Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus
This fairly large Tanganyika cichlid surprisingly lays its eggs between or in empty snail shells. If the snail shell is large enough, the female can completely disappear into it. After laying the 150 to 300 eggs, they are hidden in the shells. Both parents defend the eggs and the young. In this phase all other fish are chased away. The aquarium must therefore be sufficiently large (larger than 1 meter40) to prevent casualties.
The Aquarium
Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus is not a true shell dweller like Lamprologus multifasciatus. Outside the mating period, they usually swim in open water near rocks. The aquarium therefore requires a lot of swimming space with rocks on the sides where the females can escape the male’s attention. Especially during breeding, males can be somewhat intolerant with each other. Outside this period they are reasonably tolerant. The pairs formed are only loosely connected and partners sometimes change.
Breeding Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus
The eggs are deposited in a snail shell. The fry can be fed with fine dry food and brine shrimp nauplii. In the wild, adult Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus eat the young of other Tanganyika cichlids. In the aquarium they do well on, for example, mysis, krill, small smelt, whitefish, insect larvae, shrimps, etc., etc., as long as it is not too fat. As with all other Tanganyika cichlids, do not feed tubifex or beef heart.
Video
Author
John de Lange
Copyright images
John de Lange
