A very popular fish in the 1980's, it is seen less frequently in the hobby today. It mixes very well with similar sized Lamprologines in the aquarium. In the wild it dine's primarily on insect larvae and crustaceans. In the aquarium their diet should be supplemented with mysis shrimp, krill, mosquito larvae, artemia (brine) shrimp or daphnia. This species shows strong conspecific aggression between the males, normally only one male per tank is recommended for adults. Spawning can take place in rocks, inverted flower pots, or even large shells in the aquarium. They should not be kept with most shell dwellers, as they have a habit of sticking their faces in the shells to suck out the brood. They've been known to (fatally) pull female shell dwellers out of the shells to achieve this.