Haplochromis obliquidens
Haplochromis obliquidens in natural conditions lives in Lake Victoria (Victoria-Nyanza, Ukerewe), located in East Africa, on the territory of three states: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. These fish are quite often found in the collections of aquarists.
Haplochromis obliquidens stands out for its coloring. The body of the fish is silvery red-yellow in color, with thick transverse black stripes. Males are much brighter colored than females. Females are brownish-gray, the same coloration have and fry. In natural conditions, the size of fish reaches 15 cm, while in the aquarium, their size is usually less than 10 cm.
Haplochromis obliquidens is a relatively peaceful fish. Mostly signs of aggression this fish shows towards each other, while it is much more loyal to other fish species. Particularly aggressive males, so in one aquarium is not recommended to keep more than one male. The ideal would be to keep 1 male and 3-5 females in the species aquarium of 200 liters, although the content and the contents of a couple of these fish feel good. Haplochromis not territorial, but if necessary, can repel any, even much larger fish in size.
The aquarium should simulate natural conditions in which live Haplochromis obliquidens, placing at the bottom of large rocks and grottos with splits that could freely swim these fish. You can plant a few bushes of hardy aquarium plants with a strong root system, further strengthening their roots on top of large stones.
Water parameters: temperature 24-27° C, hardness dH 5-10°, acidity pH 7,5-8,5. Requires quality filtration, strong aeration and a weekly substitution of 1/3 of the aquarium water with fresh.
The menu of fish are a variety of live, frozen and dry food. feed the fish need 2 times a day.
Reproduction
Haplochromis obliquidens reaches sexual maturity at the age of 10-12 months.
Fish spawn in the same aquarium where they live permanently. Spawning stimulate frequent water changes and its strong aeration. It should be noted that frequent water changes not only encourage spawning, but also makes the coloring of fish more vivid. As the spawning substrate is a large flat rock.
Immediately after spawning and fertilization of eggs by the male, the female collects all the eggs in her mouth, where it is incubated for 15-20 days. During this time, the female hardly eats anything, her head increases significantly in size, and her abdomen, on the contrary, becomes sunken.
Producers do not touch the hatched fry, and they may remain with their brood in the same aquarium for several months.
The fry are fed live dust, cyclops and artemia.
The life expectancy of Haplochromis obliquidens under aquarium conditions is about 7 years.
