Neolamprologus Tretocephalus (5bar Cichlid)

[B20luda]

first off lets start with water parameters

PH 7.8
ammonia 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
80 degrees F
tank has good areation

tank has been setup for about 2 years

Fish has been in a 20 gallon tank to "grow" so i can put him in with the bigger guys in the 75 gallon later, hes only about 1.5in or so right now. Heres the problem constantly hangs behind the filter pick up pointed straight up almost all the time, sometimes hes dull in color but for the most part hes normal looking, i have only seen him eat twice since i have had him...( about 3 weeks) i attempt to feed everyday, the tank is in a room where theres not much action going on.

he was buy himself but i put in a small goldfish and a marble horned pleco 3 days ago, he does pick on the goldfish quite a bit and has nipped at the pleco a few times, but why is he so inactive and rarley eats? Im mainly concerned on the eating issue i have been feeding him fresh veggie flake, and i have tried plankton brime shrimp and regular tropical fish food...he seems to like veggie flake the most when he has eatin? i cant see anything really wrong with him besides the way hes acting...please any advice would be appreciated...Mitch

 

[furryrabbit]

arent they shelldwelling cichlids? i think they have to be inb groups/ colonies to be happy.

 

[B20luda]

anyone else car to help me out...is what furry said true, should i get another??

 

[BigC]

These are not shell dwellers but get quite large and are extremely aggressive when adult.
As with any African rockdweller, N. tretocephalus needs very well-filtered, clear, clean, high-quality water, and it must be hard and alkaline. Small partial water changes done weekly are appreciated, as this species is very sensitive to poor water quality and to toxic substances. Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates should be watched regularly.
Back to the original question, have you tried it on live foods, bloodworm whiteworm and chopped earthworms.
Regards
BigC

 

[africantigerfish7]

Try live brine shrimp and slowly wean him onto the frozen food. My uncle keeps his Tanganyikans at a ph of 8.2-8.7 and at a temp of 82 degrees. Put some smaller dither fish in there, preferably baby malawis. These will keep him more active.
I had an mbuna who did that the first time I tried to keep cichlids. There were no other cichlids out there. I upped the ph, temp and added a few more mbuna. He seemed better, but still didn't eat. I added tiger barbs, and he "played" with them quite a bit. He started to get more active and ate live shrimp, but as he was an mbuna I had to quickly convert him to veggie flakes. Later on I took out the tiger barbs and put in aussie rainbows. These are the best dither fish for cichlids. They are fast, grow large enough, and can take a few hits.

 

[broessle]

anyone else car to help me out...is what furry said true, should i get another??

5 years later...

no it isnt. they are a rock dwelling cichlid which should only be kept alone or in a mated pair. if you keep only three or four the dominant male will kill off the others. your best bet is to buy 1 or at least 8.

 

[B20luda]

anyone else car to help me out...is what furry said true, should i get another??

5 years later...

no it isnt. they are a rock dwelling cichlid which should only be kept alone or in a mated pair. if you keep only three or four the dominant male will kill off the others. your best bet is to buy 1 or at least 8.

I was just browsing thru my old posts, im proud to say i still have this fish hes full grown one of the best looking 5 bars i have seen in person... he used to be the picked on super shy fish i was always worried about, now he rules the roost with a couple other fishs his size, by far my fav. fish i now have 5 of these 1 is currently in a different tank due to being 2 small hopefully ill be able to introduce them all in the next 6 months, there kinda slow growers its seems