Sandy environment.
Occurs in intermediate zones from rocks to sand,
often in the neighbourhood of rocks.
Geographic distribution:
Entire Lake Malawi.
Typical adult size:
Up to 10 cm (male) in the lake.
In aquarium conditions males may reach about 14 cm,
females up to about 16 cm.
Recommended aquarium size:
400 L.
Aquarium setup:
Fine sand substrate covering most of the bottom.
Sandy areas should be interrupted with a few larger stones,
while still leaving wide open sandy spaces.
Diet:
Carnivorous.
Feeds on various invertebrates, small crustaceans
and insect larvae sifted from the sand.
In the aquarium accepts a wide variety of foods,
including spirulina pellets, mysis, artemia,
cyclops and shrimp–peas mix.
Aggression:
Peaceful cichlid, both within the species
and towards other species.
Due to low intraspecific aggression,
several males are often coloured at the same time.
Photo gallery