Tanganyika killifish

Care at a glance

Overview

The Tanganyika killifish is an open-water, schooling fish that needs to be kept in a group of six or more, ideally with plenty of swimming room. It is peaceful but active and fast, and it does best with calm tankmates that enjoy the same hard, alkaline water, such as small Tanganyikan cichlids. Feed a varied diet of small frozen and live foods like brine shrimp and daphnia alongside a quality flake. It is sensitive to poor water and stress and ships badly, so it needs mature, very stable, well-oxygenated water. Give a school a tank of 150 liters or larger, and more length is better for these strong swimmers.

In the wild

Lamprichthys tanganicanus is found only in Lake Tanganyika in East Africa, where it schools along rocky shores and out over open water. The lake is hard, alkaline and very stable, so keep a temperature between 23 and 25 C and a pH from about 7 to 8, with high mineral content. A large tank with rockwork, open swimming space and clean, oxygen-rich water recreates its home. Stable, well-filtered conditions are essential, as this fish reacts badly to swings in water quality.

Good to know

Despite being grouped with the livebearers here, the Tanganyika killifish is not a livebearer at all. It is a lampeye of the family Procatopodidae, and it lays eggs rather than bearing live young. Adults reach about 14 to 15 cm, making it one of the largest of the African lampeyes. Pairs spawn by pushing their non-adhesive eggs deep into narrow rock crevices, where the eggs develop out of reach of predators. Aquarium breeding is seldom documented and is considered a challenge.

Did you know

This is the only killifish native to Lake Tanganyika, and adults are covered in rows of shining, pale-blue spangles that flash as the school turns in open water.

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