Linke's mouthbrooder

Chromidotilapia linkei

Also known as Linkei chromidotilapia

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–81°F (23–27°C)
pH: 5.5–7.0
Adult size: 3.7 in (9.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 53 gal (200 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Tankmates: Tankmates with caution
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Mungo and Wouri basins, Cameroon
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

A quiet West African dwarf cichlid that lives as a bonded pair rather than in a group, so buy a small young batch, let a pair form, and house that pair together. Both parents share the work of raising a brood, which is unusual to watch. It keeps to the bottom, sifting sand and picking at aufwuchs, and it is generally peaceful, though a breeding pair will defend a patch, so give tankmates room and choose them with care. Feed small sinking foods and frozen fare. A pair does well in about 200 liters with sand, wood and gentle conditions.

In the wild

Chromidotilapia linkei lives in sandy forest streams of the Mungo and Wouri systems in coastal Cameroon, shaded, gently flowing and soft. Furnish its tank with a soft sand floor, driftwood, leaf litter and some shade from floating or rooted plants. Keep the water soft and warm, 23 to 27 C, with a slightly acidic to neutral pH between 5.5 and 7, and avoid the hard alkaline conditions its rift-lake cousins prefer.

Good to know

This species belongs to the Cichlidae and reaches about 9.5 centimeters. It is a pair-bonding, biparental mouthbrooder: the parents hold the eggs and fry in their mouths and can pass the brood between them, a rare split of nursery duty in a family where mouthbrooding is usually the mother's job alone. Breeding rates as medium. It was named for the German aquarium author Horst Linke.

Did you know

Most mouthbrooding cichlids leave brood care to one parent, but Chromidotilapia like this one run a shared nursery, with both mother and father carrying eggs and fry in their mouths, a genuinely uncommon arrangement among cichlids.