SNAIL HOUSE CICLID | LAMPROLOGUS MULTIFASCIATUS

Lake Tanganyika is one of two Rift Lakes in Africa whose inhabitants are often kept by hobbyists. It’s different from Lake Malawi, where the inhabitants of Lake Tanganyika are mostly colorful. In fact, many of the inhabitants of Lake Tanganyika are unique and no less interesting than their cichlid relatives who come from Lake Malaw

One of the smallest cichlids in Lake Tanganyika… namely Neolamprologus brevis.

Well, N. brevis is a group of cichlids nicknamed Shell Dwellers because they live and breed in water snail snails in their habitat. For shelldweller cichlids, the conch shell is like a cave for breeding and spawning.

Well usually Shelldwelling cichlids are generally small in size, small enough to inhabit conch shells scattered in the open, and N. brevis is the only one- the only shelldwelling cichlid that can inhabit the same snail shell and only mate with male-female pairs. Because of this, N. brevis can inhabit areas where no other shelldweller is found or where empty snail shells are rarely found.

Well, N.brevis can be found throughout the Lake Tanganyika area and each area has a different variant. However, what is similar between these variants is that the male N. brevis only grows to a max size of 5 cm while the female only grows to 4 cm.

Physically, males and females of these fish may not be too different. It’s just that, male N. brevis tend to be slightly larger than the female and the color is also slightly different. N. brevis females have a yellow or golden yellow color that can distinguish them from males. Well, as I mentioned earlier, N, brevis is the only cichlid we know of today where males and females inhabit the same snail. Where there is danger, the smaller female cichlids will go into hiding first and then the males will follow. The snails they inhabit are usually not buried or covered in sand, although empty snails that have been left behind by other shelldwellers will be accepted as hiding places as well.

Empty snail shells that are often found in Lake Tanganyika are usually the largest former snails in the lake, namely Neothaumatanganicae which are scattered on the sandy or muddy bottom of the lake. Well, these snails are found almost everywhere in Lake Tanganyika, on the sandy beaches of the lake… in shallow water and in the depths of the lake too. N.brevis is usually found at depths of more than 5 meters in the lake, but Ad Konings, one of the explorers who often dives in Lake Malawi and Tanganyika often finds them also at a depth of 40 meters. Usually the snails that these fish inhabit must be some distance from each other, but they are also found in the shell bed where many of these empty snails have been there for a long time and seem to be glued by the limestone formed.

N.brevis is a plankton-eater and usually this pair of fish will stay in the middle of the water, not far from the snails to eat the plankton that passes. To keep this fish, it should be kept in a pair configuration and it is usually very easy to accept an empty snail shell as a home and spawning place.

Due to the very small size of this cichlid, a pair of N,brevis can be kept in tanks as small as 25 liters. But he is also suitable for Tanganyikan community tanks, as long as the other fish are not big enough to eat him. The shell dweller community is the best option for this fish, but if you have a tank that is not too big, a pair of N.brevis with snail shells is more than enough because the territory of this fish, no matter how small it is quite wide and can be 50-70 cm wide in radius . For a pair of N.brevis, an empty snail shell is a must. Don’t buy sea snail shells, and I understand that finding/buying Neothauma shells is very difficult.

The substrate that can be used is coarse sand and to make Shell-dweller community, one of the tankmates What I can suggest is Neolamprologus ocellatus and if you have a large enough tank and can dedicate space for shelldweller colony breeders, then N. multifasciatus can also be placed in this tank.

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