Sardine cichlid

The sardine cichlid is a slender, open-water schooling cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, where huge shoals drift above rocky drop-offs feeding on plankton. Males develop electric blue, yellow, or blue-tailed colour forms, while the school constantly hovers and displays in midwater. Unusually peaceful for a cichlid, it must be kept in a group of at least eight, and ideally a dozen or more, in a tall tank that offers ample open swimming space above a rocky backdrop. It is a specialised planktivore, so feed small frequent portions of finely crushed flake, cyclops, and baby brine near the surface and midwater. Provide hard, alkaline, oxygen-rich, immaculate water. A maternal mouthbrooder that broods in open water, it combines beautifully with Tanganyikan rock and shell dwellers below it.