Orange Blotched Peacock Cichlid

General information

The average adult male is 4 inches.  These individual’s are orange with blue marks all over their bodies. To keep these fish in captivity the water should be kept at about 77ºF with a pH between 7.8 and 8.6. The aquarium should be large and have a sandy substrate with plenty of rocks and caves. They are quite aggressive with their conspecifics, even females, and will also be aggressive with species that have the same size and colors as them, so it is best to only keep them in a community aquarium if their tankmates are extremely different from them. They can be kept as a group as long as there are several females to just one male.

They are carnivorous. In the wild they feed on sand dwelling invertebrates. In captivity, they can be fed flakes, pellets, live and frozen food.

Mature males are bright blue and brown while females are entirely brown. Males are also larger and have pointy fins while females are small and have round fins.

The male uses its bright coloration to get the female’s attention, if he succeeds the female will lay her eggs which he will then fertilize, the female will pick up the fertilized eggs in her mouth and will keep them there until the fry hatch which usually takes 25 to 30 days.

This species can be found in Lake Malawi, Africa. It inhabits sandy habitats at depths of more than 20m.

These fish are diggers so it is best to avoid gravel substrate since it can cut their gills.