Kaligono

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a large predator that needs at least 280 liters with open sand and rock cover, and counts as a difficult fish to keep. It holds the middle and lower water and will eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth, so don't mix it with little fish. Feed quality cichlid pellets plus frozen or live shrimp and similar meaty foods, and avoid feeder fish. Keep it with other big, robust Malawi cichlids or on its own.

In the wild

Kaligono comes from the sandy, shallow zones of Lake Malawi where open sand meets scattered rock. It is an ambush hunter that uses the open sand to stalk and the rocks to hide. Give it a large tank with a big sand floor for cruising plus some rock piles for cover. The water should be hard and alkaline, pH about 7.5 to 8.5, with temps in the mid to upper 20s C.

Good to know

Nimbochromis polystigma is a cichlid (family Cichlidae) reaching around 26 cm, marked with a blotchy, mottled pattern. That patterning is camouflage for an ambush predator that hunts small fish. It is a maternal mouthbrooder, though home breeding is not well documented. Wild populations are considered stable.

Did you know

It has a famous trick. It lies still on the sand and plays dead, looking like a mottled lump of debris, until a curious small fish ventures close, then it strikes. The behavior has earned it the nickname "the sleeper."

Related species

• 

  Livingston's cichlid

  Nimbochromis livingstonii

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

• 

  Venustus cichlid

  Nimbochromis venustus

  11.8 in (30 cm)74 gal (280 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Fusco Hap

  Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus

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

• 

  Malawi eyebiter

  Dimidiochromis compressiceps

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

• 

  Pinstripe damba cichlid

  Paretroplus menarambo

  9.8 in (25 cm)95 gal (360 L)79–84°F (26–29°C)
• Tailbar cichlid

  Vieja hartwegi

  11 in (28 cm)92 gal (350 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)