Decided to start a tropheus duboisi colony!

[Graham]

Well as the title says, I took the big jump and purchased 12 tiny tropheus duboisi from the big als in Kanata! I've wanted them for some time and I finally had a good size tank become open to house them. Through all my readings and research (probably spent more time reading about these guys than I did on school work haha) I found that they are good in larger groups, need a veggie diet, and can develop bloat very easily. So, when I got home, I immediately mixed up a batch of spirulina with a tsp of metronidazole and am feeding them medicated food. Today I also noticed some members of the group have stringy white poo. Without taking any chances, I also dosed the tank with metro as well. Anyone have any advice for a tropheus noob? I've kept other fish for many years, but tropheus are new to me for sure. My goal in the end is to get a nice breeding colony set up 

[mm]

I often had the temptation to get some tropheus but never had a tank large enough free. I think you made a good choice! I would go easy with the meds. If the fish are stressed and weakened they might do more harm than good.

[Al]

Tropheus are a great active fish and colonies are a behavioral marvel. Overall id say you're light with your numbers but more important is the male: female ratio. If you haven't done so
Try    www.trophs.com
Everything you ever wanted to know about trophs and a forum with nothing but troph addicts.

[Graham]

Tropheus are a great active fish and colonies are a behavioral marvel. Overall id say you're light with your numbers but more important is the male: female ratio. If you haven't done so
Try    www.trophs.com
Everything you ever wanted to know about trophs and a forum with nothing but troph addicts.

Thank you for directing me to this forum! These guys are very helpful and have already helped with some of my concerns. Thanks so much Al!

[Al]

Glad you are getting some good info and feedback on trophs site
I have kept too many colonies to remember them all but best advice with trophs is keep everything boring, meaning keep routines to minimize anything stressful
Feed the same foods, same time, WC like clockwork, etc

[Graham]

Hello, Just thought I'd post an update along with some pics. I posted on a tropheus forum asking for advice/help and unfortunately one person instructed that I increase my tank temp to 82-83* This in turn resulted in a large spike in aggression which led to fin nipping and males to become territorial. I am currently in the process of getting the temperature back down to 78* F I am doing water changes daily to try and limit some of the stress. Just trying to have some success going here Please can someone confirm for me that the fin damage is indeed just physical damage? Doesn't look like fin rot, but hey, you can never be too careful.