Available rock dwelling cichlids of Lake Malawi, also known as Mbuna.

Pseudotropheus demasoni is a herbivore which grows to around 8cm.

Both sexes of the species will aggressively defend their patch of territory from all comers, especially fish which resemble it in colour.

We suggest aquariums with large footprints and plenty of hiding places. If it is a smaller aquarium the best option is only having a single Demasoni.

A single fish will be very successful in tank housing lots of African cichlids as long as they don`t resemble them too closely. They will still defend their patch but not as aggressively.

Ensure their diet has plenty of green material (fiber). This will help in the prevention of Malawi Bloat which these fish are  susceptible to due to their territoriality and rudimentary digestive system.

Female Electric Yellow with eggs * Colony of African cichlids * Male Electric Yellow

Labidochromis caeruleas or Electric Yellows are easily one of the nicest African cichlids around. Good quality specimens look great, they are not too aggressive. When kept in large numbers, they look very impressive. Growing to around 15cm.  We find they can be pretty brutal on aquarium plants.

They mix well with almost all African cichlids but look great when mixed with fish which have bold blue coloring. We often stock aquariums with "Mass Plantings" of 2 species and then fill in the gaps with color. Much like large scale gardens. I`m a fan of stocking aquariums with a large colony of Electric Yellows, a large colony of Blue Dolphins and an assortment of various males fish. This effect is fantastic and you find the single males species are more of an attraction this way.

Labeotropheus trewavasae or Red Top Trewavasaes are  slender fish with a distinctive top lip that slopes downward. The inside of this hooked nose is covered with tiny teeth that are used to scrape algae off the rocks. They feed on "auwfuchs" and the tiny invertebrates in the wild.

We noted they lived in high numbers with largely overlapping territories in areas around Thumbi West Island, Lake Malawi.  They especially liked grazing the vertical walls around the 7 meter mark. The adaption of the hooked nose gives them a streamlined shape which allows them to maintain the correct body position in areas with strong wave action.

Usually  males are blue fish with a red or orange top fin and often adorn the covers of African cichlid books. A large colony of around 2-4 males and females can successfully be kept in a large environment. Males will regularly battle with each other for right to breed. With the fine teeth adaption that males have they can do quite a bit of damage. Make sure that you keep a bottle of Melafix handy to prevent any secondary infections.

Its important to provide plenty of hiding spaces, we find large vertical walls of stone to be their favorite place to hang out. Purchasing a small colony of around 6 fish to go with a few other species of mbuna is a good option for a great looking aquarium. Their unique behavior of scraping the rocks of algae is very cool to see.

Melanochromis auratus or Yellow Stripe Cichlid has distinctive lateral barring. They start out yellow with white and black barring.  As the males mature the yellow coloration turns a deep navy blue. 

They require lots of vegetable matter in their diet to keep the vibrant coloration. If they are fed too little vegetable matter the coloring will take on a brown tinge. People often find Auratus cichlids highly aggressive. We have been successful keeping them in aquariums with large footprints.

They do best when a single male is kept with a group of girls if its an aquarium smaller than 1500mm long. If its a large tank you can have multiple males as there is enough space.

No one is ever bored looking at our Mbuna aquarium which measures 1800.600.600 and is a high energy collection of fish. With enough space and rockwork you can provide an environment that can successfully house the beautiful yellow stripe cichlid.

Maylandia lombardoi is very rare in the Lake due to the popularity and the heavy collection rates in the old days. This shows just how many were collected and shipped away. In my opinion it is one of the hardiest of any fish and I fell in love with them almost twenty years ago.

Also known as the Kenyi Cichlid, girls and boys start out with a beautiful turquoise coloring with black bars. As the boys reach maturity they turn a rich golden yellow and the barring diminishes. Tankmates like the Aurautus, Red Top Trewavasae and Demasoni are all excellent picks. Plenty of rockwork and a large footprint are required for success with these beautiful bolshy fish.

Their ability to handle higher amounts of protein allows them to have fish like Aulonocara or Peacocks as tankmates.

Melanochromis exasparatus is also known as the Rainbow Melanochromis. A truly beautiful fish that has iridescent coloring with males going a metallic blue coloring. Females have a green metallic contrasted nicely with orange marking. We have found them to not be overly aggressive with colonies of multiple males with groups of girls possible.

 Aulonocara or peacock are found in the rocky areas and around the edges of the open water

Aulonocara sp Dragonblood

Aulonocara or Peacocks are some of the prettiest African cichlids. They are often kept in all male aquariums due to their ability to inter breed.

We sell a range of colored males to ensure your aquarium will look as good as it can. These fish can grow up to 15cm, much larger than in their natural environment.  They do best with an aquarium with a sandy bottom, where they will be constantly sifting the sand looking for invertebrates.

Along with a high quality vegetable diet, we also like to hand feed lots of healthy earthworms to ensure they get everything they need in their diet.

Aulonocara jacobfreibergei Otter Point * Aulonocara stuartgranti Chilumba * Aulonocara hansbaenchi * Aulonocara stuartgranti Maleri

We sell a range of various colored males peacocks. Whether you prefer the hybrids or the true strains you cant help but love their color. Having multiple males in a tank is what a lot of people go for. We always recommended either one of or 3 of a particular species. This spreads the aggression across a larger population.

Aulonocara sp Marble

Open water Haplochromines are large colorful fish that really make an aquarium. Cyrtocara moorii  are my number one favorite fish. They are impressive deep bodied fish and can reach up to 23cm. The males develop an awesome nuchal hump. We like to keep them in large groups as they are one of the only species to swim together as a shoal.

We like to use them as a "base species" in most aquariums we setup. A colony of 10 to 15 Blue dolphins swimming around is a sight to behold. A large male Moorii will be the benign dictator. This means he will be the boss but wont be an uber aggressive dictator. This is an important factor in the close confines of an aquarium. We suggest a large colony of these fish as they swim together as a school which is awesome to behold.

 We sell a range of coloured males of various species of Haps. They go really well in the "all male aquarium"

Otopharynx lithobates or Sulphur heads are slender fish with a purple body and a yellow flame that runs from the nose to the end of the dorsal fin.

Males are slower to show their colors compared to some of their cousins but the wait is worth it. There deep coloring is nicely contrasted against the yellow flame that gives them their name.

Protomelas steveni Taiwanee Reef  are spectacularly coloured fish which grow to around 15cm. Multiple males can be kept in an aquarium as long as there is enough defined territory. They do well on a vegetable diet with the inclusion of earthworms. They have gorgeous red colouration in the fins that is nicely off set by the gold body and blue head.

Copadichromis azureus grow to around 17cm. As the name suggests they have a splendid blue colouration.

They are splendid additions to the all male aquarium. It is a good idea to ensure you include earthworms or commercial cichlid food in their diet as they would feed on invertebrates in the wild. The extra protein will ensure their color is vibrant.

Protomelas taeniolatus Red empress

Scianopchromis fryeri is known as the Electric Blue and the color of this fish does not disappoint. The deep blue color is set off by a white flame running from the tip of the nose to the end of the dorsal fin. The large eye shows it for the predator that it is. A great addition to any showtank.

Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika have unique body shape and need very stable water conditions with no chlorine.

Tropheus are fish that live in in the shallow rocky shores where they dart around the rocks at top speed. The only time they seem to stay still is when they are scraping auwfuchs off of the rocks. You can see by the photo on the far right side that they have long horizontal mouth designed for scraping algae.

It is important to provide them with plenty of vegetable matter to prevent "bloat". This is the reason we feed all of our tropheus norill which is a combination of dried seaweed and krill. If they are having any issues like sluggish behavior we usually raise the water temperature and add extra air to aid the metabolism. Best kept in highly oxygenated water in spacious aquariums.

Neolamprologus leleupi are slender orange or yellow fish that live in the deeper water of Lake Tanganyika. They are excavators of note and can be very territorial, especially to any fish that look like themselves. They need to have food rich in carotene which helps them develop a lovely orange color. They will not tolerate the high levels of Nitrate that other African cichlids will.

A must have fish for most cichlid aquariums.

Synodontis multipunctatus is a catfish that lives in Lake Tanganyika. A perfect companion for any cichlid aquarium. The vibrant little fish have the ability to breathe air and are known as thew cuckoo catfish. While mouth brooding cichlids are spawning they swoop in and eat the eggs. At the same time they lay their own eggs which hatch early and feed on the baby cichlids.

Best to go with a group of these guys as you will see them more this way.

* We guarantee fish that our couriers deliver within specified timeframes. We cannot guarantee that the courier wont make mistakes. We will do everything that we can to ensure the fish arrive alive. We cannot guarantee fish that the courier loses or delivers late.