# I'm getting really sick of this



## cooper.mayberry (Feb 8, 2016)

I have had Africans for a little while now but they have always been malawis, I sold them all due to their aggression and started keeping tropheus because they are so beautiful and I have been told they are not aggressive, I had 4 baby Bemba reds then I bought another 6 from my lfs in the intent to breed them, they are fully grown and bigger than I thought. I am so frustrated as these are by far the most aggressive fish I have ever kept they will not get along no matter how many times o Rearrange the tank(giving lots of hiding spots then none) but they will continue to bully each other, I am getting no where with breeding them and I really just want to k ow how to make them stop attacking each other. Someone please help.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Groups of 18 minimum in a 75g tank would be one way. I personally kept mine in 5' tanks with at least 30 adults per tank.


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## dledinger (Mar 20, 2013)

I'm curious what you have them in, and I agree, 10 is likely too few. I have 29 Duboisi in a 60 gallon right now and they're growing quick. It's my first tropheus colony and so far so good.


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## cooper.mayberry (Feb 8, 2016)

I have them in a 200 litre 4ft tank and they are very very large, around about 20 cm, I have removed a lot of the rock work and they seem a bit happier and more calm but the occasional attack really annoys me so I remove that fish, he's the biggest, then the next biggest is even more brutal. I have four filters on it currently, 2 hob filters that filter about 400-500 litres per hour, 2 internal ones, one that filters 300-400 litres and finally a very large internal filter that filters 1000 litres an hour, I am planning on getting a canister filter too but I have been told you can have too much filtration so I'm still researching.


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

Plain and simple you probably need a bigger tank, and more fish.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

No question about it, 200L is too small for Tropheus. You are not going to have any fun with this tank. Also, whoever told you Tropheus are not aggressive was full of it. They are like mbuna on steroids. But you found that out for yourself by now.

I feel with you though, my last colony of Tropheus I had in Ohio - 28 Kaiser I in a 125G. I am thinking about getting Tropheus again in Auckland now, but where to get 20 Tropheus in NZ? I don't think I've ever seen more than 10 for sale, and a simple Duboisi costs ten times what you pay for the fancy varieties in the US!

A last word of advice, create a strong current in your tank. Not all fish like this or can cope with it, but tropheus do and can. It helps a lot with aggression control if the one in pursuit gets swept away by the current before it can get to the other one :lol:

And before somebody says that is cruel, Tropheus live in the rocks where big waves hit the shore, so they are used to wicket currents swirling them around. Mine really seemed to go for it, and in a long tank with current on one side and less on the other, they chose to hang out on the side with the action!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Always had an itch to try Trophs. This thread is making me want to setup a spare 125 gallon tank for them :lol:


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Razzo - in a 125G in a large group (25-30), they are just pure fun. You are bound to enjoy it!


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## BuckeyeTez (May 10, 2016)

Razzo said:


> Always had an itch to try Trophs. This thread is making me want to setup a spare 125 gallon tank for them :lol:


I wish I had a "spare" 125g tank laying around!


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