Zebra Tilapia / Hornet

Geographic Origin and Biotope: Coastal rivers of West Africa (Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone). Prefers large river expanses and rapid streams, swimming in neutral open waters.

Taxonomy and Morphology: Zebra Tilapia / Hornet Cichlid (Heterotilapia buttikoferi). Formerly belonged to the genus Tilapia (food fish). It has an armored morphology, a very tall 30+ cm (12+ inches) disc, a prognathous snout and powerful rock-crushing jaws.

Social Behavior: Murderous fury and psychopathy. It is widely considered among the 5 meanest cichlids on planet Earth. Once an adult (30 cm / 12 inches), it will consider the entire tank, even 2 meters (6.5 feet) long, its exclusive property, massacring and dismembering any other fish.

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Flashy: cream-white background with 8 very powerful and thick contrasting pitch-black vertical bands (Zebra). In heat the male lights up, while when scared he becomes muddy gray. Males are gigantic compared to females.

Aquarium Setup: Armored rocky aquarium (minimum 180 cm / 72 inches for a single specimen or pair). The rocks must not rest on the sand, but must be siliconed to the bottom glass! They are bulldozers that uproot and move 2 kg (4.5 lbs) stones for play, often breaking the aquarium glass by mistake.

Diet and Feeding: Tireless omnivore. Literally eats anything that falls into the water: whole prawns with shells, snails (which it crushes), large pleco tablets, leaves and huge pellets. Must be fed to satiety or they will devour tankmates.

Water Quality: Extremely robust. They tolerate thermal shocks, dirty water (although they suffer from extreme nitrates) and very hard values. The problem is their incredible organic load, which requires professional pond filters.

Compatibility and Tankmates: INCOMPATIBLE WITH EVERYTHING. Do not put it with small or medium fish. The only timid hopes are 2000 liter (500 gallon) tanks with colossal monsters like Arowanas, Pacus or large Astronotus (which often end up skinned anyway).

Aquarium Reproduction: Extremely prolific. Lays up to 1500 eggs on rock; the male defends the territory with blind rage, hurling himself against the glass to bite the aquarist's fingers, often chipping his mouth. Mating often ends with the female murdered if she does not have unfindable refuges.

Risks and Diseases: The unwanted monster. Thousands of these fish, bought cute at 4 cm (1.5 inches), destroy 100% of the community aquarium in 3 months and end up returned to the store (which refuses to take them back) or abandoned in rivers.