Brown Julie

Care at a glance

Overview

A 75 liter tank suits a pair, and a bonded pair is really the way to keep them, since they are scrappy toward their own kind in tight quarters. They hold the middle and lower zones around their rockwork and pick at small invertebrates and biofilm in the wild. Feed quality cichlid pellets plus frozen brine shrimp or daphnia. They are reasonably peaceful with similar rock-dwelling Tanganyikans but will defend their cave hard.

In the wild

Brown julies live along the rocky shorelines of Lake Tanganyika, tucking into crevices and caves in the rock piles. To keep them well, build a tank with lots of stacked rock and clear sightlines broken up by cover, since they claim and defend a patch of rock. The lake water is hard and alkaline, so aim for a pH in the 8s and warm temps in the mid 20s C.

Good to know

This is a small Tanganyikan cichlid in the family Cichlidae, growing to about 11 cm. They form monogamous pairs and are substrate spawners that lay eggs inside caves and crevices. Both parents guard the eggs and fry, which is part of why breeding them in a community is tricky.

Did you know

When a pair spawns, they often raise several batches of fry at once, and older juveniles will tolerate their younger siblings nearby instead of being chased off. That kind of overlapping brood care is unusual and lets a pair build up a little colony on one rock pile over time.

Related species

• 

  Marlier's julie

  Julidochromis marlieri

  5.9 in (15 cm)29 gal (110 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Golden Julie

  Julidochromis ornatus

  3.1 in (8 cm)18 gal (70 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Convict julie

  Julidochromis regani

  5.1 in (13 cm)29 gal (110 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Masked julie

  Julidochromis transcriptus

  2.8 in (7 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Sunshine peacock cichlid

  Aulonocara baenschi

  4.3 in (11 cm)63 gal (240 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)
• Blue-eyed Tropheus

  Tropheus brichardi

  4.3 in (11 cm)37 gal (140 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)