Red Empress
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Scientific Name: Protomelas taeniolatus Price: Upon Request Origin: Lake Malawi Family: Cichlidae NOT AVAILABLE NOW |
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Other Names: Haplochromis Red Empress, Spindle Hap |
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Technical Info
Temperature: 27 - 30 ℃
pH: 7.8 - 8.3
GH: 18 - 25
Max size: 25 cm
Min Tank size: 300 Ltr
Position in Aqua: No special swimming level
Description
P. taeniolatus has a lake-wide distribution & is primarily an herbivorous cichlid. It feeds by sucking algae from small pockets in the rocks. Like most cichlids, however, P. taeniolatus is an opportunistic feeder - when plankton is plentiful, it feeds on these as well. This is a relatively mild-mannered cichlid but when courting, males aggressivley defend large territories. These territories are usually atop a large rock.
Food
Many cichlids specialize in eating one type of food; notwithstanding, some of these specialized feeders are flexible and can be opportunistic feeders.
Breeding
Mouth-brooder. One male to 3 females are kept together. The male keeps a small breeding territory. The female will brood for up to 4 weeks. You can tell if a female is brooding by her enlarged mouth and the fact that she isn’t eating. Fry are quite small and fragile but will accepts most kinds of food. They grow very fast and a large aquarium is recommended to raise the fry. Brooding females are isolated for more productive breeding. It is recommendable to try to make the isolation as short as possible to avoid that the females loses their social status which may cause fights once they are returned. Both parents care for the fry.
Compatible with
A peaceful species but it is more robust than others in the genus and can even be kept with mbuna. However, more suitable tankmates include Aulonocara, Copadichromis and other peaceful Malawi species. Males are very territorial and a very large tank would be required to keep more than one. It is also better to keep several females per male.