This may be a flat rock surface, or a shallow pit which he excavates in the substrate.

The male fish will clean and then display around his chosen spawning site. Condition the fish with a high quality diet composed mainly of vegetable matter. The pH should be around 8.2-8.5 and the temperature 77-80☏. A 48″ aquarium is a good size (although larger is preferable) and this should be furnished as suggested above, along with some flat rocks and areas of open substrate to act as potential spawning sites. Ideally it should be spawned in a species tank in a harem of one male and at least 3 females, although it will often spawn in the community aquarium. In populations where males and females are of the same colour, they can be sexed by size (males are usually larger than females) and by the egg spots in the anal fin, which are larger and more numerous in males. However, depending on locality, there also exist orange and OB (“orange blotch”) males and yellow or OB females. Some males are blue in colour, while females are orange. Several females should be kept per male, in order to reduce harassment by the male and only one male should be kept unless the tank is very large.

The tank should be overcrowded to reduce aggression and territory formation. It should not be kept with peace loving species such as Peacocks or Utaka but it can be combined with other similarly sized mbuna. Not especially aggressive for a mbuna, although it is quite robust. To find high quality fish foods, click here.

Red zebra cichlid male female