# help identifying my trop's,much better photos now



## freirefishing (Jul 31, 2008)

hey all, i think these are some tropheus,contradicting what my lfs was claiming they are. very cute and got some life in them.

30 gallon tank

2 of these and one red tail shark about 1 inch long. i gave my friend my labs, red zebras and aceis,since reading that wont be a good combo in the end. i will upgrade to a biggertank, and im only sticking to these 3 fish in the tank. i hope they can breed when they get bigger. right now there about 1 inch in length.

any ideas what kind?
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... =007-1.jpg
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... nt=015.jpg
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... nt=016.jpg
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... nt=020.jpg
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x38/ ... nt=021.jpg

:fish:


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 11, 2006)

Definitely Tropheus!

:lol: 
It's hard to tell at their size/age but I did notice that there are some that look very different from the rest....


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## IrkedCitizen (Apr 26, 2007)

What did the LFS say they were? How much were they selling them for?

I would say go buy some more if they are available. 3 of them could very easily end up as 1.

If they are 1" you could house about 10-12 of them in a 30 gallon tank. But an upgrade to a 55g AT LEAST is in quick order. They can be had for cheap on Craig's List.

But they are definitely tropheus. They could all be the same fish just showing different shades of their fright colors. If they are reasonably priced You should definitely get more if you can afford them. You might have a gem on your hands. But they will need to be at least 3" to get a good idea of what species they might be. :thumb: :fish:


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## freirefishing (Jul 31, 2008)

i got them from petmsart...i know,i know,i know....lol....im new to this hobby

anyways,im looking in the african cichlid tank,where they have all the juvie,labs,and red zebras you can shake a stick at for $3.99.

i see these 2 little guys swimming around together in there as well. plus i already have 3 red zebras,3 yellow labs,and 3 aceis in my tank. i said ill buy these 2 little guys and throw them in there as well. well i get home and put these 2 fish in there and almost immediately, these fish wanted out of there. and my 3 other types of cichlids are juvies as well.

so i took both trops out and placed the in the prison/maternity aquarium.

i posted a thread on here because i noticed the heads were different,from my labs,zebras and aceis.......and thought maybe i didnt even get cichlids.

so basically pet smart had 2 juvie trops mixed in with the juvie zebra,lab tank...that sold for $3.99 each.

and my new friends on here have told me that i have trops.......so i gave my friend my 9 other cichlids,which werent going to work out it the long run anyways with my 30,plus he has a 90gallon tank.

so now i have 1 red tailed shark,and 2 trops. and im going to get 2 more trops and thats it until i get a bigger tank. i pray to god,that these guys have babies....i love this type of fish.

these fish are very cool looking


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## IrkedCitizen (Apr 26, 2007)

Well I hate to burst your bubble but you might end up having two males or two females. If that is the case then there will be no breeding. But for that price you really shouldn't care if there is breeding or not.

I personally would hold off on buying any more to add to the colony if you cannot get the same species. Seeing how they ended up in a Petsmart tank they might even be hybrids which would be **** near impossible to find more of them unless you got them from the same person that sold them to Petsmart. And if that is the case shame on the person selling hybrid tropheus especially into the general market.

You can always get a different colony later in addition to these two once you get a larger tank. Just enjoy these two and then go from there. :thumb: :fish:


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## freirefishing (Jul 31, 2008)

mannnnnnnnnnnnnnn,never even thought of that........there one inch now,so do you have to wait like 2,3 months for some magic to happen?????????or just in TIME if no fry are swimming around,then it would be safe to say that they are the same sex?

now im a little bummed


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## IrkedCitizen (Apr 26, 2007)

At least you have tropheus. Now you can say you have them and that you have kept them.

But that is one of the problems of buying tropheus fry is that you cannot sex them. So you have to buy in high numbers so later you can get the desired m/f ratio. You really cannot tell the sex until they are about 3-3.5" long. The only surefire way of telling the sex is to vent them. Even then a female that hasn't spawned yet can be mistaken as a male.

But you might have gotten lucky and have a male and a female. Time will tell.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 11, 2006)

I would definitely wait before buying anything else.


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## flashg (Oct 5, 2007)

eklikewhoa said:


> I would definitely wait before buying anything else.


I agree... I noticed the Petsmart here in Logan, Utah had a tropheus mixed in the "assorted African cichlid tank"... THe only difference is that they were labeled "Tropheus Moorii" and had a price tag of $29.99!!! 
You got your for $3.99 so that is cool, but it would just be SILLY to pay $29.99 for an UNIDENTIFIED tropheus!!!! 
Tropheus moorii does NOT mean anything to me unless there is a collection point attached... They could be any of a number of varients or worse hybrids!!!! 
I suggest keeping them for a while and see if you like em'... If so ditch em and get you a colony of a varient you like my friend! 8)


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## IrkedCitizen (Apr 26, 2007)

We are all pretty much in agreement then. If he cannot get more of the same fish from the same person then do not buy any more. Unless or course you start a new colony with a new variant.


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