LAKE TANGANYIKA CICHLIDS:
Like Malawi, Tanganyika is one of Africa's Rift Valley lakes.
Also, like Lake Malawi, it is a source of supply for numerous species of cichlids for the aquarium hobby, with more than 175 species identified so far and many more that are not yet.
The water in Lake Tanganyika is especially hard and alkaline with a pH ranging between 8.6 and 9.2.
Although many of the species can be found among the rocks, there are also many others that prefer sandy bottoms and also some that prefer to swim freely in open water.
NUTRITION:
Most species will accept prepared aquarium foods as well as live foods.
In Lake Tanganyika is the largest cichlid, the BOULENGEROCHROMIS MICROLEPIS , which reaches up to 90 cm in length or more.
Lake Tanganyika also provides some of the smallest cichlids, species that do not grow larger than 3.5 cm and live in snail shells.
These shell dwellers have become very popular with the hobby and are all the rage.
Also in Lake Tanganyika you can find small cichlids that act in a very similar way to marine gobys and that, for this reason, have received the name of goby cichlid.
They are members of the genera Spathodus, Eretmodus, and Tanganicodus .
The largest genus in the lake is the Lamprologus , whose more than 40 species provide a good number of the fish preferred by aquarists, including L. brichardi, L. compressiceps. L. sexfasciatus and shell dwellers.
One genus, Julidochromis , includes only half a dozen species but all of these have been imported and become popular with hobbyists.
One of the real challenges of Lake Tanganyika is the Cyphotilapia frontosa, a spectacular fish that is very expensive and for which, even when it has been bred occasionally, there is more demand than can be met.
Perhaps the most preferred species among those from Lake Tanganyika is the cichlid Tropheus moorii, which. along with its relatives, it has developed a myriad of color varieties that are being imported as rapidly as they are being discovered.
Unlike the abundance of mouthbrooders in Lake Malawi, most cichlids imported from Lake Tanganyika are substrate layers.
These fish, especially the Lamprologus, lay in the typical way of most cichlids, after the nuptial parade and the cleaning of a point in the substrate, the female lays a string of eggs and the male follows behind, fertilizing them. .
Once the female has completely emptied, she or the male, or both at the same time, will mount a guard next to the eggs until the fry hatch and they can swim without difficulty.
