Malawian cichlids: types, description, maintenance and care

Malawi cichlids are one of the most popular and common inhabitants of the aquarium. They fell in love for their beautiful bright color and peculiar demeanor, as well as unpretentiousness in content.

Lake Malawi, which gave the name to the fish, is located in East Africa and is one of the largest on the planet. Due to its elongated size, it lies on the border of three states: Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. Previously, the reservoir had the name Nyasa, although now it is sometimes also called that. A distinctive feature of this freshwater lake is that 14 rivers flow into it, and only one flows out. The water level is kept at one point due to evaporation.

For this reason, the water in the lake is rather hard and slightly salty. The bottom of the reservoir is rocky, consisting mainly of sedimentary rocks. Malawi has a huge number of fish of different families, the most numerous of which are cichlids. There are about 500 species of them, most of which are endemic. Fishing in the lake is not prohibited, some commercial species from Malawi, for example, tilapia, are sold in our country.

African Malawi belong to the order of perchiformes. The body of fish is predominantly elongated, and sometimes rounded, slightly flattened on the sides. The head is rather large. Males often have a bump on their forehead, which indicates that they are reaching adulthood. Males also have light dots on the lower fin, which indicate a willingness to mate.

Males have an elongated and pointed dorsal fin, while females have a blunt, rounded edge. The color of the fish is colorful, multi-colored, the size is medium, in length they can reach from 12 to 20 cm. With good care, they live in an aquarium for up to 15 years. Each species is different. In an excited state or during spawning, colors become brighter, more saturated, with spectacular patterns.

Malawian cichlids are highly active, they are in motion all the time. The acquired fish should be given time to adapt.

African cichlids are divided into two main groups:

• mbuna;
• duck.

The main difference between these fish is the way of feeding... The first species includes individuals that feed on plant foods. In the natural conditions of Lake Malawi, they eat algae that cover the rocky bottom of the reservoir. The structure of the jaws of males is similar to a grater; such teeth perfectly help to scrape off vegetation from stones. Therefore, for cichlids mbuna, you need to choose a spacious aquarium and provide it with enough shelter and algae.

Plants should have strong, powerful roots, as fish are very fond of digging the bottom and pulling out algae. Mbuna are of medium size, reaching a maximum length of 12 cm.

Pseudotrophies characterized by a color with vertical stripes. Males zealously defend their territory, but young fish and females swim in flocks.

Zebra Mbuna has an elongated constitution with a slightly convex head and pointed fins. The colors of fish can be very different: orange, blue or black and white with vertical stripes in a darker tone.

Golden cichlid it is distinguished by its golden color with rather large dark stripes, located horizontally. Refers to the very aggressive representatives of the Mbuna.

Blue dolphin has a blue tone. A slightly elongated mouth and a hump located on the back of the head give this fish some resemblance to a dolphin.

Labeotropheus, with a large head with a slightly elongated hook-like mouth, it can have several color options. The most common is blue or light blue with a red or orange dorsal fin. Males have a pattern of several yellow dots on the anal fin.

Bumblebee cichlid it is characterized by a yellow color, the tips of the fins have a blue tint, and the body is covered with black stripes, which is why the fish got this name. Males have brighter colors than females.

The second group - utaki, includes predatory Malawian cichlids... In the natural environment, they live in the underwater reefs of the lake. Their diet is based on fry of other fish and tiny crustaceans that are found in the upper layers of Malawi. Ducks differ in rather large sizes (their length is 15-20 cm) and neutral color. Males acquire a more intense color when they reach puberty, and females do not change it.

Typical representatives of the duck group are Aulonocara... They have an elongated body with a rather large head and a well-defined dorsal fin. They have a characteristic depression on the head, which is very sensitive. The color of these fish is gray with various stripes and specks. Females are smaller than males.

Aulonocara have the ability to freeze in water, in nature it helps them in hunting.After all, such a fish does not attract attention, but the recess on the head is able to perceive any, even the most insignificant, fluctuations in the water, which makes Aulonokar excellent hunters. In addition to them, other species belong to the representatives of this group, although they are not as diverse as the Mbuna.

Red cadango has a large head with a rather large mouth. The body of the fish is orange or red with a blue head. The colors of females are more modest: gray or silver.

Dimidochromis has a strongly flattened body and is considered the flattest inhabitant of Lake Malawi. Color - blue metallic with a slight green tint. Fins are orange in color with colored dots. Females are silvery.

Lake Malawi is also home to fish species that can be classified as both mbuna and duck. These include haplochromis eating both plant and animal food. Cornflower haplochromis are similar in appearance to the common perch. Males are deep blue with yellow or reddish lower hind fins, while females are grayish brown with transverse stripes all over the body. As they grow older, they also acquire a blue color, but not as bright as males.

In aquarium conditions, this type of fish prefers the middle and lower layers of the water. Among fish lovers, haplochromis are valued for their beautiful color.

The conditions for keeping Malawi cichlids as aquarium fish directly depend on the group to which they belong. After all, mbuna and duck have different requirements both for the contents of the aquarium and for food. First of all, you need to know that fish need a spacious aquarium of 150 liters or more, although a 60 liter container is quite suitable for a couple of cichlids. It is necessary to replace a third of the volume of water with clean water every week, as well as use filters and compressors for air exchange and the formation of a weak flow. In addition, you need to beautifully equip the aquarium with various stones and snags, which the fish use as hiding places.

The algae-eating Mbuna requires a large amount of algae, both floating and those that are planted in the ground. It must be remembered that fish love to dig in the ground, so plants should be applied with stones so that the cichlids do not uproot them. For a duck, vegetation in an aquarium is undesirable, but grottoes and pebbles are perfect. Vegetable food with a small amount of animal proteins is suitable for Malawian Mbuna cichlids, they also willingly eat cucumbers, lettuce or dandelion leaves, spinach. The duck is fed protein food, they do not eat vegetable.

Malawi cichlids are quite aggressive in nature and, moreover, are accustomed to defending their territory. It is not necessary to place fish of different sizes in one aquarium, the inhabitants of rocky areas with sandy inhabitants do not get along well together. It is best to acquire only one male for each species to avoid conflicts. Some representatives of cichlids are especially aggressive even towards individuals of their own species, therefore they are kept behind separate glass partitions, such as Livingston's haplochromis. To avoid fights it is worth releasing cichlids into the aquarium at the same time, so there will be no division into more mastered and beginners.

Due to aggressive behavior, fish need to equip a sufficient number of secluded places where they can wait out the danger.Of the other species, synodonts and some representatives of the iris species get along quite well with African cichlids. Keeping with other fish depends on the specific characteristics of the selected species.

For the history of origin and characteristics of this species of fish, see below.