Filter-feeding cichlid
Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis
FreshwaterFish
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–82°F
- 24–28°C
- pH
- 5.5–7.2
- Adult size
- 5.9 in
- 15 cm
- Minimum tank
- 79 gal
- 300 L
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Social
- Swim level
- Middle
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Breeding
- Medium
- Rarity
- Rare
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Origin
- Lower Amazon floodplain lakes
Overview
This is a gentle, disc-shaped cichlid that feeds by filtering tiny animals from the water, and it is a social, peaceful fish, so keep a small group. It swims in the middle of the tank and is so mild that it needs equally polite tankmates, ones that will not outrace it to food or bully it. Feed frequent small servings of live and frozen foods it can strain from the water, such as daphnia, cyclops and baby brine shrimp. Give it a tank of at least 300 liters with open swimming space, soft water and some wood or leaf litter. Its calm nature is easy to take advantage of, so feed carefully.
In the wild
Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis lives in the floodplain lakes of the lower Amazon, still, warm, plankton-rich water off the main river. Give it warm, soft to neutral conditions: a temperature range of 24–28 C and a pH of 5.5–7.2. It suits an open tank with gentle flow, a soft substrate, and some wood and leaf litter, the kind of quiet, food-filled backwater where it drifts and filters its meals.
Good to know
Chaetobranchopsis orbicularis belongs to the cichlid family and reaches about 15 centimeters, with a rounded, deep body that gives it the name orbicularis. It is one of the few filter-feeding cichlids: rows of long, fine gill rakers strain small planktonic animals from the water as it swims. Aquarium breeding has not been reported, though like related cichlids it is expected to guard its young.
Did you know
Most cichlids grab or pick at their food, but this one feeds like a herring, combing clouds of plankton from open water through a dense sieve of gill rakers, a filter-feeding niche few cichlids ever occupy.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
Filter-feeding cichlid is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
Largescale four-eyed fish
Anableps anableps
FreshwaterBrackish11.8 in (30 cm) · 70 gal (265 L)77–88°F (25–31°C)
Red head Tapajos
Geophagus pyrocephalus
Freshwater6.3 in (16 cm) · 79 gal (300 L)79–86°F (26–30°C)
Spotted metynnis
Metynnis maculatus
Freshwater7.1 in (18 cm) · 92 gal (350 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
Asian glass hatchetfish
Parachela oxygastroides
Freshwater7.9 in (20 cm) · 79 gal (300 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
Circular whiptail
Planiloricaria cryptodon
Freshwater8.7 in (22 cm) · 79 gal (300 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
Redhook
Myloplus rubripinnis
Freshwater9.8 in (25 cm) · 70 gal (265 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
Common questions
What size tank does a Filter-feeding cichlid need?
A Filter-feeding cichlid needs at least 79 gal (300 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
What temperature and pH does a Filter-feeding cichlid need?
A Filter-feeding cichlid is comfortable at 75–82°F (24–28°C) with a pH of 5.5–7.2.
How big does a Filter-feeding cichlid get?
An adult Filter-feeding cichlid reaches about 5.9 in (15 cm).
Related species
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Mesonauta festivus
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4.7 in (12 cm)53 gal (200 L)68–86°F (20–30°C)Cupid cichlid
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