tropheus dubosi stopped eating

[Foskett96]

hi i added a juvenile tropheus dubosi to my tank about 1.5-2 months ago. he's still in juvenile coloration with the black and white spot but he has his yellow band coming through. Lately i have noticed that he hasn't really been eating anything. I have done some research and know that tropheus much of the time get bloat however i feed NLS exclusively and i read they cannot get bloat from this.
anyone have any idea why he would of stopped eating?

 

[Rare]

What are his other tank mates?

 

[Foskett96]

What are his other tank mates?

he is in with 3 adult calvus (2 females and 1 male), 2 julidochrimos (1 regani, 1 marlieri), and a couple of peacocks,

 

[squirrilah fish]

he is in with 3 adult calvus (2 females and 1 male), 2 julidochrimos (1 regani, 1 marlieri), and a couple of peacocks,

Pretty sure calvus is not a recommended tank mate to Tropheus. Try getting some veggie or spirulina flakes the other ones are fine, I think, but the tropheus may bully the peacocks.

 

[Foskett96]

Pretty sure calvus is not a recommended tank mate to Tropheus. Try getting some veggie or spirulina flakes the other ones are fine, I think, but the tropheus may bully the peacocks.

all of them have been fine for the past 2 months together tropheus minds his own business, and the calvus mind there only business too, besides the male ocasionally chasing the male eureka red when he gets to close to his cave

 

[squirrilah fish]

Could it be bacterial? Not all infections are visible. Typically bacterial infections present with bloat, or sores, but not always.
Is he scratching? How do his gills look, staying partially open, hardened, red?

 

[squirrilah fish]

Also, how long has he not been eating? NLS is an amazing food, maybe he's just not hungry.
Any other signs/behavioral indications?

 

[Foskett96]

He hasn't been eating for about a week. He does look a little bloated. He isn't scratching

 

[squirrilah fish]

Read up on Tropheus diet, it's unique from peacocks and other Africans. Add some salt in the meantime. He could be eating. Just not what your putting in.
If he seems healthy he probably is.

 

[Iamtechno13]

Definitely should not be in the tank with the Calvus. They have two totally different diets the Tropheus being almost entirely based on algae and the Calvus is a carnivore. Feeding the tropheus high protien/high fiber foods are very difficult on them and will almost always cause bloat. Once you see the first signs it may already be to late. Take him out and start medicating immediately.

 

[Iamtechno13]

My brother keeps and recently has had some luck breeding tropheus and they are not for the beginner that is for sure. They require fairly specific water and a very specific diet. My brother had gone through a little and very expensive learning period as these aren't cheap fish. Just because he has been in there for the last month or so seeming ok doesn't mean he has been. There is a big difference between surviving and thriving. Sounds like he has just been surviving the last couple months. Once they get to the point where they aren't eating there is typically irreversible damage done to the internal organs which is why it is imperative that you remove him and medicate immediately.

 

[squirrilah fish]

That's good to know, I have a tropheus in with a few Malawi's, I feed I spirulina flake, and a veggie flake, as well as NLS, mostly the Tropheus just goes for the flakes, but I'll have to watch that.

I'm thinking I'll do Krill, and flakes, with NLS sparingly, I've notice the Trooheus isn't interested in the Krill at all, just the flakes.

I heard you weren't supposed to keep them with calvus, I didn't know that was why.

 

[Iamtechno13]

Tropheus in the wild have evolved to graze algae all day and the mouth/jaw structure shows it. They need a diet rich in spirulina or algae and very low protein. If you do have a food with higher protein make sure it is very low fiber. Tropheus should really only be housed in an aquarium with fellow fish that don't eat meat and like a high pH upwards of 9+ in some cases. Most food you will find that are spirulina or algae based are rather pricey so you will see foods out there for tropheus that have higher protein but make sure it is low fiber. I thought but could be wrong the reason Tropheus can't eat meaty foods is it has very long intestines designed to get everything out of the algae they eat but when a high protein high fiber diet is introduced, it can't properly digest the food which leads to problems.

 

[squirrilah fish]

Most specialty fish stores, at least in my area sell a home made spirulina flake for pretty cheap. That's what I use.

 

[Iamtechno13]

That stuff is typically pretty good. Next time you're there, just ask to see the ingredients and protein/fiber levels. The one thing that sucks about tropheus duboisi is people buy them when they have those cool little dots most of the time not knowing that all of those will disappear and it will just get a white band around it. If you really start getting into tropheus you will find all kinds of cool ones. My personal favorites are the Rainbows (red, yellow, blue) there are a bunch and the Purple Lufubu among others. Some of the coolest fish to watch.

 

[Foskett96]

Saying that herbivores and carnivores cannot be kept together is like saying that tangs and triggers or puffers cannot be kept together when in fact they can.

 

[Iamtechno13]

Have you ever owned a tropheus or a calvus? Have you seen how either of them eats? Probably not because if you had you would understand how difficult this would be to feed one without the other getting the food. Especially they tropheus going crazy at feeding time just inhaling anything it can.

 

[Foskett96]

Calvus is natural is an ambush predator feeding on smaller fish. Which is why the have there compressed bodies. Where as tropheus has specialised mouth parts they used to scrap algae off rocks.
NLS also isn't know to cause bloat in tropheus

 

[Iamtechno13]

Sure if you wanted to you could keep them together as they are found in the same lake, Lake Tanganyika. People do keep them together and some successfully but why risk it. Having personally seen multiple rounds of bloat not just with my brother but others especially when having so much vested in it, hell no. All it takes is that one fish, typically the dominant male, who gets a little crazy at feeding time maybe eats a little to much of the food he shouldn't eat. Everything seems fine but a week or two later he stops eating and starts hiding in the corner more and more. At this point you know something is definitely wrong and remove him. At this point it could go a few ways one being everything is alright another being that the infected fish has been in there and could have infected others leading to more deaths. Seen them both.

 

[Iamtechno13]

Unless you have successfully owned tropheus you really don't know what you're talking about. It's one thing reading about what someone else has done saying yeah you can do this and it's another actually doing it. Not to be an @$$ about it but these aren't beginners fish especially if you're putting them in with Calvus.