Rostratus sifter cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

The rostratus sifter is a big but gentle Central American cichlid that feeds by taking mouthfuls of sand and sorting out the edible scraps. It is peaceful for its size, though it turns territorial when breeding, so keep it singly or as a pair and choose sturdy tankmates that are not small enough to look like food. Give it a deep bed of soft sand to sift and open swimming space. Feed sinking pellets and frozen foods that settle to the floor. A tank of around 400 liters is a sensible minimum for one of these long-snouted sifters.

In the wild

Cribroheros rostratus lives in the great lakes of Nicaragua and the connected Atlantic-slope rivers, working fine volcanic sand for food. The water is warm and runs from neutral to fairly hard. Recreate it with a deep sand floor, some rounded rock and wood, and neutral to hard water at pH 7.0-8.2 and 24-29 C.

Good to know

Cribroheros rostratus, once placed in Amphilophus, is a cichlid that reaches roughly 20 to 22 centimeters. Its drawn-out, pointed snout is the giveaway, letting it probe and sift sand more deeply than blunt-faced relatives. It is a biparental substrate spawner that lays eggs on a cleaned surface and guards the brood, and breeding is of medium difficulty.

Did you know

The long snout is a feeding tool, not decoration. It lets rostratus mine a deeper layer of sand than its shorter-nosed cousins can reach, so the very shape that names the fish also sets its place at the table.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Robertson's cichlid

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• Bussing's cichlid

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• Altifrons cichlid

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• Longfin sifter cichlid

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• Rhytisma cichlid

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• Maroni eartheater

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