1: If you are not going to buy a group of at least 10 petrochromis ,don’t waste your time or money. In
    general if you buy anything less than 10 you will soon end up with only one petro.  This is a generalized 
    statement but in many cases this statement is so true. The total count of  petros in your tank is important
    as well  (see Petrochromis Stocking Level in the “Articles” section).

2: Always be prepared to immediately isolate petros into another tank once you spot a damaged petro(s).
    Trust me on this one, an hour could make the difference between life and death.

3: Water filtration should be turned over 8 to 10+ times, unless you are prepared to do frequent water changes.

4:  If you can grow plants in your tanks do so , because this produces algae and in the wild these petros scrape
     the rocks feeding on the algae that has accumulated there.

5:  Always in addition to caves , create  very small crevices  so that any young that are born will have a hiding
     place until they can fend for themselves.  Remember that caves should have both an entrance and an exit.

6:  If you decide to use artificial plants make sure that they are plastic and not the really nice looking plants that
     are made of silk, because the silk plant will be shredded by your petros in a couple of weeks.

7:  You think  just because you removed the bully of the tank that everything will be “OK” , wrong , there will
      always be another petro willing to take on the role of the bully just waiting in the wings.  You have to baby
      sit these petros because at any given moment things can get out of hand very quickly.

8:   More often than not the best deal you can get when you purchase petros is in trios (one male 2 females)
      So in buying a group of 16 you may very well  end up with 4 males and 12 females.  This count with
      that amount of males is not good unless you have other petros in the tank. The worst situation is if an
      imported brings in some petros for you, then it can go any way in the male to female ratio, but that
      is the chance you take when trying to get petros that can’t be purchased from a dealer/petshop/hobbyist etc.

 

9:  If you can heat the room where your tanks are housed , do so …  Over the years I have had one heater or
     another go bad . The heater overheated the tank and or cooked the fish. Consider a $25.00+ heater going
    bad and killing $500.00 to $1500.00+ worth of petros. “ A BAD BAD FEELING”.

10: If all else fails when trying to return the newly healed Petro back to the group, re-arrange all of the
      landscaping (another possibility is to temporally remove all of the landscaping), do a water change and
      return all of the petros , including the newly healed. You will still need to watch this tank as often as
      possible.

11:  If you have the extra cash to purchase a generator do so.  Generators can cost from  $150.00 to as much as
       you want to spend.  All it takes is one power failure to wipe out a tank of expensive fish.  

12:  When your newly imported WC petrochromis  refuse to eat the veggie, spirulina flakes, shrimp mix,fresh
       shrimp or pellets, try feeding them freezed dried krill. After successfully feeding them the krill ,then you
       can wean them off of the krill  onto other foods. 
     
13:  When acquiring newly imported WC petros , when ever possible isolate them in their own tank before
       introducing them into their permanent tank which have other inhabitants (precaution against them have
       some disease etc, which may cause harm to the rest of the inhabitants in the tank).  

14:  When acquiring newly imported WC petros ,set up a holding tank with lots of PVC tubes and caves, have
       good clean water,  temperature at 80 degrees, good water flow, do not feed for 1 to 2 days, keep the lights
       off as much as possible (1 hour is the most that I keep my lights on for these new petros) and keep the
       tank tightly covered.  After  1 to 2 days , try feeding flake food . After your petros have started to accept
       the flake food , I would soak the flake food in METRO as an added precaution (another lesson
       learned). Continue to feed the Metro soaked food for about a week. After observing your petros in their
       own tank and they look good and are eating well and interacting well , now your petros can be put into
       their  permanent home, if in fact this was a holding tank.
     
       NOTE:  If you have only a few petros and you put these into a holding tank.. Aggression rules still apply,
       So you might be forced to put your petros into the tank with the other petros. Then you must seriously
       consider treating your tank for a few days with METRO or some other form of drugs,  as a precaution. 

 15:  Place a couple of Anubias plants in your tanks and leave the light on for three to four days and you will
        start to see a growth of algae on your rocks and tank glass. Wipe the glass and let the algae fall into the
        tank. After three or four days, you can return to your tank lighting schedule. All of this will allow your
        petrochromis to graze.      

16:   If you have a large male and smaller females or smaller males , place PVC tubes in your tank so that
        the smaller petros can seek shelter in these tubes where as the larger male can’t gain access to these PVC
        tubes because he is too large to fit into the tubes.