Blackcap coptodon

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a West African tilapia of the calmer sort, a substrate-grazing cichlid that keeps steadier nerves than many of its relatives. It pairs off rather than shoaling, so keep it as a single fish or a bonded pair. It swims through the middle of the tank and is only moderately assertive for its size, but it grows large and gets more territorial when spawning, so choose tankmates with caution: other sturdy, similarly sized fish. It is an omnivore that leans vegetarian, so feed a quality plant-based flake or pellet with some frozen foods and greens. Give it at least 400 liters with open swimming room and some sturdy cover.

In the wild

It lives in rivers and a crater lake of southwest Ghana and neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, in the Bia, Tano, and Pra drainages and in Lake Bosumtwi, where conditions range from soft, slightly acidic river water to harder lake water. A middle-ground setup of 25 to 30 C and a pH around 6.2 to 7.8 suits aquarium fish well. Use a sand or fine gravel floor with driftwood and rock, and hardy or artificial plants, since a large tilapia tends to dig.

Good to know

A member of the cichlid family, it reaches around 23 cm, with males a little larger than females. Its name discolor means of a different color, or variegated. It is a substrate spawner that forms pairs and guards its brood, and it is not often bred in the aquarium, which makes it a harder species to reproduce.

Did you know

Unlike the familiar tilapias that brood their young in the mouth, Coptodon species like this one are substrate spawners: a pair lays eggs on a cleaned surface and guards them in the open, which is one reason they behave more like typical New World cichlids.

Common questions

Related species

• Congo coptodon

  Coptodon congica

  Freshwater

  9.8 in (25 cm)106 gal (400 L)77–86°F (25–30°C)
• Deepwater coptodon

  Coptodon bythobates

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Blue and yellow hap

  Protomelas spilonotus

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  8.7 in (22 cm)119 gal (450 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• Busumana tilapia

  Tilapia busumana

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  8.7 in (22 cm)79 gal (300 L)77–86°F (25–30°C)

• 

  Livingston's cichlid

  Nimbochromis livingstonii

  Freshwater

  9.8 in (25 cm)74 gal (280 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Malawi eyebiter

  Dimidiochromis compressiceps

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  9.8 in (25 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)