:( :( Tropheus Moorii Nkonde (Near) Disaster... :( :(

[BrownBullhead]

Tropheus Moorii Nkonde (Near) Disaster...

The 55 which is a "temporary" setup for my (formerly) 19 T. Moorii Nkonde was accumulating waste in some tight spots, so I decided to rip it down, drain off 50% of the water and re-build it.

I moved my 19 Tropheus to a 20-gallon cooler that I always use for this sort of thing along with 15 gallons of water from the tank. I closed the cooler lid as I always do so the darkness keeps them calm and less stress.

60 minutes or so later when I finished maintenance, I opened the lid to find all 19 fish laying on their sides! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I immediately plunged in to literally grab fishes and throw them back into their proper aquarium! As I was doing so, some immediately showed more signs of life and started swimming around, although their colours are whacked out and pale! So as I watch them in the 30 minutes prior to writing this message, 2 have died. I notice the water in the cooler is very yellow!? What the heck!?

I had "vented" them during the move and I had 10 males and 9 females... not a good ratio but what the heck. This was the first time I had ever vented my fish. And now I lost two... but I haven't even taken the dead ones out yet, I am in utter disbelief at the circumstances and at myself!

Why does this happen to one's favourite fishes?

17 of them seem to be making a comeback... only time will tell!

More later...

 

[BrownBullhead]

So as per the venting, I had 10 males and 9 females...

It ends up I lost 3, not 2 as previously stated... now here's what bites... lost 1 male and 2 females... so down to 9 males and 7 females. *grumble*

So much for breeding in this colony!

I had 25 when I got the colony in May... lost 6 due to "bloat" shortly thereafter... not a single loss until the 3 today... so down to 16 in my colony.

*sigh* Oh well... fecal matter happens.

 

[TankGirl]

Sorry to hear about this! What a terrible thing. Do you have an idea why? Was there something that could have gotten into the cooler in between uses that poisoned them?

 

[BrownBullhead]

In retrospect, there was a couple of variables from my normal routine I would have employed... I didn't insert a pump & airstone this time, and I had also closed the lid completely while I was working, thinking that i could reduce stress by eliminating light and visuals of my movements. I failed to consider the lack of oxygen / fresh air for the container. Also, I had missed a water change previously so I think my water was not so "fresh" to begin with... so all-in-all, I kind of set myself up for failure on this one!

I have had many ups-and-downs in my 7 months or so of keeping Tropheus... I am going to get around to writing about my experiences and posting them on the forum here and maybe I can save a newbie some of the troubles I have put myself through in the errors I have made keeping Tropheus.

 

[TankGirl]

Thanks for the update, and you are probably right - Tropheus require extremely clean, well filtered, well oxygenated water and as I am sure you know, they are not the easiest fish to keep. Bloat is probably the biggest issue when it comes to Tropheus, though. I'd love to see you submit an article outlining what you have learned, and I hope things look up for you!