Cyphotilapia

Tanganyikan Cichlids

Cyphotilapia is a small genus of cichlids endemic to lake Tanganyika, with C. frontosa being roughly confined to the northern half of the lake and C. gibberosa being roughly confined to the southern half of the lake. These are a mouth brooding cichlid with a rather small batch of fry each spawn. The mother will hold the fry in her mouth for about 3-4 weeks before finally releasing about 30-70 fry. These are a slow growing fish taking up to 6 years to reach sexual maturity. Even then the female will most likely eat her first 2-4 spawns of fry. Your best hopes of breeding these expensive cichlids is to purchase 1 male and 4 females. The male can grow to 16 inches and females about 10 inches. They can live up to 25 years.