Being mouth-brooders, the female carries the eggs in her mouth until the eggs hatch. Once hatched the yolk sac takes about 20 days to be absorbed. The eggs are rich with yolk and take a long time to hatch. Unlike the South American cichlids after mating the male and female go their separate ways and the female cares for the eggs/fry herself. The egg spots play an important role as it is thought that the female believes these are more eggs and goes to retrieve them and at this moment the male releases his sperm and fertilizes the eggs in her mouth. She then takes the unfertilized eggs in her mouth, following the male closely until he releases the sperm. The female spawns on a flat rock or in a cave at the bottom of the tank and as many as 60 eggs can be laid. A displaying/shimmying male is usually trying to coax the females until they get them to breed. Males establish territories and defend them, while females tend to school.īreedingBest results in breeding is achieved by having 1 male for every 3 females. These fish are extremely aggressive and if a peaceful view is desired when one glances at the tank, then these fish are definitely not the type to get. The jewel cichlid, also from Africa (Rivers - Nile, Niger, Zaire) are thought to be able to be kept with zebra cichlds. Tank Mates - BehaviorTank mates should be chosen with a lot of care and should consist of other species from Lake Malawi. Dried foods, plant matter, frozen foods and every so often meaty foods and live foods such as earth worms are good to feed. They are relatively easy to care for, feeding mainly on herbivorous diets although they are omnivores. Another thing to keep in mind is they are diggers and are always piling up substrate/sand. Be sure to create plenty of caves for those seeking safety from other aggressive tank mates. Using rocks is a good way of decorating the tank. It's worth a try though, as some people have managed to keep plants. A few hardy plants should take their nibbling although more often they will either uproot or destroy most plants. They require quite hard water with a pH of 8.0 - 9.0 and will do good with a temperature between 72 - 82☏ (22-28☌) The zebra cichlids adult size is 6 inches (15 cm) and they normally live for about 5 - 10 years in captivity.
The minimum tank size recommended for the Zebra Cichlid is 50 gallons (180 liters). The scientific name for the Red Zebra is Pseudotropheus estherae and the common zebra cichlid is Pseudotropheus zebra. Seven or eight blue/black bars run across the body and generally in this color variety the bottom part of the face is black as well.
The ends of the anal and dorsal fins have yellow egg spots and in this species there are many color varieties, blue being amongst the most common. The rear parts of the dorsal fin and anal fins are elongated and pointed on the Zebra Cichlid. This thick cichlid has a swelled forehead and with a tall tail fin. The zebra cichlid also known as the Malawi blue or Malawi zebra cichlid and it originates from East Africa in the Lake Malawi.
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