General information - Tropheus kipili is a beautiful member of the

Tropheus genus and a member of the Tropheus brichardi. It's well

familiar vertical bands  is most common among females and juveniles,

while the males lose these stripes and have dark green or brown

colors.  The Tropheus kipili known by its astonishing bright turquoise

eyes and by its outstanding body colors. Like all its family it is known

to be very aggressive cichlid and some say that this species is more

aggressive then other tropheus species. To reduce aggression in the

tank, it is best to keep at least 15 Tropheus kipili together. Two males

can be kept together if the ratio is 7-8 females to each male.

Photo by: Philip

Scientific Name - Tropheus brichardi kipili 

Family – Cichlidae  

Origin – Africa, Lake Tanganika  

Size – up to 12 cm 

First discovered - Nelissen & Thys van den Audenaerde, 1975 

Nutrition - Herbivorous, in nature the Tropheus kipili scrape algae from rocks. In captivity it requires a

varied diet, quality veggie flakes should be supplemented with fresh and frozen green food. It can feed

with "light" frozen foods such as brine shrimp or daphnia 1-2 times a week but feeding it on a daily

basis or with rich protein foods such as bloodworms can lead to Malawi bloat or to internal parasites. 

Behavior - Aggressive 

Maintenance and care - This beautiful cichlid should be kept in groups in large aquariums. The

aquarium should be decorated with lot of rocks that creates a lot of hiding places but also requires

plenty of room to swim. The tank can be decorated with only few rocks that placed randomly in the

tank. To be accurate the tank can be decorated with heavy rock formation or with 3-4 rocks but poor

rock formation can cause to territorial fights.     

Water Parameters – Temperature: 24C-27C, PH: 8-9, dGH: 8-20 

Breeding - Tropheus kipili is mouthbrooders. The female will take the unfertilized eggs in her mouth;

eggs will be fertilized after the male release his milt into her mouth. This process occurs when the

female followthe male very close to his anal fin, the male have spots on this fin. Female kipili lays