Trout Cichlid

About

The trout cichlid (Champsochromis caeruleus) is one of those fish that stops experienced hobbyists cold the moment they first see one in person. Endemic to Lake Malawi, it ranges widely across the lake, roaming open water and hunting over both rocky substrate and open sand. In the wild it leads a largely solitary existence, which partly explains why it shows up so infrequently in the trade. Collecting it consistently is genuinely difficult. Its elongate, torpedo-shaped body sets it apart from the other species in the genus, Champsochromis spilorhynchus, which is the most common source of confusion between the two. The name 'trout cichlid' is well earned: this fish is an active, open-water predator whose diet in the wild centers on smaller fish, and its widely spaced teeth and cavernous gape make that obvious at a glance. In the aquarium it gets along reasonably well with anything it cannot swallow, which as an adult narrows the field considerably. Bottom-dwelling Rift Lake species tend to make the best tankmates, while mbuna are generally a poor match. Males are territorial toward one another but can be kept with multiple females. Breeding follows the standard haplochromine maternal mouthbrooding pattern and has been achieved in the hobby, though not commonly. A well-kept adult male in breeding color is genuinely something to see.