World Cichlids Fish of the Month October 2003 - The African Humphead Cichlid

Although it has been known in the hobby since long, the African Humphead cichlid aka Buffalohead, African Blockhead or Lionhead, is not seen as often in the aquarium as some other more popular cichlid species. The reason for this might be the somewhat drab colouration and relatively small size, but Humpheads make up for that with their interesting behaviour and individual personality.

They can be considered dwarf cichlids: Males usually grow to a size of 10-12 cm / 4-5 inches SL, with an elongated body, females stay smaller. The colouration is usually dark grey to brown, sometimes displaying brighter vertical stripes, depending on their mood and environment. The fins are transparent/body colouration. Fry display a prominent dark spot on their dorsal fins. The iris is a bright greenish blue. Adult males develop the nuchal hump that gave them the name, which will stay much smaller on females.

juvenile humphead

In the wild, these West African cichlids live near or in the rapids of the Congo/Zaire river bassin. As a result of this, they have a poorly developed swim bladder and stay in the still water bottom zones of the fast flowing rivers. In the aquarium, they can often be seen sitting on the tank bottom or decoration, resting on their ventral fins and tail, or swimming in jerky moves which looks more like hopping and gives them a somewhat "cute" appearance. Which doesn't mean they can't swim like other fish at all - they can if necessary, and fast!

All in all - despite of their lack of striking colours - their unusual appearance and antics, ease of keeping and breeding, and, last but not least, individual character make them interesting aquarium cichlids, well worth a try.

Aquarium Setup

A tank for African Humpheads should be of a minimum size of 120 litres / 30 US gallons for a single pair. Since these cichlids live in the bottom region, the height of the tank doesn't play an important role though.

They are quite undemanding regarding general water parameters: A pH around neutral, a medium hardness and a temperature range of 25-28° C / 77-82° F will do fine. They will accept quite a wide range of pH and hardness. Mine regularly breed at a pH of 7.8, a KH of ~12, and a temperature of 26° C / 79° F.

adult male, hiding

The substrate can be small river rocks, rounded gravel or sand; these cichlids don't dig much except for in and around their caves when breeding. A rounded substrate prevents the fish from hurting themselves when digging. A darker substrate may help them lose their shyness, the same goes for subdued lighting.

The tank should be well decorated with items that can be used as caves and hiding places, e.g. river rocks, slate caves, flower pots or half coconut shells. Every specimen should have some place of its own for hiding. Make sure the constructions are stable so they won't crash when the fish may dig.

Planting the tank is possible and recommended; they may even benefit from the additional hiding places provided by the plants and act less shy. Sometimes they may nip at plants though. Anubias species and African water fern (Bolbitis heudelotii) like in their natural habitat make good plants for this kind of tank, also Amazonas Swords, Java fern and other quite hardy plants. The area around the breeding cave should be left unplanted, else the plants will most likely get uprooted by the cichlids at breeding times.

According to the conditions in their natural habitat, these fish appreciate a current in the upper tank region (not in the bottom region), so a strong filter, the additional use of a powerhead or similar is recommended for water movement.

Efficient filtration and proper tank maintenance are essential. Like most fish from fast flowing waters, they require well oxygenated water and are very sensitive to any levels of ammonia or nitrites and high nitrate levels.

Feeding

These fish will readily accept most kinds of food. But since they prefer to stay near the tank bottom, floating food is not the best choice. Plant matters should make the main part of their diet, like algae (preferably spirulina), spinach, lettuce or similar vegetable food, and they may even decide that the occasional aquarium plant makes a good dessert (I'm speaking from experience). Feeding live or frozen food as a treat doesn't seem to have any ill effects. Industrially produced food like pellets, flakes - eventually presoaked, granules, wafers, tablets etc. can be fed as well.

Breeding

female with fry

Breeding them is quite easy under the appropriate conditions, and may occur every 6 to 8 weeks.

Humpheads are strictly monogamous - once a pair has formed, they will stay together in a lifelong partnership and not accept any new partners. So it is said. Since every rule has an exception, I once experienced two females fighting over breeding rights, and the male would readily accept the winner as his new partner although he had had a batch of fry already with the other female. They were quite young by then though, maybe this changes once they get older. They might start breeding already at a size as small as 5 cm / 2 inches.

Spawning takes place in a cave, so they should be provided with a cave built of rocks, slate or similar, or a flowerpot placed upside down in the tank, with a hole just big enough for them to get in, and enough gravel left in there for some digging. After some quite unspectacular mating rituals like a bit of gill flaring and tail slapping, the 30 to 150 relatively large eggs are depositted under the top of the cave and guarded mainly by the male. They are said to be sensitive to light, so don't get tempted to give in to your curiousity.

The first time the fry can actually be seen is in most cases when the parents start bringing the fry out into the open during day once they have reached the free swimming stage. By then, they will already have reached a size of about 1 cm / 3/8 inch. Usually mainly the female guides the young while the male protects the territory. Both parents will take the fry back into the cave in the evening for some weeks. They make excellent parents. Older siblings still swimming in the tank will be tolerated and won't bother the new fry as long as they are beyond breeding age.

The fry can be fed newly hatched brine shrimps, crushed flakes and other small sized food or will get fed by the parents; mine get mainly flakes, spirulina tablets, occasionally animal based food in jelly, and can even be seen scraping algae off the glass and plant leaves.