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Lake Tanganyika - a unique reservoir - keeps a lot of mysteries and mysteries. The ichthyofauna of the lake is also unusual. Many fish resemble the inhabitants of a coral reef in their appearance, not only by color, but also by behavior, using the manner of marine fishes that move through a denser environment than their freshwater counterparts. Graceful movements of the tanganic cichlids, features of their biology, have found a response in the hearts of many both beginners and experienced aquarists. By their unusual habits, the endemics of local waters have been fascinated by more than one generation of Russian amateurs.
Tanganyikts of some species are successfully bred in captivity, others are less common and available. Representatives of many such species, briefly flashed in private aquariums, disappear from aquarium practice, leaving their admirers with a seal of regret and a desire to at least in the future to get these fish in their home collection.
Aquaritists-cichlids of our country for a long time contain and successfully bred representatives of the genus telomochromis (Telmatochromis) - mostly "dogs" T.burgeoni, T. temporalis. Often, these species are confused, since the appearance of fish is strikingly similar: a grayish-black "rectangular" body, a mesh pattern on it and the decoration of males - a fatty growth, a "forehead" on the head. An additional confusion is the possible spontaneous hybridization of telomatochromis. The spawn of a fish is rushed to a stone slit or to a shell that has been freed from the shellfish, hence the name: "shell dog".
Not all beginning lovers of the ichthyofauna of Tanganyika know that the genus Telmatochromis is not so unimportant, and besides the above, it includes several more species of fish of a completely different form and color. It is a group of "striped" telomatochromis consisting of T.bifrenatus, T.brichardi, T.vittarus. Some aquarists know them from photographs, but few have actually seen them, since these fish were imported into our country only in 1975 and, having flashed, quickly disappeared without leaving the offspring, according to my information.
I have long dreamed of enriching my home collection with representatives of at least one type of "striped" telomatochromis. It must be said that these fish differ significantly in color and appearance from the stereotypical image of telomatochromis. Their body is long, strongly elongated, compressed laterally. Coloration yellowish, with a long longitudinal black stripe (or stripes, depending on the species) from head to tail. A small mouth testifies to peacefulness, and the unusual appearance - about an interesting biology.
For a long time I tried unsuccessfully to find this species, but many of the respondents did not even know what was being discussed. In the catalogs offered for sale tangangike cichlids from western importing firms several times the fish that interest me appeared, but when ordering, the refusal in delivery followed with a reference to objective reasons.
Only in the autumn of 1999 I managed to get the long-awaited parcel. Small, narrow and rather skinny fish looked more like the shortened tropical weed acanthophthalmus. True, small bloodworms and coracles are still there, but for another two weeks I fed them with nauplius Artemia.
There came a species called T.bifrenatus, although it was clear that this was not true. In double-stranded telomatochromis, as the name implies, there should be two bands on the body, but here, in spite of the apparent exhaustion, only one was seen. Therefore, I decided that this, in all likelihood, is the telomochromism of Brishard.
The fish were placed in a 100-liter aquarium together with Chalinochromis "ndobnoi" at dGH 8-12 degrees, pH 7.2 - 8.5, temperature 25-28 degrees C felt pretty good, they happily absorbed any live food and their dry Analogues. Probably, the fish were slightly "tightened" or were earlier under the pressure of the leaders, because, despite the relatively small volume of the aquarium, they grew 2 cm in the first week, a little resounding and in breadth. I must say that the "unattached" tangantiktsy when placed in a spacious volume do not give such a sharp increase - the boy develops smoothly and imperceptibly.
By winter, the leader reached 7 - 8-centimeter in size, and the smallest individual - 5 - 6-centimeter. As the fish grew, I became convinced that this telomochromism of Brishard was somehow different. Comparing the appearance of their pets with illustrations in Western publications, I noticed that something in their appearance is lacking, and something, on the contrary, is superfluous.
Having taken the next excursion into the special literature, I found in one of the newest editions of "my" telomatochromis. The conjecture was embodied in confidence: I became the owner of T.vittarus, with a very rare variety and coloring: adult fish, besides the longitudinal one, also have numerous transverse bands, forming a mesh pattern. And indeed, the mesh that appeared slightly on the body of adolescents took on more and more clear and distinct outlines as they grew older.
Soon the fish began to fall into pairs. Of course, I wanted to breed such an interesting view. But their behavior gave the fish to understand that they lack something - some nuance, some trifles. After many hours of observation, it seemed to me that the spawning shelters provided to the fish were not suitable. Leaders clearly preferred narrow slatted slabs, which were not enough in the aquarium, as a result, the struggle for favorable territory introduced unnecessary nervousness and distracted potential producers from the forthcoming spawning.
I changed the configuration and form of the shelters, added more narrow plate-like components, and the long-awaited spawning took place.
On the bezvlyaznoy vanity of the couple inside their "cave" I realized that the spawning took place. Without risking losing such a long-awaited caviar (a kind of compensation for the years of searches), I gently transferred the substrate with compact masonry to the incubator with two aeration points through the sponge filters, added methylene blue to the water and waited. Two days later the whole caviar was lost.
After waiting for the next spawning, I, following all precautions, again took the eggs to the rider. This time everything went well. There were few burnt calves, and five days later about two dozen larvae were already hanging, slightly rocking, on the substrate. Ten days later, frying on specially placed small stones and pieces of coral, fry caught catching the nauplius of Artemia and Cyclops. Despite the excellent appetite, they grow quite slowly. The young have a net-gray color and still little resemblance to their parents.
As I suspected, the fish were quite peaceful and quite communicative. They can be populated to any aquarium community of similar behavior and needs. According to the literary data, the lifetime of telomochromis in captivity is 5 to 7 years.


S. Elochkin Moscow Aquarium № 2, 2000