Aquarist Species: Altolamprologus compressiceps 'Chaitika Gold' F1
Aquarist: DragonFlyer
Species Profile: Altolamprologus compressiceps
Species Photo by: Craig Storms
Description: Piscivore cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Characterized by a highly compressed body (hence its name) making it well suited to hunting small fish found in tight spaces between rocks. Occurs in various color patterns.
Category: Cichlids
Global Region: Africa
Distribution: Lake Tanganyika
Aquarist Notes
Photo of aquarist's species:
Genetic Line: F1 First Generation
Year Acquired: 2022
Acquired a group of 4 F1 young adults from Blue Chip Aquatics in 2022. Two pairs formed and needed to be separated, as the males began to fight to a level where they were tearing up each other's mouths. Once I separated them one pair became quite prolific and spawned every few months. Photo shows this pair on the left defending their cave.
Spawning notes:
Species Spawned: Yes
Very secretive, but if you can spot wrigglers in the cave it's easy to simply lift the cave out and move to nursery tank. Female will typically stay put in the cave but she does fine in the nursery. Once the fry are free swimming and consuming BBS it's easy to net the female and put her back with the male.
Have Reared Fry? Yes
They scoot around the bottom of the tank for a longgggg time. They grow slowly but are not difficult to raise. Frequent feedings and water changes of course help move things along.