Cylindricus cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

A pair or small group needs a tank of at least 110 liters packed with rockwork and broken sight lines to spread aggression. Water must be hard and alkaline at 24 to 27 C, pH 7.8 to 9.0. It is a micro predator, so feed frozen mysis, brine shrimp and chopped shrimp along with carnivore pellets. Keep only one male unless the tank is large, since males fight hard over territory.

In the wild

This slender cichlid hides among rock piles in Lake Tanganyika, rarely straying far from a chosen crevice. It has a long cylindrical body with dark vertical bars that let it back into narrow cracks. Each fish guards a small rocky territory.

Good to know

Neolamprologus cylindricus is a cave spawner that lays its eggs on the roof of a rock crevice. Males grow noticeably larger than females and only one male should hold a given rock pile. The dark barred pattern and tube shaped body are a match for its life spent wedged into rocks.

Did you know

Its body is built like a tube so it can reverse deep into a rock crack, leaving only its barred face showing at the entrance.

Related species

• 

  Five-bar cichlid

  Neolamprologus tretocephalus

  5.9 in (15 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Lyretail cichlid

  Neolamprologus brichardi

  3.9 in (10 cm)29 gal (110 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Caudopunctatus

  Neolamprologus caudopunctatus

  2.8 in (7 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–79°F (24–26°C)

• 

  Brevis Shell Dweller

  Neolamprologus brevis

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

• 

  Lemon cichlid

  Neolamprologus leleupi

  4.5 in (11.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Daffodil cichlid

  Neolamprologus pulcher

  5.1 in (13 cm)29 gal (110 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)