tropical-37.jpeg&w=470&zc=1The cichlids ('sick-lids') of Lake Malawi, East Africa can easily rival marine fishes in colouration, but are much hardier and easier to keep. There are over 1000 different cichlid species in Lake Malawi, many of our stores carry a large selection of these in stock at any one time. Our stocks include fairly common species, through to rarer ones, and even new species, which are currently undescribed to science. Malawi cichlids largely fall into two main groups, Utaka ('yoo-tarka') and Mbuna ('ma-boona'). 

 
All of these fish are maternal mouthbrooders, that is, the female holds the eggs and baby fish in her mouth for around 25 days, until they are big enough to fend for themselves - during this time, she will not usually feed. 
 
What conditions do they need? 
Malawi cichlids need to be housed in a tank of their own, they cannot be housed with tropical community fishes. These fish need hard, alkaline water with a pH of around 8.2. This is easily achieved by decorating the tank with coral sand and tufa rock and adding buffers such as Proper pH 8.2, and Lake Malawi and Tanganyika Buffer Salt. They are not tolerant of pollution, so the water needs testing regularly for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate - weekly 25% water changes and a good filtration system will keep pollution levels low. Whilst most of the fish in our tanks are small, most adult Malawi's measure around 10cm (4") in length, but some can exceed 30cm (12"). Rock-dwelling species are extremely aggressive and need to be kept under conditions of 'controlled-overcrowding' to prevent territorial disputes ending fatally. Keeping too few fish in an aquarium will often result in fish being murdered! A tank size of 90cmx30cmx30cm (36"x12"x12") is the absolute minimum required for these cichlids - additional filtration may also be required. 
 
What are Utaka? 
The Utaka include species in a huge variety of different genera, such as Copadichromis, Protomelas, Scieanochromis, Aulonocara, Placidochromis and Cyrtocara, to name but a few. Utaka live pelagically, that is, they are most predominant over areas of open water, rather than being associated with rocks. Whilst most juvenile Utaka have a drab and uninspiring appearance, the colouration of adults is outstanding! Many species take several years to develop their full adult colouration, so the higher price of adults reflects the costs which have gone into raising the fish to adulthood. Juveniles of most species are considerably cheaper than adults. Utaka are much less aggressive than Mbuna, and problems may arise if these peaceful fish are kept with the more boisterous Mbuna, particularly in smaller tanks. If these fish are kept in tanks without Mbuna controlled overcrowding is not usually required. 
 
What are Mbuna? 
Mbuna are the brightly-coloured rock-dwelling fish, and are by far the most popular group of cichlids. Unlike Utaka, which sometimes take years to develop their showy adult colouration, Mbuna are usually brightly coloured from a very small size. They are very aggressive and the tank will need to be furnished with copious amounts of tufa rock, and stocked with lots of fish to prevent territories being made. A 90cmx30cmx36cm (36"x12"x15") tank, for example, should hold no less than 15 adult Mbuna. Most species grow to around 10cm (4"). Some Mbuna species undergo dramatic colour changes, and the sexes can look quite different to each other. Most species can be sexed without too much difficulty. Males have yellow spots on their anal fin, called anal occeli. These are mistaken by the female for eggs during spawning, and allow the fertilisation of eggs within her mouth. Some females have these 'egg spots' on their anal fins, but these lack an opaque ring around them as seen in the males.