Profundicula Cichlid

About

Dredged from the shadowy depths of Lake Malawi, Alticorpus profundicola is one of the more obscure cichlids to occasionally surface in the trade. This species is endemic to Malawi and has been recorded primarily off the Nkota Kota coastline, typically at depths between 55 and 125 meters, with some specimens collected from as deep as 159 meters. That extreme depth range tells you a lot about how little most hobbyists will ever encounter it in the wild, and survey data confirms it turns up only irregularly even for researchers. Because so much of its natural life plays out far below the photic zone, solid behavioral observations are hard to come by. What we do know is that it's a carnivore, which fits the pattern of many deep-dwelling cichlids that target invertebrates and smaller fish in low-light conditions. In the aquarium it should be treated as a standard Lake Malawi cichlid in terms of water chemistry. Hard and alkaline conditions are essential. At up to six inches it needs decent space and a setup that respects its origins. This is one for the dedicated Malawi enthusiast rather than a casual beginner, partly due to limited husbandry documentation and partly because sourcing specimens at all is genuinely difficult.