Haplochromis phytophagus
by Tony Jochman
Male Female
Commonly referred to as the Christmas fulu due to it’s Green and Red breeding dress, H. phytophagus is a medium-sized hap. from Lake Victoria, with males reaching a length of 4.5 inches and females a bit smaller. Given its smaller size you can easily house a small breeding group in a tank as small as 30-40 gallons.
Adequate shelter is necessary, as with all cichlids. This shelter is achieved is the form of bogwood and rocks. Shelters should be arranged to obscure the line of sight from one end of the tank to the other. Also a good choice for plants, if you like them, is Ceratophyllum sp. (Hornwort). Hornwort grows well and fast under good light and can be allowed to cover most of the surface area and form dense clumps around shelter. I really like using it, all you need to buy is a clump or two to start with and within weeks you will have plenty to cover your aquarium. The substrate can be either sand or smaller gravel, because the male WILL dig courtship and spawning pits. As for the water chemistries, they prefer hard water and a temperature between 77*-92* F.
Feeding the Christmas fulu is not a problem, they eat about anything. I feed them a diet of flake food, spirulina fakes, dried shrimp, dried bloodworms, dried water fleas, and cichlid pellets. Spirulina is a must to keep them from plant grazing.
The only thing easier than feeding them is breeding them! A male will quickly established its dominance in the tank. Any of the other males assumed a subdued color staying away from the dominant male territory. If any other fulu swim past or near the dominant male’s territory they are quickly chased away. The male then digs a spawning pit, and begins to court any ripe females. The ripe female, which is ready to spawn, follows the male into the pit. The male then presses his splayed anal fin with its bright eggspots against the bottom of the pit, enticing the female to begin spawning. Within a short time the female will lay eggs which are picked up immediately. After which the female also attempts to pick up the eggspots on the male’s anal fin, this is when the male releases sperm to fertilize the eggs in the female’s mouth. Spawning lasts about 30-45 minute and always seems to be early in the morning.
When spawning has been completed, the female leaves (or is chased from the pit area) to seek a quiet place to begin the 14-16 day buccal incubation period. During this time the female does not eat and tries to stay clear of the rest of the colony. The male, on the other hand, begins courting the next available female.
If one wishes to obtain fry in quantity from such efforts, the female should be removed from the breeding colony. It is best to wait until very near the end of the incubation period to move a brooding female. This is done for two reasons. First, fulu females seems less likely to spit fry in the later stages of incubation, and second, if they are spit during the move, the advanced development of the fry will increase their chances of surviving without further buccal incubation. The female should be caught in a brine shrimp net in the event the fry are released. If the fry are spit out, simply release the female back into the breeding aquarium and then transfer the fry to a smaller fry tank. Upon initial release fry are mobile and ready to begin feeding. They are easily reared on a diet of newly hatched brine shrimp and crushed flakes. Rearing problems can be minimized with a regular water changes, I try and do at least 30% weekly and filter maintenance monthly.
As you can now see, keeping and breading the Christmas fulu is not hard to do. It is also beneficial due to the fact that the fulu are extinct in Lake Victoria. If your looking to try these beautiful species, Randy (got me started on this) and a few other members I’m sure would love to set you up.