Electric Yellow Cichlid

General information

These fish exist in a variety of colors, being bright yellow the most popular one in the hobby and one of the rarer morphs in the wild. The average adult is 4 inches and they never exceed 4.7 inches. To keep these fish in captivity the water temperature should be between 75ºF and 82ºF and pH should range from 7.7 to 8.6. The aquarium should have a sandy substrate, plenty of rocks, caves and open swimming areas. They are considered to be a peaceful species and can be kept in community tanks, however, they become a bit territorial when spawning. Males can get a bit aggressive towards females when pursuing them so it is best to keep several females to just one male.

This species is omnivorous. In the wild, it feeds on insects, snails, and mollusks. In an aquarium, they can be fed with Spirulina flakes, other types of vegetable matter, bloodworm, flakes, and pellets.

Males usually have yellow spots with black outline on their anal fins and black pelvic and anal fins while females have no spots on the anal fin and are entirely yellow.

The male starts by cleaning his chosen spawning site and displaying his colors to get a female’s attention. A female will lay her eggs in the spawning site, pick them up in her mouth and start following the spots on the male’s anal fin. He will release his sperm and fertilize the eggs. The female may carry the eggs for 3 to 4 weeks before releasing the fry, and once the fry are out of the mouth, they are free swimming and can be fed with brine shrimp. To breed these fish in captivity it is recommended to keep water temperatures between 77ºF and 80ºF and water pH from 8.2 to 8.5, and it is also advised to provide flat stones and open sand areas.

This species can be found in Lake Malawi, Africa.