Cichlids
from Lake Tanganyika require clean and pristine water conditions to thrive and
breed. Tropheus are not exception. The water should be slightly hard to hard and they have to be
kept in a group. Depending on the tank size (55 gal would be minimum),
up to a group of 9-15 can be kept successfully.
Tropheus
do not dig very much and a thin layer of sand or dark colour gravel
would be ideal to bring out the colour. Coral chips or rocks can also be
added to provide the required PH buffer these fishes required. In some
instance, tough thriving plants can survive in a tropheus tank.
Lighting
Cichlids
are not very particular about lighting and any aquarium lights would
suffice.
Filtration
An
external canister filter would normally be adequate as filtration. Make
sure that the capability is adequate for the tank size. As a rough
guide, a turn-over of 4-5 times would be good. There
are in the market various types of filter material that are suitable to
be used in these filters. These ranges from the Eheim range of Substrat
to ceramic rings such as Siporax etc. Many of these external
filters now comes completed with filter baskets and even filter
materials.
Maintenance
Weekly
water changes (20-50%). 2-3 monthly cleaning of filter and cleaning of
gravel and aquascape.
Set
-up of my Tropheus tank
Size
: 55 Gal (4 ft x 4 ft x 18 inch)
Filtration
: EHEIM Professional II
2028
Filter
material : EHEIM Subtrat Pro & Wool filter
Aquascape
: light sandy or dark gravel layer. Large pieces of coral
rocks with 1-2 pieces of lava rocks. Some pieces of PVC pipes
and a couple of artificial plants.
Lighting
: 2 x 36 W PLC (6500 K) lights
Maintenance
: Weekly 50% water changes and 3 monthly filter cleaning
Tank
occupants :
15 to 20 pcs of Tropheus duboisi
and Ikola in one tank.
12- 15 pcs of
Starburst and Moliro Tropheus in the other tank
Specifications
of EHEIM 2026 Professional II
Flow
rate (litre/hr) :
950
Filter
Volume (litres) :
4.9
Wattage
(Watts)
: 20
Comments : It has an automatic self
priming, filter baskets for
easy filling and a hose shut-off adaptor. Theoretically it will turn over 4-5 times the volume of the tank in an hour.
Comes with all accessories and filter media and set up is easy. The return pipe to the tank is
at the water surface creating some agitation at the water surface.
Excellent filter, value for money. Comes with full
accessories and quiet.
Tips
: Be
careful of the plastic stopper that needs to be pressed to release
the hose from the filter.
It can be easily broken if not de-pressed when adjusting lever.
There
are in the market various types of filter material that are suitable to
be used in these filters. These ranges from the Eheim range of Substrat
to ceramic rings such as Siporax etc. Many of these external
filters now comes completed with filter baskets and even filter
materials.
