Tropheus Duboisi Cichlids

Jellymolly44

Jellymolly44

Handsome Fella
Jun 14, 2008
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I was wondering if a tropheus duboisi cichlid would get along with mbuna cichlids. I read somewhere on the internet that it's possible but I don't remember where I got that info from. Might be false info. I was also wondering if they would hybridize if they are compatible. I don't want to get mbuna cichlids if cross-breeding is a possibility.
 
Tropheus are naturally colonizers which means they should be kept in a large group. I've heard of single trophs, which tend to be less agressive, being kept with mbuna but I would advise against it...

Many mbuna species will hybridize, which can be prevented by keeping an all male tank or getting species that are far enough away genetically that the chances are very unlikely (I couldn't tell you exact mixes, sorry). Pretty much any tank at a LFS that is marked "assorted chiclids" contains hybrids.
 
Pappy is right if you keep one Tropheus in a mild aggressive Mbuna setup it may work, if you keep a colony they will focus on each other but the thing is that both Tropheus and Mbuna require different diets the Duboisi will need a veggie diet and your Mbuna would require a tad bit more protein which is very bad for Tropheus..

As for me i just recently kept Duboisi and i was very careful to not over feed on proteins and i still lost 3 of them to bloat i was like wow they catch that crap real easy so i am going to stick with the adage of saying Tropheus should stay in a veggie type setup..

Both are mouth brooders so i would stem out and say it wouldn't surprise me if they crossed but i haven't heard of that with Tropheus and Mbuna crossing before..
 
I keep tropheus with brevis, spathodus, eretmodus, plecos, syno petricola, and julies but have also kept them with calvus and leleupi. None of them are mbuna of course, but it's easy to mix tropeus with other species even shelldwellers and calvus if you have the right combo. The key is buying enough tropheus that they don't even notice the toehr species. This can be difficult for many people, but if you're gonna do it, do it right.
 
I tried feeding the Tropheus Cichlid some iceberg lettuce, but it wouldn't eat it. So I fed them to my other fish ( which are mollies ) and started eating it as soon as I put it in thier aquarium.
 
Peas are much better than lettuce. BTW, if you want a group of tropheus the minimum number is 10-12. I had 4 many years ago (before the internet) and ended up with 1 that had killed off the other 3. No problems with the other fish, though I can't remember what those were now, they just killed each other.
 
Spirulina flakes and pellets and even disks are widely available these days my problem was that i was feeding others as well and the Tropheus don't discriminate against other foods..
 
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