DYWLKR Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 This is my first time posting but I've been reading about people's experiences about keeping and breeding Tropheus online. I'm just feeling a little discouraged after loosing 7 kolas over a period of two months. Before then had 5 big kolas all died due to aggression with my colony of pembas and 15 juvinioe ikolas all died of bloat. Since losing my kolas in my Pemba tank I have started a new tank just for my new ikola colony. As I mentioned I started with 15 and now down to 8 over 2 months and after spending about $1500!?!? All my other Tropheus are fine - no casualties whatsoever. I currently have these in my main tank: 14 x adult pembas 17 x juvi pembas 14 x yellow band Duboisi ikola tank = 8 Any help would be appreciated. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 i haven't kept ikola but have had a few of the others. from what i have understood ikola are the most agro of all of the trophs. what size is your tank and what ornaments, rocks or plants have you got in it? the fish that have been dying, have they been beaten or damaged? what are you feeding? how many litres is your tank and what is the filter? what the males fight for is territory which gives them a place to court and breed with females. I have set up two separate areas at either end of my tank with an open area in the middle, what this did was give more areas for males to claim as their own, i used to have rocks scattered across teh tank and a male would try to claim an area next to another and that would create a lot of fighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DYWLKR Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 It's a 250L tank running a fluval 405. It has some corals in one side and some rocks on the other. Minimum lightning throughout the day. Most of them die slowly so I assume it's bloat. They stay in the corners and won't eat. Mainly feed them NLS and occasionally Novorift spirulina sticks. I don't move any more rocks or plants due to past experience. By the way are you Aaron from Whangarei? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 what are the tank dimensions? So you think they are dying due to illness rather than aggression? I feed NLS and Novorift and have had no issues so I don't have any ideas of why it is happening apart from the tank being too small. yes, that's me. Did you get pemba from me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 This is typical for ikola, I started off with 10 think im down to 4 now. I think they are just so agro that you need to start off with 20+ of them otherwise they just chase each other around so much they get stressed and sick and die Although your filtration is fine, maybe you could try more? Tropheus love flow and water with a high oxygen content.. Have you actually treated your fish for bloat or anything like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DYWLKR Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Yeah Aaron - Jared and I went up there on boxing day. Unfortunately due to the long trip he lost two fish but the rest are sweet. Ryan - no I haven't done any bloat treatment apart from Epsom salt. I know in the states they use Met a lot but we can't get them without prescription here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new zealand discus man Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 spirulina Thats what you need at least 50% of food to keep near natural as possible..And then mixed flakes and small general pellets Spirulina ..In wild thats mostly what africians eat.. Metro can be obtained from a vet but it is just about imposible to be go into fish through being in the water.. Has to be included in to food...Like ox heart mix...Dry mix so eaten before breaks up Trade me should have spirulina pellets listed from symond blank ..Think that his name... Cheers Phill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropheus Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Hi Sorry to hear. Welcome to ikolas! I had about 12 but ended up with two that lived happily and bred for years. Go fiqure ah! Have you tried removing all rocks and just keep them in a bare tank? I personally would increase filtratuion. Its beneficial for your fish and incase one ot them craps out. Try introducing some dither fish aswell!!! Are you sure they have Bloat? Are their bellies hugh when you remove them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DYWLKR Posted January 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Their bellies doesn't look too bloated like other cichlids but all other symptoms are there. Looks like all eight are doing ok though. One female even looks like it's holding we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Trade me should have spirulina pellets listed from symond blank ..Think that his name... Cheers Phill 'Thefishtank' is the trademe name your looking for, but he has nothing listed at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Dywlkr - i think there is a simple solution to this. get a very large tank and get an arowana instead:D seriusly... dont know much bout africans, but from my experience, some fish really really cannot handle 'meat' so as nzdiscus man said, in the wild they eat predominantly algae/spirulina, getting a feed that is mainly spirulina is probably the key. Youc an get spirulina flakes on Trademe. As well as spirulina tabs you can probably crush up it may not be spirulina, it may just be plant fibre they need. so a wheatgerm feed may be beneficial to avoid blocking. http://www.hikariusa.com/ for such a huge investment in livestock, you could consider ordering this from overseas. its seaweed extreme, has 67% seaweed. maybe google a TROPHEUS forum, that specialises only in tropheus, they MAY have more exprience overseas if that particular species is rare. Omega one is very good http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/fish-food/auction-439547253.htm wheatgerm http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/fish-food/auction-440956082.htm http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/fish-food/auction-440262495.htm Another one http://www.jehmco.com/html/pure_spirulina_flake.html Also, keep in mind that when these fish feed in the wild, they dont eat CHUNKS, they have a raspy mouth and proabably scrape particles off rocks and wood. so maybe ground the particles to a smaller granule prior to feeding. OR what i have tried before with smaller fish is soaking the pellets you have, and when fully soft then feed. so it breaks apart and easier to digest. The dry granules may impact their digestive tracts. just some ideas. not all fish can digest massive balls of feed you see. (also check water parameters too - due to tank volume, amonia spikes may happen and then disappear after a few hours) concentrations of toxins is directly related to total dilution. Spikes can cause retardation of digestive process and in a highly basic high ph tank, Amonia will be more potent than it will be in acidic tanks. just some thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 the last thing i would do is start trying other foods. i am not sure your issue is bloat if their bellies don't actually bloat up. NLS cichlid formula and JBL Novorift are my choices and i have not had any health issues, this may simply be ikolas from the comments of those that have also kept them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 yeah i guess if you dont get any joy, then no other choice how bout water temp? constant water temp is important right? what temps should ikola be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 yeah i guess if you dont get any joy, then no other choice how bout water temp? constant water temp is important right? what temps should ikola be mine get a cold water change every week, they also get alot of food as he has witnessed with his own eyes so I am confident it can't be food or enviroment related. i can only think it is because they are outright nasty and the tank size is probably not helping at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 fair enough - just exploring ideas i guess. infighting does cause ALOT of stress for any fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DYWLKR Posted January 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Thanks guys. Appreciate appreciate all your suggestions. Seems like they are now comfortable with 8 although one is being picked on so hiding most of the time. I've also noticed a couple of Ikola babies inside my corals but haven't seen them for days...they maybe dead Anyway, was about to give up the colony but decided to soldier on and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king_gie Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Good on you !! gud luck mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby.baby Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Don't worry about the numbers. You're close - just keep going. :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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