These dwarf cichlids from Lake Tanganyika have been about in Australia for some time (so I’ve been told). The were first documented in 1899 by Boulenger as “a shell-dwelling fish which displaces substantial volumes of gravel and substrate in the process of maintaining its shelter”.-Loiselle.
This dwarf cichlid is at least as interesting as many others that I have kept and bred. Their bi-parental guarding of the spawning site – a large Diachanthius shell from any east coastal rock platform in Australia – makes them probably more fascinating.
Adult males grow to 6 cm, females to 4.5 cm. They have a brown-fawn solid colour, the males show some whitish-yellow stripes throughout the caudal peduncle, and the females have blotches of the same colour.
The dorsal fin of the male is yellow- or orange-tipped with blue barring near the eyes. The fish are easily sexed by colour and size at 3-4 months post spawning.
These fish are best kept in pairs in 40 litre tanks with numerous shells and shell-grit on the bottom. I feed them good flake food and some daphnia and wrigglers when available. The tank is kept at 26°C and the hardness of the water is maintained by the use of carbonate based buffers. pH is maintained in the range of 7.6 to 7.8.
I started with four fish, two larger and two smaller from the same brood, but soon found out within ten days that I had one male and three females. The smaller two females were eliminated by the “pair” that proceeded to defend (against some bristlenose catfish) a shell, which was relatively large for their 3 – 5 cm. long bodies.
The pair settled into breeding within two months and the first fry was sighted some seven days after spawning. The size of the spawns have varied from 8 to 30. The fry are 3 – 4 mm long and very slender when they are released from the shell. I experimented with different foods – liquid fry food, crushed pellets, flake food and brine shrimp. The secret to success was live brine shrimp. The fry grew quite slowly at first, taking about four to five weeks to grow up to 1 cm., then some time later they started to thicken in the body and take on the appearance of their parents in colour and shape.
Unlike Neolamprologus ocellatus, Neolamprologus calliurus and Neolamprologus multifasciatus, which usually use individual shells for shelter, these fish co-habit the same shell when paired and defend this as their territory. They are step-breeders, with flurries of 3 – 5 spawns in a three month period. Once released the fry are independent of the parents and inhabit other shells in groups or individually.
Neolamprologus brevis are shy fish, which get to “know” their keeper – only displaying when nobody else is near the tank. Otherwise the fish are robust and good parents. They need only an empty shell, a small tank with clear, well aerated, hard water.