Tropheus sp. Black "Kiriza"
by Ronald Revolinski
From "Splash" Milwaukee Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
At the June 1998 general meeting of the Milwaukee Aquarium Society the presentation by
the guest speaker was on the species Tropheus. The presentation peaked my
interest in tropheus and the fact that I needed to breed a 20-point species for the
Milwaukee Aquarium Society’s Breeders Award Program made obtaining a group of
tropheus a must. Since I went to the American Cichlid Association convention in St.Louis
obtaining a quality group of tropheus was not very difficult. I purchased a group of six Tropheus
sp. Black Kiriza, which were between one and two inches in length.
Tropheus sp. Black Kiriza has also been known in the hobby as Tropheus
Sp. Aff. Moori, Tropheus Kaiser II, and the Emperor Moorii. The name Kariza
refers to a small village, which is located on the Ubwari Peninsula. This peninsula is on
the northwest coast of Lake Tanganyika.
The six tropheus I purchased are housed in a 55-gallon aquarium. As luck would have it
my group of tropheus consists of three males and three females. Since I do not find bare
bottom tanks aesthetically pleasing a substrate consisting of red flint gravel and an
equal part of crushed coral were first added to the tank. Large rock formations were
arranged at the opposite ends of the tank. Six pieces of PVC pipe two inches in diameter
and six inches long were placed in the middle of the tank. The two largest males claimed
the rock formations as their territories. The last male and two females were left with the
middle of the tank. The third female spent most of her day hiding behind a Hydro IV sponge
filter, which was located in the corner of the tank. The tropheus provided for an active
but peaceful tank. Occasionally the male tropheus were observed fighting with the lips of
the combatants locking, but no injuries resulted.
Caring for the group of tropheus has proven to be relatively simple. While many of the
articles and books I have read recommend large tanks and large groups of tropheus the
above combination has proven to be quite successful for me. Water changes of approximately
50% are carried out once every two weeks. Large water changes seem to induce the tropheus
to spawn. If my fish do not spawn in a reasonable time, several water changes are carried
out in a week. These water changes always result in the fish spawning shortly after the
water changes. Filtration consisted of an Eheim canister filter and a Hydro IV sponge
filter. The water is kept at 80 degrees. Talking about feeding the species tropheus is
like opening Pandora’s box. It seems that the people in the know cannot agree on what
is the best way to feed this species. I have been feeding my group spiriluna and OSI
Cichlid flake food. Frozen brine shrimp and Tropheus Shrimp Mix are fed occasionally. The
main ingredients in the Tropheus Shrimp Mix are shrimp, peas and spiriluna powder. The
complete recipe can be found on the Internet at the Tropheus Basic web site
(http://www.cichlidae.com/tropheus).
During the first year things were pretty uneventful. The tropheus matured into healthy
and colorful adults. Fortunately illness was not a problem. In June of 1999 the first
spawn occurred. For 11 days the female held a mouthful of eggs. On the 12th day disaster
struck. While feeding the tropheus I noticed that the female that was supposed to be
holding eggs was feeding and had obviously disposed of her eggs. All three females carried
on this routine on regular bases. Each spawn ended with the female disposing of the eggs.
Watching this happen time after time made me feel like dumping this group at the next
available auction. Somehow I was able to resist this temptation and was rewarded in
December 1999.
After feeding my tropheus I watch for a short time hoping to find a female holding
eggs. Well this time while watching the fish feed I caught a movement out of the corner of
my eye. Much to my surprise I found two small fry feeding. The fry did not appear to be
threatened by the adults. Since I was too lazy to tear the tank apart for two fry they
stayed with the adults until the next water change. During this time the adults never
harassed the fry. I felt quite comfortable knowing they would still be around at the next
feeding. When the fry were removed they were placed in a five-gallon tank filled with
water from the adult tank. They were fed baby brine shrimp and finely crushed flake food.
On January 3, 2000 I noticed a female was holding again. After 17 days I decided to
remove the fry from the female. Much to my surprise seven fully developed fry were removed
from the female. Stripping the fry from the female proved to be more difficult than any of
the mouth brooders that I have stripped. I don’t know if it was the location of the
mouth or the strong jaws of the tropheus. Although I thought I had removed all the fry
several days later I saw two more fry swimming in the tank. This group of nine fry is now
housed in a 15-gallon tank.
After numerous spawns this is the system I use:
The females are allowed to hold the eggs for 15 days. At this time the females are
stripped and the fry placed in a specimen container. The container has an air stone and
water from the parent tank. The specimen container is placed in a 15-gallon tank, which is
where the fry will be raised. At 15 days the fry still have a large egg sacs so feeding is
not necessary. On average the egg sac has been ingested after another 6 days. At this time
the fry are feed crushed flakes. After raising many broods, the 15-gallon tank seems to be
the ideal size. The fry reach saleable size faster than when they are raised in a bigger
tank.
Breeding tropheus was not too difficult. One thing that I have learned is that patience
is truly a virtue. The fish will spawn whenever they want and when they are ready they
will start holding the fry. All the frustration I encountered was my problem because there
was nothing I could do about the lost spawns but wait until nature had decided it was time
for them to produce fry.
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