tattered fins and tropheus

[lt2004]

Hi All, about 4-5 sub-adult Bembas in my colony of 21 have very tattered tails and dorsal fins (towards the back). I have noticed the aggressing levels rising again, so i have done the following;

1. moved the rocks around

2. treated with melafix

They are all eating like pigs and very active. Is there anything else I sholuld do??

cheers, lyle

[TropheusQueen]

Go gentle on the melafix - the T's sometimes have adverse reactions to it

You are just experiencing normal behaviour as the colony gets older and larger.

I keep some with floor to ceiling rockwork and it works for them - others I keep with nothing at all, as even gravel piles are territories You may want to try lowering the temp to 24 degrees this will slow their metabolism and their aggression - the tanks I have done this to show little reduction in breeding behaviour or frequency but the aggression is reduced to non existent.

You may have to reduce male numbers as they grow - sp black can be some of the crankiest so you are doing well to start trying different rock arrangements etc. It takes time and effort but perserverence will pay off in the long run.

Let us know how you go.

HTH

[MoliroMan]

Hello,

Black species tropheus are notorious for their aggressive behaviour. I had a few bulu points before and no matter what i did, he was still very aggressive.

It sounds like u may have a male heavy colony. If the damage is not life-threatening then put up with it. Otherwise u could add more females to the colony. Add some differ fish like cyprochromis sp. Remove all rockwork for a period of time. Or u can get some floating pipes just submerged on the surface to allow the attack fish some respite.

Your tropheus are likely reaching breeding size/age so will see an escalation of aggression until the dominant males are established. Nothing u can do about that really.

I know someone who removes all the beaten up fish from his tank because they are likely to be male and try to replace with females if u can get them.

I have stopped using melafix for my tropheus. I don't think it makes a difference since it doesn't stop the aggression! Maybe try a sedative instead!

hth

Dave

[lt2004]

Thanks Aline, Dave.

It has really got me stumped, as it must be agression. The fins and really tattered, and overall the fish looks quite shabby, and thinner than the rest, which has spooked me a bit, so I am feeding metro soaked sera flora in case it is stress related and internal as well. Should I continue with this??

It looks like 2-3 of the 21 are affected, all the others are plump, and acting normally, including the troph shimmer.

Do these weaker (in the colony set-up) ones just keep on going in this state, or will they eventually get killed? I thought about separating the, but then others have suggested this could start a whole new set of probs when they are re-introduced.

The fish are all in the 3-6cm range, water is buffered with seachem and 40% changes weekly. Filtration is more than adequate, and they get too small feeds per day. The colony has been in the tank since July last year without dramas. and my maintenacne regime hasnt altered since the start.

I watched them for ages yesterday, and it is not as if the 'tattered' fish are getting hounded, there is the usual troph chasing, but not towards a particular individual. Might try the floating pipe and see if they take refuge. they will be upgrades to a 4x2 over the next few weeks,.

I have slightly underdone the Melafix dosage after Alines comments, and apart from the worst looking one of the three or so, they others are looking better (I think, might just be wishful thinking). it has been two days now.

As I said in the earlier post, they are all still active no stringy white poo and all are up at the top of the tank begging like pigs when it is feed time.

Thanks for advice, lyle

[MoliroMan]

Hi Lyle,

Difficult decision! I remembered there was a tropheus that would always get picked on no matter what i do. I tried removing it to a hospital tank to let it recover and get beefed up but when i reintroduced it, the same thing happened to it again!

What size tank do u have them in? I think placing them in a larger tank might solve your problems. If they are eating well it shouldn't be bloat.

Keep us posted about your progress.

thx

Dave

[anchar]

Difficult decision! I remembered there was a tropheus that would always get picked on no matter what i do. I tried removing it to a hospital tank to let it recover and get beefed up but when i reintroduced it, the same thing happened to it again!

This is exactly the problem I have atm with the iotas...three all beefed back up, re-introduced....smashed again. Perhaps my mistake was changing the rock around.

Andrea