FreshwaterBrackish
Redbreast tilapia
Coptodon rendalli
Cichlidae, Pseudocrenilabrinae
Facts
Characteristics
- Length
- Up to 45 cm
- Body shape
- Streamlined
Care
- Group
- Missing
- Smallest aquarium
- 2,028 liters
- Diet
- Missing
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Behavior
Water values
Smallest tank
Range
NativeIntroduced
Lives wild in Angola, Botswana, Congo - Kinshasa, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and 3 more countries.
Introduced to Antigua & Barbuda, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Congo - Brazzaville, Cuba, and 18 more countries.
More about the species
Description
It prefers quiet, well-vegetated water along river littorals or backwaters, floodplains and swamps. They are tolerant of a wide range of temperatures (8-41°C) and salinities. Forms schools; is mainly diurnal. Juveniles feed on plankton; adults feed on leaves and stems of underwater plants as well as algae, and vegetative detritus, insects and crustaceans. A substrate spawner; male and female form pairs to rear the young; eggs and larvae are usually guarded in a steep-side circular pit dug in the mud. Occasionally it spawns in large cave-like structures, e.g. in Lake Malawi they are reported to dig a network of tunnels at some sites. Make excellent eating. Widely exploited in fisheries and aquaculture.
Other names
Other scientific names
- Chromis rendalli
- Chromis rendallii
- Tilapia christyi
- Tilapia druryi
- Tilapia gefuensis
- Tilapia kirkhami
In other languages
- Punarintatilapia
- Blue tilapia, Congo perch, Congo tilapia, Northern redbreast bream, Red-breasted bream, Red-breasted tilapia, Redbreasted bream, Rendall's redbreast tilapia
Articles
All articles
How to set up an African aquarium5 min read
Two completely different aquariums: forest rivers with soft, brown water, roots and leaves, and Rift Valley lake cichlids in hard, alkaline water with big rock piles.
How to add new fish4 min read
From the store to the tank: how to get the fish used to your water, why you should add only a few at a time, and what to watch for in the first few days.
Quarantine for new fish3 min read
Why new fish should live in a tank of their own for a few weeks before they move in, what you need, and what to look for.
Ich (white spot)4 min read
The most common disease in aquarium fish. How to recognize it, why it shows up, and how to get rid of it.