Tropheus help

[kashif]

Hi,

I had a question about mixing Adult and Juvenile Tropheus.  If I already have a single adult Tropheus of the same type (Duboisi) in a tank, is it advisable to add a colony of juveniles with him? Will he be very aggressive towards the other juveniles?

Any info out there would be of great help.

Thanks,
-Kashif.

[Sue]

Hi Kas,
Its hard to predict for sure how a lone T.duboisi will react to juveniles. In a breeding colony adult duboisi don't bother small (spotted) duboisi.  I've never had duboisi in a colony, bother T. moori much either.  But a lone adult  male, with no females to keep him occupied just might take out his frustrations the new tank mates.

In practice...since a colony of juveniles even from a breeder will cost you $100-200, and tropheus are very sensitive its best not to mix them with anything that could stress them or transmit a disease to them.   I wouldn't mix tropheus from different tanks unless I'd had zero (tropheus) deaths in either tank for a long time. By a "long time" I mean over 3 months, preferably even longer.  Other species going into your tropheus colony should also be quarantined at least a few weeks.

cheers
Sue