# Keeping Petrochromis and Tropheus in the same tank?



## Brichardiman (Jul 30, 2005)

Whats your thoughts about keeping Petrochromis and Tropheus in the same tank?

I have had petros and trophs toghether in the same tank two times and every time has the trophs get really fat and get bloated. They eat to much and are more agressive to get as much food as possible. I have noticed that petros need much food to get in good condition and therefor needs to be feed several times daily. This is a problem for the trophs who gets too much food.

Have you guys experienced the same?


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## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

I've noticed an increase in aggression but not in weight and/or bloat. I ended up splitting them up since the tropheus breeding dropped to almost nothing. So they may not have been together long enough for the Ts to gain a lot of weight.


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

IME, i consider the two species incompatible with only a few exceptions: T. annectens (mtoto) are doing well in my 320g. herbivore tank, sharing space with petro tembwe and longola, simochromis marginatus, and a few small (4") oreochromis tanganicae. singles/trios of other tropheus also seem capable of adapting to this situation, although no breeding efforts are ever seen from them. petrochromis trewavassae also failed similarly in this tank, reducing their numbers from 12 to only 2, suggesting (to me..) that 'multiple colony syndrome' was most likely the cause to failure.
more direct to your Q: my biggest problem was finding an appropriate feed size. pellets too small simply drove bigger fish into aggression episodes while others were attempting to eat. pellets too big, forced smaller fish to get nipped, or pull back and wait for 'gill spill'. either way, the idea of these two species being compatible, seems not suitable for the long term, unless the tropheus variant has a renowned reputation as aggressive.


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## ApexPredator (Jan 12, 2004)

I have never had a problem mixing the two. The only exception being a general slow down of breeding for the Tropheus.

Everybody in my tanks eats just fine and aggression isnt an issue. I suppose it just depends upon your tank and a little luck.


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## zebra7 (Jan 24, 2004)

I recently added 20 F1 Petro. Famula @ 1.5in+, with 25 wild 4in. Tropheus Ikola's in a 150 gallon tank. All is well, Petro's are doing great with the larger Ikola's, and the Ikola's are spawning well at this time. There is still aggresion between the Petro's, but the much larger Ikola's keep them on the run, so at this time it's a good balance. I hope it remain's this way,


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## geoff_tropheus (Feb 13, 2003)

What I have found in my Petro and Tropheus mixed tanks is that the Petros always want to be top dog. And once they get enough size on them they will challenge the Tropheus and dominate territory.

This severly reduces Tropheus spawning activity, and increases agression.

Sometimes the Tropheus wins, sometimes Petros win.

The Larger Petros on the other hand, can quickly deal the death blow to Tropheus in a single chomp.

I ve seen it happen and have herd of others experiences the same.

I dont think they are the best mix together, but they can definately work out as long as your ok with little to no Tropheus Breeding once the Petros dominate.

Take care,

Geoff


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## fiupntballr (Jul 7, 2004)

I think its the size of the tank and the balance 
I would say your odds go up as you increase your tank size for example the large tank as lloyd has


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## Tanganyikaguy (Apr 25, 2007)

I kept T. moorii and Petro. fasciolatus in the same 150 gallon tank for almost 2 years. they pretty much left each other alone, except for the Petros taking up all the good breeding locations. yes, the tropheus breeding did slow down a bit, but I still got pretty good numbers of fry.

main reason that these 2 worked is because they stay around the same size. as stated above, you might run into problems with mixing the bigger petros with tropheus.


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## Tanganyikaguy (Apr 25, 2007)

oh yeah.. I started off with 18 of each. I just sold them all the other day, and there were 17 of each left in the tank. they did pretty well together.


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