Tropheus duboisi White-spotted Cichlid

Tropheus duboisi is a stocky, rock-grazing cichlid from Lake Tanganyika. Juveniles are jet black covered in bright white spots, and as they mature the spots fade and a broad pale band develops across the body — the adult and the juvenile look like two different fish. They are compelling animals to keep, and they are also unforgiving of two specific mistakes: the wrong diet and the wrong group size.

Aquarium care

• Adults reach roughly 12 cm and are heavily built for their length.
• A herbivore. It must be fed a low-protein, vegetable-based diet; rich or meaty foods commonly lead to fatal digestive problems.
• Keep a large group, in the order of a dozen or more, so aggression is spread rather than focused on one fish.
• Needs hard, alkaline, well-oxygenated water and strong filtration.
• Requires substantial rockwork and a tank with real footprint.
• Aggressive toward its own kind, and not a beginner's cichlid.

Best kept as a single-species group, or with other robust Tanganyikan rock dwellers in a large tank. Do not mix them with fish that need protein-rich food, since feeding the tank correctly for one means feeding it wrongly for the other. Ask our staff about group sizing before buying.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is available for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. Browse the Tanganyikan collection.