Neolamprologus Brichardi

[Endgame319]

I bought my friends breeding pair of brichardi for my hex, do they have any special requirements or do you have any comments on them?

 

[Menagerie]

I bought two brichardi and they are currently raising fry. I asked them not to, but they did it any way
They will need a cave and may find a 10 gal hex a bit crapped. I have mine in a 20 with lots of rock and a sand substrate. They do excavate--pretty much all the substrate has been moved to suite the needs of this growing family

 

[Endgame319]

They are still quite young - a little under 2 inches, and they spend a lot of time in the little cave I put in there. Breeding maybe?

 

[Menagerie]

Mine were (are) smallish. I originally had them in my community tank--mistake! They took over the log decoration and nipped at my rams. My male is now a 1/2" bigger than the female, who is only 2", not including the tail. Mine spent a ton of time excavating and just being together. I never noticed she was gravid and then all of a sudden, there were free swimming fry!!
Just be patient!

 

[madasafish]

Do you know about Lake Tanganyika (where they come from) and its pH and water hardness? If not, read up. These guys require a pH between 8 and 9!

 

[AdamsZoological]

N. brichardi do come from a lake with a very alkaline pH. I've seen brichardi live, breed, and flourish in a neutral pH, but their colors, behavior, and overall health is much better in a higher pH, and I agree, 10gal will be a bit tight.

 

[Endgame319]

They will be moving to the 25g soon as I am moving all of those current occupants into my new 55, what other fish could go in there with them? How about a few lemon cichlids?

 

[bound_for_obx]

I have kept Brichardi and daffodils off and on for the past 20 years. They do very well if you use crushed coral mixed into the substrate to help buffer the water. They also like a little African Rift Valley Salts mixed in as well. (Add the salt a little at a time) Once the fry are free swimming you can start them off on baby brine shrimp. An interesting note... At one point had Julidochromus Transcriptus and Brichardi cross-breed. I was only able to raise five of the offspring to adulthood. The fry were quite striking...similar in shape to Brichardi with extended fin tips and a faint black and white checkerboard pattern on their bodies. I was never able to breed the offspring. At the time, the guy at the local pet store said it was not unheard of for Tanganyikans to cross breed but it is pretty rare. He also said the offspring are usually sterile.

 

[Menagerie]

As fas as tank mates, I would stick to other Lake Tang cichlids and not mix them with Malawi cichlids. However, I will caution you--if these two are breeding, they will take over the whole tank. I had mine in a 50 gal and they were not fond of their very docile neighbors.
A good tank mate that won't get bothered too much (provided there is lots of hhiding may be Synodontis sp from Lake Tang. The ones I have reach 4-5" in length and for Synodontis, they are nice looking.