on the fish.
 
Fish do not adapt to lower pH over time, even over succeeding generations. That is an evolutionary change, and does not work at the level of the individual. Nor is it effective on a species over a period of just one or two generations, save through drastic culling and near extinction experiences.

Tropheus are used to the pH 9.0+ of Lake Tanganyika. Given the way pH is measured, that means you have the fish in water that is over 30 times less alkaline than the fish is requires. There will be osmoregulatory and possibly neurological problems with the fish as a result, affecting its immune system and possibly leading to bloat and death in a relatively short period of time if you do not correct this situation.

As you noted, the fish is not inexpensive. And has been pointed out, it is fairly sensitive to water conditions, diet, and tankmates. It might be better to take it back if you still can, or put it in a Tanganyikan biotope tank to keep it healthy.
 
When I kept tropheus I treated them like mbuna, and it worked out pretty well. I never felt duboisi were that bad for aggression, but they are very, very active and certainly not fit for general communities. Mine lived with some mbuna, and were pretty much as bad as anything else, and far nastier than electric yellows for example

Feeding it guppies will kill it in pretty short order. They just are not designed to deal with large protein rich meals, and feed in the wild on algae and small shrimps living on/in the algae. If you can't change this, then you need to lose the fish

I am uncertain of how they will fare in acidic waters. Personally I think it inadvisable but I recall seeing somewhere reports of an escapee colony of these fish living in a drainage ditch in Florida in pH less than 7 and doing well.
 
Thanks for all your help guys, I'm glad I get some answers to the questions I asked instead of being berated for not doing my research. Obviously the fish won't do well in the wrong type of water, I'm just not experienced enough to know whether or not there are long-term effects on the fish, or whether they can adapt.

From what I have found most people say they're really aggressive towards eachother, not the other fish. Mine certainly doesn't attack any of my other fish.

I'll probably find this guy a new home soon, so don't worry :D

I've been feeding my tropheus algae tablets and some shrimp pellets and he eats algae from on driftwood. The guppies were a fish-store mistake. I won't be buying them again, and I'm pretty sure it was actually my eel eating the guppies, as he's really fat all of the sudden. :)

Anyways, thanks for the help guys.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom