Longtail lamprologus

Care at a glance

Overview

A rarely imported rock-dweller from Lake Tanganyika, best kept as a single fish or a bonded pair that holds its own territory. It is aggressive around its chosen crevice, so give a pair its own rock stack and pick unflappable, cave-savvy tankmates that will not crowd it. It stays low among the stones and hunts small prey from cover. Feed small meaty foods, frozen and prepared. A pair needs a rocky tank of about 160 liters with plenty of caves and clear boundaries between territories.

In the wild

Neolamprologus longicaudatus keeps to rocky slopes off the Ubwari Peninsula on the Congolese side of Lake Tanganyika, one of the least-collected coasts of the lake. Build it a tank of stacked rock with caves and crevices over a sand floor. Tanganyika water is hard, alkaline and oxygen-rich, so hold the pH high, from 7.8 to 9, keep it warm at 24 to 27 C, and run strong filtration with good surface movement.

Good to know

This species belongs to the Cichlidae and reaches about 10 centimeters. It was described in 1995 from the Zairean, now Congolese, shore of Lake Tanganyika, and its name longicaudatus refers to the long, drawn-out streamers on its tail. It is a cave-spawning substrate breeder rather than a mouthbrooder, and getting a settled pair to breed is hard. Its type specimens came from about 15 meters down at Cape Banza on the Ubwari Peninsula.

Did you know

Much of what little is known about this fish comes from the Ubwari Peninsula on the Congo side of Lake Tanganyika, one of the lake's least-visited shores, so a handful of exports carry most of the hobby's experience with the species.

Common questions

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