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| Protomelas Taeniolatus; *cichlid | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 4 2005, 06:18 PM (545 Views) | |
Kimbo
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Nov 4 2005, 06:18 PM Post #1 |
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Scientific Name : Protomelas taeniolatus Common Name : Red Empress Country Of Origin : Lake Malawi, Africa Size : Max 20cm Diet : Herbivore Tank Zone : All Sex : Males are bright blue and red. Females are grey Temperament : Extremely aggressive when breeding and they claims large territories. If females are not willing to breed with the male he will kill them. When alone they are very peaceful and are more interested in swimming up and down the tank than starting a fight. Breeding : Mouth brooders Tank Setup : General African biotype lots of rock, likes limestone. Temperature : 24 - 26°C PH : 7.2 - 8.5 Hardness : 10.0°dH - 20.0°dH General Information: A great cichlid to keep although can be aggressive. This is a beautiful Haplochromis from Lake Malawi. They are quite a peaceful fish, but the male will show aggression towards other males of the same species. The male can hold his own if harassed by other African cichlids, but he will not go ‘looking’ for a fight. The male has the better colouring, as with most Haps. As juveniles both the female and male are a light gray colour. The only difference while they are young is the anal fin. As they grow the male will develop a brownish – red colour on his fins, the female will never have this. The males also change to a red and blue, with yellow. The male generally colour’s up at about 8cm. The female will remain the pale gray she was when in youth. The Red Empress needs lots of space to swim. They enjoy having rocky caves for hiding and they will not disturb plants. They are inclined to be sand sifters; they will get mouthfuls of sand and move it all around the tank. This could be a hazard for your filters because if sand gets into your filters it could cause damage to your impeller. Feeding: The Red Empress are herbivores but are opportunistic eaters, so a varied diet is needed. Cichlid flakes or pellets and spirulina flakes are a common combination. Various other foods can be fed occasionally as a treat. This includes such things as: fresh spinach, zucchini, peas and lettuce Live blood worms, crickets, brine shrimp, glass worms and tubifex worms. Frozen vegetable diet, daphnia, plankton, bloodworms, beef heart, brine shrimp and glass worms. The Empress is prone to bloat therefore small feedings 2-3 times a day is recommended. Breeding: These guys will breed like clockwork, treat the same as all other Africans and just keep the water quality good. Mouth brooders, very good parents, once they have reached size and breeding age were you can tell the differences between the sexes, breeding shall occur if kept healthy and usually after a cool water change. The male will colour up when he is ready to breed to attract a female. As with most African cichlids the male will do best with 3 – 5 females. The male and female will begin the courting dance. The female will lay her eggs and the male will fertilize the eggs. The Red Empress is a mouth brooder and the female will keep the eggs in her mouth for up to 4 weeks. You may not see the courting and breeding but you will be able to tell the female is brooding by her disinterest in food and enlarged mouth. *updated 16/5/06 (Krystal) |
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12:36 AM Jul 12