Lemon Cichlid

Geographic Origin and Biotope: Lake Tanganyika. Frequents crevices, deep sheer walls and dark rocky caves between 15 and 40 meters deep (dimly lit).

Taxonomy and Morphology: Lemon Cichlid (Neolamprologus leleupi). Elongated rupicolous cichlid, mouth oriented upwards (like a predator) and large and very mobile eyes to hunt in the dark.

Social Behavior: Malignant and intolerant. It is a solitary stalker: it identifies the weak point of other fish and attacks them, especially conspecifics. It sees yellow conspecifics as death threats and flushes them out of their dens to mutilate them.

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Living light bulb. Presents a blinding solid lemon yellow (or orange yellow) coloration, useful for camouflage (in nature at 30m depth yellow appears invisible gray-green). The lips often have an ice blue outline.

Aquarium Setup: Dark rocks. To enhance the radioactive yellow color, use dark backgrounds, black lava rocks and very fine amber/white sand. Narrow dens are mandatory.

Diet and Feeding: Pure carnivore. Eater of snails, invertebrates and others' eggs. Likes bloodworms and brine shrimp. Administer foods rich in carotene and astaxanthin (or krill) to prevent the yellow from fading.

Water Quality: Sensitive to organic accumulation. Hard, hyper-basic and above all clean water. High nitrates will cause widespread black spots (stress) on its yellow coat, ruining it aesthetically.

Compatibility and Tankmates: Very bad with its own kind. In 100 cm (40 inches) you can keep ONLY one (or a tested pair, which could still break up). Excellent for color contrast with Frontosa, Altolamprologus or Julidochromis (since they have different patterns and colors).

Aquarium Reproduction: Constrictive. If you want to form a pair, insert 6 very young ones and let them kill/select each other as they grow, until the alpha pair remains (which will lay 150 eggs in a cave).

Risks and Diseases: Food/light fading. The Leleupi easily loses its bright yellow, becoming a "dirty mustard" color if kept on a white bottom with dazzling lights (mimetic factor) or if fed with foods poor in crustaceans.