Dimidiochromis compressiceps
Admittedly, representatives of Dimidiochromis compressiceps usually look a little grim. But that also gives them something unique and a certain “character.” With an estimated maximum age of 15 years, that is also an important criterion.
Males reach sexual maturity at around 18 cm, females at just over 16 cm. This occurs after approximately 18 to 24 months. At this size, these animals can consume prey fish measuring 5 cm. If the prey offered is too small, they will not hunt. Animals have also appeared on the market that were clearly recognizable as males at a body length of 10 cm. According to the dealer, these were hormone-treated Czech offspring.
They readily accept dead food pellets, but they must be moving. In my aquarium, food that lies on the bottom is rarely eaten. They will not eat the same food for more than three days in a row, so I change the food every day.
The final size of a female is around 20 centimeters, while males are significantly larger at 25 centimeters.
The aggression of these fish depends greatly on their mood and the other animals kept with them. The pair I care for is very friendly and does not bother the other species. However, there are also individuals that attack and drive away almost everything from their occupied territory. The occupied area in a 960-liter aquarium (200x60x80) is 120 cm wide, in a standard 576-liter aquarium it is about 140 cm wide, thus covering almost the entire aquarium. Considering that I have an extremely friendly pair that tolerates other cichlids in their territory, the specified minimum aquarium size of 200 cm in length remains the absolute minimum for keeping these animals.
The animals often stand quietly in the water and are not very aggressive when young. I cannot confirm reports that they bite out the eyes of other fish. I have never seen this happen in my breeding aquarium either. A notable feature of their feeding behavior is that they swallow live food fish with their tails facing forward.
Depending on their origin, the males develop a faint or strongly pronounced blue color over their entire body. This coloration increases as they get older. Females remain silver-colored with a horizontal dark stripe across the entire flank.
During courtship, the back and anal fin turn black with a red band and display a more powerful blue color. In older animals, these colors can also be seen outside of courtship, but they are less intense. Mating can take up to a day, and the female incubates the eggs at a water temperature of 24°C for about 23 days. When released, the young are already larger than a centimeter and clearly show the female’s longitudinal stripe, but they do not yet have the grim facial expression. There is no further brood care; after releasing the young, the female loses interest in them. She does not chase them on the first day either. I think this will remain the case for some time, but the females never try to take the young back into their mouths and therefore have to leave the grow-out aquarium. The number of young is between 50 and 70. They can be fed crayfish eggs or newborn guppies right away. However, they also often eat flake food. So, for me, the guppy females that are always present in the aquarium are nothing more than a change in diet.
In my opinion, Vallisneria should always be kept in the aquarium in order to observe hunting behavior that is as natural as possible. Dimidiochromis compressiceps hunts from ambush and dives from above or onto its prey. Among the Vallisneria, the females in particular, with their stripes and flattened body shape, are well equipped and you can observe the hunting very well. However, this behavior is quickly lost when the animals are only offered dry food and dead frozen food.
Additional images
Video
Author
Dag Holzhausen
Copyright images
Dag Holzhausen – Snoopdaggydag
Wimmels
Stanisław Gajaszek
