Caudopunctatus

Care at a glance

Overview

The Caudopunctatus is a small, mostly peaceful shell-dwelling cichlid from Lake Tanganyika for the bottom of the tank. It is easy to keep and a popular first Tanganyikan, partly for the way a pair reshapes its patch of sand.

Caring for the Caudopunctatus

Keep Caudopunctatus as a bonded pair in at least 20 gal (75 L), or as a small colony in a longer tank. Give a colony several shells and caves, so each fish can hold its own territory. Lay a fine sand floor with a few piles of rock, small caves or empty shells spread around the tank.

They are not a schooling fish, and individuals get pushy in cramped space, so spread the cover out. They are mostly peaceful toward tank mates that look different from them but turn feisty around the nest when breeding.

Keep the water hard, at 75 to 79°F (24 to 26°C) and a pH of 7.5 to 8.5. They are bottom dwellers that feed on small zooplankton. Give them micro granules plus live or frozen brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops and mysis.

They spawn in cavities and shells, and they are one of the easier Tanganyikan cichlids to breed. A pair digs under a shell or rock and shifts mouthfuls of sand to shape a spawning pit. Both parents then fan and guard the eggs and fry together.

Good to know

The Caudopunctatus, Neolamprologus caudopunctatus, is a small cichlid in the family Cichlidae. FishBase lists adults at 6.5 cm, and the occasional report near 8 cm is an outlier.

In the wild

The Caudopunctatus is a dwarf cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, along the lake's Zambian shores. It hovers low over sandy bottoms scattered with rocks and empty snail shells, which it uses for shelter and spawning. The lake is hard and alkaline.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Brevis shell dweller

  Neolamprologus brevis

  2.4 in (6 cm) · 16 gal (60 L)

  2.4 in (6 cm)16 gal (60 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Similis shell dweller

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  2 in (5 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Multie shell dweller

  Neolamprologus multifasciatus

  1.8 in (4.5 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Toa cichlid

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• 

  Buescher's cichlid

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• 

  Savory's cichlid

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  3.1 in (8 cm)18 gal (70 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)