# My Tropheus Ikola Tank



## masamarn (Jul 14, 2010)

*Thanks for watching*


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## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

Too bad you placed the watermark in the middle of your fish :-?


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## masamarn (Jul 14, 2010)

Thank you for the suggestion














































The fry's










and "a short body"


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

I like the look. The decor has an ocean floor look to it, complemented by the blue background. Out of curiosity what are the tank dimensions, and how many males and females do you have in there?


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

how old are the adults?


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## masamarn (Jul 14, 2010)

Afishionado said:


> I like the look. The decor has an ocean floor look to it, complemented by the blue background. Out of curiosity what are the tank dimensions, and how many males and females do you have in there?


Thank you for the compliments, My tank dimensions are 48"x20"x20" and I have 4 males and 8 females.





















matthew1884 said:


> how old are the adults?


I'm not sure but I think around two years.


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## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

:thumb: Looking much better and yeah the rock work in the tank looks really nice - thanx for shareing


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## iwade4fish (Jan 5, 2009)

After keeping Malawi's, I am having a hard time telling when my Ikola females are holding. Have you experienced this? I have 2-3 males and 6-7 females. Had a small(4 fry) spawn already, but I never knew she was holding!


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

I've found that in a male-heavy tank (like mine) where spawning may be frequently interrupted clutch sizes tend to be small... sometimes the first clue I get that a female is holding is by her behaviour - slightly reclusive and slightly less voracious at feeding time. As these can be warning signs for other issues I will observe a fish closely when I see this - and that's when I notice just a slight tell-tale bulge in the chin/throat. You may only have 2-3 males but in a small colony like that you may be seeing the same effect as in a 'male-heavy' larger colony. Just my speculation...


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## iwade4fish (Jan 5, 2009)

I removed the sub-dom male and two females to a 40gal. That leaves 6 in my 75gal. The alpha male beat another male(3 total males) within inches of his life, so, the loser went in the 100gal Mbuna for recovery.
I do notice one eats a litttle less, more like 'mouthing' the food. I'm gonna say she's holding and will watch her closely.
Your speculation makes sense to me. I need another 100gal tank.


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## princecheck13 (Jul 28, 2010)

You can keep Tropes and fronts together in a big enough tank but depends on how many and species. They will tolerate each other and never had a problem with them having bloat I just use mainly NILS or Kens pellets without problem. the biggest issue for me is even though my Fronts are 6-12 inches the Tropes are aggressive towards the Fronts.


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## iwade4fish (Jan 5, 2009)

My trophs nibble my big fronts trailing edges...funny to see the Ikolas scoot when my big girl front does a 180 in the blink of an eye...she's big, big FAST!!!


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