Only comparatively rarely Telmatochromis vittatus from Lake Tanganyika can be found in the trade, despite the fact that this dwarf cichlid – it becomes only about 8.5 cm long – is perfectly suited for keeping and breeding in home aquaria. Maybe this is due to the fact that the fish look somewhat similar but not as brillant as Julidochromis species.
Keeping this fish is easy and can be compared with that of the several Lamprologus species. Like these, T. vittatus is a biparental cave brooder which is kept best by pair. Males become larger than females and develop a small hump on the head. The aquarists dedicted to T. vittatus like it very much due to the fact that this fish loves to feed on small snails. This led to the misleading popular name „Striped Snail Telmatochromis“. However, hobbyists think that a snail cichlid is a species that prefers to breed in empty snail shells; T. vittatus does not usually.
For our customers: the fish have code 576542 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
