Breeding Princess Cichlid (Neolamprologus Brichardi) In The Aquarium

Location

This freshwater fish lives in rocky habitat in Tanganyika Lake. These fish lives in large group in a relatively small area around the nest - about 30 cm radius.

Body description

Colour of the body is beige-pink-gray. There are dark dots on the sides of the fish. These dots give the appearance of a solid horizontal lines. There is a horizontal black bar and black spot on the gill cover. These bar and spot are joined together and look like a T letter. There is a yellow-orange spot Above thE T mark, and above those there is a is a blue spot. The fish has elongated fins with dots and white borders. The tail is lyre-shaped. There are different variant of the fish which differ in colors. One of those is an albino variant. Male is larger than female. His fins are more elongated than female's fins.

Temperament and behaviour

This species is recommended for the beginner aquarists. Single fish is shy, so the fish prefers to live in groups. They stay in monogamous pairs. This species is territorial and a bit aggressive during the spawning season. It should be kept in single species aquarium. You should keep these fish with large species e.g. cichlids of the Cyprichromis, Julidochromis, Altolamprologus or other Neolamprologus genus in a general tank. This species likes to dig in the substrate but it doesn't damage plants.

Aquarium decoration

This fish prefers spacious tanks with soft substrate (e.g. sand), oxygen-rich water, effective filtration system and a lot of hiding-places among stones, rocks and caves. A partial water exchange should be done regularly. You should add small amount of sea salt to the water.

Breeding

This is an oviparous species. The fish stays in monogamous pairs within the group, occupies selected territory (it is usually a cave, pot or shell) and protect this territory against intruders. Female cleans the nest and lays up to 100 eggs. Male immediately fertilizes them. Female is in the nest all the time, male protects the territory. The eggs hatch after 2-3 days. The fry starts to swim and feed 7 days later. The parents and older siblings take care for younger fish. They together protect territory, clean the nest and eggs. In this way they can live several generations together.