The substrate should be fine gravel or sand with smooth slates.Īs omnivores, the animals will likely dig up plants and eat them as well. Limestone and an appropriate calcareous substrate are recommended to keep the water values in the alkaline range. Since the Zebra Cichlid is a rock dweller, its aquarium should also be very well structured, have at least 300 liters volume and similar to the habitat have rock structures and rock ledges with enough Cavesand hiding places, which also serve as territorial boundaries and visual protection. It is recommended to keep these fish in small groups with a clear surplus of females. With a size of about 1 cm, the juveniles can easily be raised with fine live and frozen food such as enchytraea, microworms and Artemia nauplii, but also dust food. For about three weeks the larvae are carried around by the mother until they swim free and feed on their own. At this moment, the male simultaneously releases his sperm. Since the female collects the laid eggs with her mouth, they are fertilized when the male presents his egg lick to her and she snaps at it. The water temperature should be about 27 ☌. With a harmonizing pair and a varied diet of larger live and frozen foods, it does not take very long for spawning to occur, with the female laying eggs on flat stone slabs. Pseudotropheus estherae, like many perches, are mouthbrooders in which the female takes care of the brood care. The elongated ventral fin rays are present in both sexes. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins are orange-transparent with reddish speckles in females. Juveniles appear all orange at first and color out with age. In addition, the females lag behind the males somewhat. The males can be distinguished from the females mainly by the developed "egg spots" on the anal fin. The animals have the high back typical for perches and a red-orange ground color with transparent fins. Accordingly, one should keep in mind with these animals that the perch certainly gives expression to its name, since it can behave accordingly "perch". Male zebra cichlids are territorial and claim territories between 80 - 100 cm. These zebra cichlids are polymorphic and exist in three different color morphs. Although the Pseudotropheus estherae has been an old hand in aquaristics for a long time, it was only described scientifically in 1995, as a separate species. Although it belongs to the zebra cichlids (better: to the group of Maylandia zebra), it has no visible zebra stripes. This mbuna lives mainly on the rocky coasts, in a water depth of just 10 meters, where it feeds on algae and growth. It originates from the east coast of Lake Malawi, near Mozambique. A particularly pretty comrade among the Malawis is the Zebra Cichlid, also known as Pseudotropheus estherae or Metriaclima estherae.
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