Attenuatus cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a slim, predatory Tanganyikan cichlid that hunts small fish from the open sand. It forms pairs and can be kept as a pair or a small group of its own kind rather than truly alone, with both parents sharing brood care. Like many predators it ignores fish too large to eat but treats anything small as food, so choose tankmates with caution: sturdy, mid-sized Tanganyikans that will not fit in its mouth. Give it an open sandy floor with a few shells or stones. Feed meaty foods such as mysis, krill, chopped prawn, and quality pellets, not a diet of live feeder fish. A tank of at least 250 liters gives a pair room to hold territory.

In the wild

It lives over sandy bottoms with scattered rocks and shells along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, where it ambushes small fish from open ground. Match the lake with hard, alkaline water around pH 7.8 to 9.0 and a temperature of 24 to 27 C. A broad, open bed of sand is the main feature, with a few rocks and empty snail shells for cover and spawning sites rather than a dense rockscape.

Good to know

A member of the cichlid family, it reaches around 15 cm, which makes it one of the larger sand-dwelling Lamprologus relatives in Lake Tanganyika. It digs a shallow crater and spawns on a stone or shell inside it, since its group must attach eggs to a hard surface. Both parents guard the fry, and it is of moderate breeding difficulty.

Did you know

Breeding pairs tend a pit in the sand much like shorebirds tending a nest, with one parent patrolling the edge while the other stays close over the eggs and the newly hatched fry.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Kendall's lamprologus

  Lepidiolamprologus kendalli

  Freshwater

  6.3 in (16 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Hecqui shell dweller

  Lepidiolamprologus hecqui

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)29 gal (110 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• Elongate lamprologus

  Lepidiolamprologus elongatus

  Freshwater

  12.6 in (32 cm)119 gal (450 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Five-bar cichlid

  Neolamprologus tretocephalus

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
• Barred lamprologus

  Neolamprologus fasciatus

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• Christy's lamprologus

  Neolamprologus christyi

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)