African Cichlids

Fish are friends, not food!

We have a mixed group of African Cichlids in our classroom! They are wonderfully colorful fish with a lot of personality (yes, fish have personality) from Lake Malawi in the Rift Valley of East Africa.

The collection:

Labidochromis caeruleus

"Electric Yellow" Loin's Cove

Lake Malawi

Metriaclima sp. "chailosi"

Pseudotropheus elongatus "chailosi"

Lake Malawi

Pseudotropheus elongatus

"Elongate cichlid"

Lake Malawi

Pseudotropheus socolofi

"Powder Blue Cichlid"

Lake Malawi

Labidochromis caeruleus

Nkhata Bay

Lake Malawi

Maylandia lombardoi

Kenyi Cichlid
Mbenji Island

Lake Malawi

Cynotilapa Sp. "Hara"

White Top Hara
Gallireya Reef

Lake Malawi

What do they eat?

These mbuna cichlids from Lake Malawi are limnivores that feed on the organic material, found on the substrate of aquatic environments. This means they eat algae and small organisms growing on rocks and sediment. Because of this diet, these fish are often seen grazing on algae growth all day long; they are always hungry!

Baby Fish!

Healthy and happy cichlids breed quite often; here's some baby stuff:

egg tumbler.m4v

2 wks.m4v

African Cichlids exhibit a high level of parental care compared to most other fish; they are maternal mouthbrooders. This means the mother holds and protects her eggs and fry (baby fish) in her mouth for a few weeks. During this time she is not able to eat. Often, fishkeepers will remove the fry from their mother, allowing mom to resume eating and defend herself from her bullish tankmates. Eggs can also be removed from their mother's mouth, but require incubation in an egg tumbler. The until the yolk-sac is absorbed. After this, fry are housed in a special hang-on nursery tank which significantly improves their chances of survival--they would almost certainly be eaten if left with the adults!

Below are some Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos fry with their yolk-sacs still attached after being removed from their mother. The yolk-sac provides nutrition but fry do not eat until the yolk-sac; it is slowly absorbed.

Cichlid fry with yolk-sacs still attached.

Development from Egg to Fry to Fish

Cichlid Fry.mp4

Mom or Dad?

Distinguishing male animals from female animals is sometimes difficult. Horses and dogs are easy, fish and birds are difficult, and cats are probably somewhere in between. The most definite way to determine the sex of African Cichlid fish is called venting--that is, flipping the fish upside down and examining his or her "vent". All fish have an anus from which they excrete solid waste, but they also have a urogenital opening or vent for liquid waste and reproduction. Females have larger vents as they must lay eggs, where as males have a small vent, about the same size as the anus. Think you've got what it takes? Test your skills here make sure to click "Start Study Session" then "Start Session".

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