Trimac Questions

[Jake Jackson]

Hi everyone, I'm Jake. I've always kept big fish like Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, only been in fish since about march..

I know there is heaps to learn about my leap into "real" fish

I was going to go with Nandopsis Hatiensus (sp?) but now the chance to get a good Trimac from a reputable breeder for little cost has arrived. So... Not wanting to face all the stuff I did by just winging it with my Jacks, I've come here.

The Trimac will be small, I'm assuming no more than 1.5 inches. I'm not sure how many to get. I have no plan to breed them, so logically I'd only want... But should I get two for social purposes since they are so young?

Whats the grow rate on these guys?

Is a 75 gallon a good size for an adult male? I intend to house him in a 20 gall, and then move him to either a 55 gall or a 75+ gall should I have it by then. I've got the 20 and 55 now.

Whats a good diet? Parameters? I think I already know, but would these guys eat/trash java fern or moss? anywhere to find good articles or information about Trimacs?

 

[sicxspeed]

Hi everyone, I'm Jake. I've always kept big fish like Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, only been in fish since about march..

I know there is heaps to learn about my leap into "real" fish

I was going to go with Nandopsis Hatiensus (sp?) but now the chance to get a good Trimac from a reputable breeder for little cost has arrived. So... Not wanting to face all the stuff I did by just winging it with my Jacks, I've come here.

The Trimac will be small, I'm assuming no more than 1.5 inches. I'm not sure how many to get. I have no plan to breed them, so logically I'd only want... But should I get two for social purposes since they are so young?

Whats the grow rate on these guys?

Is a 75 gallon a good size for an adult male? I intend to house him in a 20 gall, and then move him to either a 55 gall or a 75+ gall should I have it by then. I've got the 20 and 55 now.

Whats a good diet? Parameters? I think I already know, but would these guys eat/trash java fern or moss? anywhere to find good articles or information about Trimacs?

Trimacs get about 14 inches long so the minimum I would house this guy in as an adult would be a 75 gallon alone, thats considering no tank mates. If you want tank mates, go with a bigger tank, more along the lines of a 125 long, or 180 is best if you have the means. Diet is easy, varied but by nature Trimacs are predators so plenty of protein is a must. You could do this by easily providing a good stable pellet, like Hikari Bio Gold, blood worms, shrimp, krill, crawfish when grown and feeders (that you have bulked up with good food if you can)

 

[balton777]

I agree with all of the above. Trimacs are not social fish, they're cold blooded killers. He'll need a 75g minimum and will claim (and fill) the whole tank. You might be able to keep it with tankmates if you use a much larger tank. Mix up his diet with a high quality pellet as a daily staple and feed other foods as sicxspeed recommended. Have fun, Trimacs are awesome fish and grow very quickly.

Oh and btw, welcome to MFK...you'll learn a lot here.

 

[importracer]

Good luck on the Trimac rearing...I am sure you are familiar with the "flowerhorn..."Well these devil fish were bred in Asia, and one of the known master parents is the Trimac....SO you are dealing with a very big fish that has the attitude to back it up.....I myself am thinking of raising one, might get it from Jeff Rapps....Personally I always have a Midas Devil in my home.....Look at my avatar, that is my beloved "BigHead."

 

[cookiemonster]

One thing I would like to add is instead of buying from Rapps, Fishfarm here on MFK has pure trimacs for $5. Rapps is a great seller, don't get me wrong, but he can be pretty expensive.

By the way, bighead looks awesome!

 

[TheOscarGuy]

anywhere to find good articles or information about Trimacs?

Have you looked at cichlidscene website? It has some brief information (and loads of pictures ) on Trimacs:

http://www.cichlidscene.com/

For a species profile you can have a look here:

http://cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=28

If you are planning on getting some juvies, I would suggest a reputed supplier s.t. you *do* get a pure trimac. I agree with cookiemonster, as far as shipping goes you can not beat Ken Davis (fishfarm).

Here are a few shots of a female that I got from him:

 

[altimaser]

I have to say that I have 2 Trimacs purchased from Fishfarm. The service was excellent and the fish are great. I bought them about 4 months ago and my male has grown to nearly 6 inches with tail. The female is already very dark and showing signs of being ready to breed. The only real issue with my Trimacs is the male is very aggressive at feeding times. I find them to be very responsive to me and always come up to the glass to check out whats going on when I am in the room. Good Luck if you choose them

 

[Chago09]

first thing is first, "two for social"..... LOL riiiiggghhhhtttt, put it this way one will kill the other I guarantee you my life LOL Then guess what it will kill any other fish you put in his tank

You can see pics of my monster on other threads on here I just posted some on one called pics of my trimac. Mine are near the end of the thread. I would serioulsy get one and put them in a 75 gallon. If you want get two and then once any aggression starts remove one. This way you can pick which one you like better.

Diet, I feed hikari cichlid gold + as the main staple. Its the expensive stuff although it really is worth it, take a look at my pics and you'll see. He ws raised on that from a small guy. I also feed hikari freeze dried krill and frozen krill third day. Lastly he gets crickets like nuts on sundays, sundays is cricket day.

 

[ShadowStryder]

Didn't I see you on one of the other forums. HAHA WELCOME As already stated by post above, You won't be able to keep multiples in a 75, You will just end up with one anyway. Find one nice one (if not intending to breed) to house in there. ALONE.
Also as stated Rapps has nice fish but a little pricey. Ken from fish farms has great fish & prices.

 

[Jake Jackson]

HAHAHA... No Way Boss. My days of bad fish keeping are over. Less than a year ago I had a blk ghost knife, spotted puffer, shark catfish, dragon goby, and 3 black skirt tetras all in a 10 gall... Oh how we learn.

I'm gonna go with just one. I wanted something for my office, Oscars are just to everyday for me, and I got heaps of all kinds of frozen and dry foods that I usually keep stocked for my Blue Jack growouts.

I'm going to be in touch with they guy who I'm getting them from. He has 6 Trimac growouts, wanting to pair them um. Last we talked earlier today he said he suspects 3 male 3 female. I know he cant keep all the males.