Tanganicodus irsacae
Tanganicodus irsacae or Tanganyika clownfish live in nature in the northern part of Lake Tanganyika. The fish can be found along the shoreline at a depth of less than 1 metre, usually among the rocks on the bottom. These fish are very rarely available for sale. These fish are probably the smallest of the bullhead cichlids.
Tanganicodus irsacae has a green-brown body colour with vertical red-yellow stripes. Neon spots are scattered chaotically over the body. The largest accumulation of spots is in the front part of the fish. The colouration of the fish depends heavily on the food they eat. The fish have teeth that they use to catch crustaceans and insect larvae from crevices among the rocks. Sexual differences are poorly expressed; males are usually slightly larger than females and have longer pectoral fins. The size of the fish reaches 7 cm.
Tanganicodus irsacae are territorial fish. Keep them in an aquarium volume of 100 liters, pairs or singly. It should be noted that the pair is formed for life and the fish never cheat on each other. If you want to keep multiple pairs of fish aquarium must be as large as possible.
The whole life of fish takes place in a particular area of the aquarium, among the beloved rubble of stones or mainsail. The male is constantly busy flirting with the female, then demonstrates its terrifying look plumping all their fins in front of an opponent.
Water parameters: temperature 24-28 ° C, hardness dH 8-25 °, pH 8,0-9,0. Strong aeration, filtration and weekly change of ¼ of the aquarium water with fresh water is required.
Use sand, coarse gravel and large stones as substrate. The stones should be placed so that between them formed splits.
The lighting must be strong to provoke algae growth, which the fish will be more than happy to nibble off wherever they grow.
The fish feed on algae growing on rocks and the walls of the aquarium. They also receive lettuce, spinach leaves and spirulina, which form the basis of their food. For a variety of fish, they are fed with minnows and frozen food.
Reproduction
Breeding fish is quite difficult, and this is primarily due to the difficulty of forming a strong pair. Buying a male and female does not guarantee that they will form a pair. Often the opposite happens, the male begins to pursue the female and if it is not set aside, can beat her to death. To form a pair, it is better to buy a group of young fish, among which over time will naturally create pairs.
Before spawning, the female picks up one of the large rocks and starts cleaning it of algae. Then the male swims up to the spawning site and the pair begins to swim around the rock. At one point, the female will hatch a few eggs, and the male will immediately fertilize them. The female then takes the eggs to her mouth. This continues until the female spawns completely.
The eggs incubate in the female's mouth for 15-19 days. During this time, she does not eat anything. Once the larvae have hatched, the female transfers them to the male's mouth.
For the first 2-3 days, the larvae feed on their yolk sacs. In the mouth of the male fry are about 5-8 days, after which the male releases them near the nest. The producers do not touch their young.
The fry are fed with artemia and a special dry food containing spirulina designed for cichlid fry. Feed the fry at least 4 times a day. Fry grow very slowly.
The Tanganicodus irsacae has a lifespan of about 3-4 years under aquarium conditions.
