Appearance: This variant is famous for its yellow/gold coloration (often referred to as the "Gold Compressiceps").
Compared to A. calvus, A. compressiceps has a shorter jaw, upward-pointing mouth, more prominent vertical bars, and fewer spots.
Its flat body allows it to hunt in very narrow rock crevices.
Size: Males grow up to 15 cm, while females are significantly smaller, reaching only 9 cm.
Habitat (Biotop): Rocky coastal environments at depths of 1 to 15 meters.
Growth: Like all Altolamprologus, they are very slow-growing fish.
Tank Size: Minimum 200 liters.
Setup: Provide plenty of rocks arranged to create caves and narrow passages. A lid is essential as they are known to jump.
Social Structure: Best kept as a single pair or in a group of at least 7 in a large enough tank to manage intra-specific male aggression.
Tank Mates: Good companions include Cyprichromis, Neolamprologus, and Julidochromis. They should not be kept with robust or overly active fish like Tropheus or Petrochromis.
Diet: Carnivorous predator. In the wild, they eat invertebrates, crustaceans, and fry. In an aquarium, they may even steal eggs from mouthbrooding females before the female can pick them up.
Breeding: They are substrate spawners.
The female chooses a cave or crevice so narrow that only she can enter.
She lays 50–200 eggs, which the male fertilizes from outside by releasing sperm into the opening.
The female guards the eggs and fry, while the male guards the area outside the cave.
Generally a peaceful and calm cichlid, except for aggression between males of the same species. However, because they are predators, they will eat any fry or small fish that can fit in their mouths.