# Tropheus Moorii "Moliro" HELP



## CichlidQatar (Feb 10, 2010)

Hello Everyone,

So I will get straight to the subject :fish:

I have a 120 gallon tank which had mixed cichlids, in the mix there was a single Tropheus Moorii Moliro. So i reset the tank for tropheus from deco to PH and water hardness. all is good.

I put the lonely guy there in 2 weeks back. 3 days ago i redecorated the tank, vacuumed the gravel, did a partial water change then Introduced a Colony of 12 Moliros.

It has been three days and the lonely guys seems to take half of the tank while the colony is all on the other half. He "I belive its a male since it changed his color to the dominant coloration" is chasing the other fish and kicking them off his half of the tank.

Is this Normal? :-? What should I do? should I wait for them and they will get along? or should i remove the lonely guy and reintroduce him again?

Any help is much appreciated :roll:


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## jevans89 (Sep 18, 2005)

What size are your Tropheus?


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## CichlidQatar (Feb 10, 2010)

Around 3" to 3.5"


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## jevans89 (Sep 18, 2005)

They are usually becoming sexually mature at that point and will begin to defend breeding territories. Tropheus live in a hierarchical colony and its difficult to add two groups together at that point because of dominance and aggression issues. It also helps to have a larger group (~30-40) in a 120 gallon to disperse the aggression so one fish isnt the focus. They are much easier to keep in large groups than in small ones.


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## CichlidQatar (Feb 10, 2010)

jevans89 said:


> They are usually becoming sexually mature at that point and will begin to defend breeding territories. Tropheus live in a hierarchical colony and its difficult to add two groups together at that point because of dominance and aggression issues. It also helps to have a larger group (~30-40) in a 120 gallon to disperse the aggression so one fish isnt the focus. They are much easier to keep in large groups than in small ones.


Thank you for the reply. But that still doesnt answer my question regarding adding a colony to a tank where there was already 1 Moliro inside ..... Anybody that can help in this matter

Thanks


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## tom_patriot (Feb 24, 2007)

I would remove the lone Moliro if possible, re-arrange the rockwork so his old territory is gone and then try putting him back in with the 12 others.

Whenever a lone fish or two groups are merged, there will always be a power struggle for the alpha spot. This should settle down in a week or two after they reset the hierarchy.


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## jevans89 (Sep 18, 2005)

Tom Patriot has a good idea that hopefully will work in the short term. My concern is that even if you can get them to "play nice" for now, in the long run you run the risk of losing the whole colony as the dominant male will harass them one by one.


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