Murago Breeding Group Ratio/Tank Size Question

[DireWolf]

Some of may have seen my new group in the Photography section. Here is my situation and would like to hear some input. I just got this adult group and after venting looks to be 9m/12fm. They came with a 60g 4 foot tank. I could potentially move them to a 90g/4ft, but want to keep them in the 60g for now. They are around 2 years old and 3.5 to 4.0” + now.

I do prefer larger groups and am thinking of adding say 8-10 females and reducing by 4-5 males. Or just keep the 9 males, but would most likely have to go with the 90g. Assuming I can find 8-10 females.

Breeding is starting, but I find a breeding male spending a lot of time chasing away other male suitors while trying to breed.

Assuming I stuck with the 60g, any thoughts whether I should just reduce 4-5 males and not add any females, so the colony was say 4m/12fm. Would this produce more breeding and females holding, and maybe larger batches of fertilized eggs? And without too much aggression towards females from the 4 remaining males.

In the past I have only had Tropheus in a 90g or larger. Any thoughts on the best case ratio setup for a 60g tank, and say a 90g would be most helpful and appreciated.

[...]

Andrew has successfully kept and bred Troph's in tanks <75gal Dire. He even had a small breeding group of Pemba in a 40gal breeder. From tracking his posts it seems it has a lot to do with the dynamics of the group in question. It would be quite miraculous to be able to buy 8-10 more females. You could buy another unrelated F1 group if they become available and switch males to have 2 genetically diverse groups. Resale on the extra group should be easy. If you stick with the 60gal perhaps you could pull 5 males and keep them in another tank if you have room. That way you would have back up males if 1 goes hyper and kills any in the breeding group when you downsize their numbers. You could also try to trade your extra males with someone else to increase genetic diversity for both people breeding murago.
Hope everything works out smooth mate 👍

[DireWolf]

Yeah, i would put the extra males is a 38g for the time being and see how the tank goes, and if i need to put them back.

I don't have anyone else around here to swap with though. I can order in adult females from a store. I really prefer to keep the group in the 60g as it is in a good place to view. The 90g is not.

4m/12fm may be the way to go for the 60g and may give a try. I will wait to hopefully get some feedback from Andrew.

[Mastiffman/ Duramax7Man7]

Thanks for props Danny!

I really like the 60g 4fters. I would lower the male ratio though for sure. I would 2 things. Add a lot of irregular rock formations for the males to duct in and out of as well as get their chance to spawn in that 60g. Or reduce the males to one lone male and keep the rest for "just in case" purposes if possible. If cared for, fish don't "just die" like some people have suggested in the past. I had a Moorii group from Chaitika that did very well in a 75g by themselves and only one male. The females don't typically get picked on by males often other than to spawn unless you have an overly aggressive male.

The choice is yours either way. Another thing that I might offer to consider is that a 60g, 75g 90g don't really offer much more than another as they all have the same footprint. And in my experience, a larger footprint is something that will benefit tropheus greatly especially when comes to spawning rituals. Tropheus are territorial just like all other Africans and from my experience they don't seem to get more aggressive with a larger area to work with as it's really only the males that stake out territory. So if you could use strategically placed tall Vallisneria like fake plants in a 4 foot if you are having difficulties that will help as well. More space at the top of the tank does help but only to an extent. They would need something to hide in up towards the top of the tank to take full advantage of that feature. Otherwise it will merely aid in taking longer to build up any harmful acids produced by the nitrogen cycle. Which isn't a bad thing either.

Tropheus come from almost a solely rocky habitat and it's in their spirit/ instinct to feel more comfortable around rocks as well as to use them to their advantage for staying out of LOS during spawning within the range of another males aggression. All things to consider for sure. BUT, the bigger the tank the better for any fish IMO.

Hope this helps and didn't confuse things even more. ha ha.

[DireWolf]

Thanks Andrew. And you too Danny.

This 60g is 4ft by 1ft, not the same footprint as 75g or 90g, which are 4ft by 1.5ft.

Assuming i don't add any females at this stage, there are 9 males now, you suggest removing 8 of them and leaving 1 male, or would 2 be better?

The 7-8 i remove would be going into a 38, 3ft by 1 ft tank, the real question is will all these males get along? My guess is yes as there will be no females to breed with them.

[jpayne]

If a group isn't being overly aggressive, leave them alone.