Brichardi Cichlid - Profile

Scientific Name(s)	: Neolamprologus Brichardi
Common Name(s)	: Fairy Cichlid Brichardi, Lyretail Cichlid
Family	: Cichlidae
Species Type:	: African Cichlids, Lake Tanganyika
Maximum Size	: 8 inches
Natural Habitat	: Lake Tanganyika
Minimum Tank Size	: 20 gallons
Tank Region	: All over
Temperature Range	: 72°F – 77°F
pH Range	: 8.0 – 9.0
Hardness	: 9° - 19°
Temperament	: Peaceful to Aggressive depending upon tank mates

Description:

Neolamprologus brichardi is an enchantingly beautiful cichlid endemic to the northern parts of Lake Tanganyika. It is named Fairy Cichlid in English due to its otherworldly appearance, and Scandinavian aquarists call it “Prinsessan av Burundi” (the Princess of Burundi).

When keeping Neolamprologus brichardi, it is important to be really careful and focused during netting, because these fishes truly hate being netted and will do anything to avoid it. They are highly skilled when it comes to avoiding capture and once they have been startled, they will squeeze themselves into the smallest possible space in the aquarium and stay there until they feel safe again. They can also try to evade you by jumping out of the aquarium and may injure them selves in the process. 

Aquarium Setup:

The Brichardi Cichlid likes an aquarium with a lot of decorations, especially those that provide cave like hiding places, where each fish can stake out a territory. In the wilds of Lake Tanganyika the Brichardi inhabits small caves near the shoreline along a rocky bottom. You should also provide plenty of open water space for swimming as they like to move around a lot. Keep this in mind when you arrange your aquarium.

Brichardi Cichlids have a tendency to dig so be sure that larger rocks are well anchored or they may overturn them and harm themselves. Any plants should also be firmly anchored or this fish will uproot them.

Diet:
The Brichardi Cichlid will feed on nearly all types of flakes or frozen foods. Cichlid pellets are best when combined with occasional live brine shrimp, but you may use other flake foods that are high in nutritional value.

Housing Brichardi:

The easiest way of getting Neolamprologus brichardi to breed in captivity is to house a large group of juveniles together and let them grow up together. As they reach sexual maturity, they will start forming their own pairs.

Neolamprologus brichardi can reach a length of 8.5 cm, but as long as they are juveniles you can house over 20 specimens in an 80 liter aquarium. Eventually, the ones who become dominant males will divide the aquarium into different territories, while the submissive males will do their best to stay out of trouble. The females will join the dominant males and form breeding groups. As long as the submissive males do not challenge the dominant ones, the aquarium will be quite a peaceful place. If several couples start breeding in the same aquarium, that is not a problem, because each group will defend their own territory without being exceptionally violent towards other fish. Sometime fry can even be seen moving from their own parent group to another parent group. If you manage to get one group of fish to spawn, it will often trigger spawning in all the other groups as well.

Neolamprologus brichardi will appreciate a well decorated aquarium where it is easy to claim small territories. Add coal mounds or similar to form great spawning sites. Keep the pH-value in the 8.0-9.0 range, the water hardiness between dH 9 and 19 and the water temperature from 22 to 25 degrees C. Feed them plenty of nutritious food, e.g. high-quality cichlid pellets combined with live brine shrimp.

Tank Mates/Community:

The Brichardi Cichlid is very peaceful when it is among other Brichardis, however, they can become very aggressive when mixed with other fish, especially other Lake Tanganyika Cichlids. If you have a large aquarium (35 gallons or bigger) a single Brichardi will often coexist peacefully with other non-aggressive fish. If you have a pair of Brichardis they will terrorize any other fish in the tank.

Fish owners often make the mistake of assuming that since the small Brichardis they just bought seem to be getting along that things will be OK. Unfortunately, when the fish mature problems often begin with aggressiveness and fighting.

Color:
The Brichardi Cichlid is a beautiful fish and is very different in appearance from most other African Cichlids. It is a tan color with small yellow markings near the base of the tail fin. The fins are trimmed with a bluish white edge. A dark colored bar runs horizontally from the eye to gill covering, just above the bar is a brightly colored gold spot. There is, most often, a striking pattern of blues below its eyes extending from the lip to the gill covering.

Breeding:
The Brichardi is one of the easiest of the Lake Tanganyika cichlids to breed. Pairs are monogamous, remaining together for life. The Brichardi is a cave spawner so if you intend to breed them be sure they have appropriate cave-like areas in which to lay their eggs.

A pair of Brichardis can produce about 100 fry. They are good parents and will care for the fry for several months. The fry can be fed brine shrimp and crushed flakes.

It is interesting to note that the Brichardi is the only known African fish with which an entire community takes part in the rearing of the young. In their “collective nursery” system adults and young fry will cooperate to care for the new fry.

 

Spawning:

During spawning, the couple will force themselves into a crevice and spawn inside. It is therefore hard to witness the actual spawning, but you can get a clue from how the rest of their group reacts. If a group suddenly becomes much more territorial than before, a couple within the group has most likely spawned in the aquarium. Do not loose heart if the first batch of eggs becomes eaten. The second batch will normally be raised okay and the first batch of egg will often serve to make the other fish groups interested in spawning.   

Fry rearing:

Newly hatched fry is really small but can be fed microworms and powdered flake food as soon as they become free swimming. Within the group, all he females can act as if they are caring for the fry, not only the mother. Older fry can also stay around to help out (or appear to help out) with new batches, even though this can make the spawning couple somewhat agitated.