Red Zebra Cichlid

[Laura Ann]

The Red Zebra Cichlid

Another one of my fave cichlids. Not only do they have a wonderful personality, but have some very beautiful colors as well. With one of these guys in your tank, you not only will have a wonderful addition to the tank, but you will have a very active, fearless fish with amazing colors!

The red zebras colors are truely magnificent. While the females stay their beautiful peachy-red color, the males can be either a bright, sky blue or a very light, pale orange, with a hint of blue on their fins. Males are often confused with the Cobalt Blue zebra, who also has the distinct blue coloring. My male has nice elongated fins, though I am not completely sure that all of them do. Males are usually larger than the females, by an inch or more. They can grow up to 5 inches long (12.7 cm).

The red zebra is one of the more aggressive fish in the Mbuna Species. They are very territorial, and are known to hold their own. The sub-dominate males will be picked on often by the alpha male, and as in many mbuna tanks, is best kept with one male to many females.

Red Zebra main food source in the wild is algae, with a variety of plants. In captivity, they will take any typical cichlid foods and some green veggies as a treat.

Red Zebras prefer lots of rocky caves and numerous hiding places, where the weaker, less dominate fish can hide. It is always nice to have a rocky or sand substrate for them, as they love to dig pits. Live plants are hard to keep with this species of cichlid, because they will eat, and dig them up.

Female Red Zebras, like many Malawi cichlids, are mouth brooders, and hold their fertilized eggs, then fry, in their mouth for about 21 days before "spitting". The males, before breeding, often like to "show their colors" to the female, often doing a "dance" before the female, in front of the cave he has personally cleaned out for breeding. Once he has her infatuation, they will go into the cave and mate. Broods are smaller than most cichlids, but can be as more as 40 fry for mature females. They are wonderful parents, oftne protecting their fry from other fish.

Red Zebras, like most Malawi cichlids, prefer their water to be very hard and alkaline, with the pH ranging from 7.6 to 8.6 ppm, and a gH of 7plus. They like their water very warm, about 73 to 82 degrees.

[TheOldSalt]

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