Rocky habitat without sediment.
Occurs mainly on clean rock surfaces at depths of approximately 5–40 m.
Geographic distribution:
Lake Malawi, Likoma Island area.
Typical adult size:
Males up to about 11 cm, females up to around 9 cm total length.
Recommended aquarium size:
250 L.
Aquarium setup:
Provide abundant rockwork with numerous caves and hiding places.
Best kept in a harem (one male with 3–4 females) or in larger groups in sufficiently large aquaria.
Compatible with other robust, algae-feeding mbuna.
Diet:
Herbivorous.
Feeds mainly on algae, diatoms, and microorganisms from sediment-free aufwuchs.
Breeding:
Maternal mouthbrooder.
Aggression:
Aggressive within the species.
Toward other species mostly aggressive during spawning.
Special notes:
Moderately aggressive elongatus-type mbuna.
Adult males are sky blue with visible vertical barring.
Hybridization with closely related mbuna is possible in mixed-species aquaria.
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