Aulonocara Lwanda
Aulonocara lwanda lives naturally in Lake Malawi in Africa. The fish are found in coastal rocky areas, at a depth of 2 to 20 metres, where sand dunes are delimited by high stone ridges.
The coloration of the fish is lilac with alternating vertical stripes of pale yellow. Males of Aulonocara Lwanda have a characteristic red-yellow fin edge. Males are larger than females and reach a size of about 11 cm, while females do not exceed 7 cm.
Males have an aggressive temperament, they fiercely guard their territory from all fish, even much larger ones. The male is loyal only to females ready to spawn, all others he pursues, driving away from their occupied territory. To protect females from the excessive attention of the male, the aquarium should be placed numerous shelters, so each of the females had a place where she could hide.
The Aulonocar lwanda can be kept in a common aquarium with other small or commensurately sized cichlids, endemics of Lake Malawi. Do not subordinate to aulonokar lwanda aggressive fish, because then it can come to a serious fight, in which the losing fish may die.
Use coarse-grained river sand as a substrate. Around the perimeter of the aquarium should be placed piles of large stones with the resulting crevices between them, which could freely swim fish. Shelters need to be separated from each other by rows of plants planted in ceramic pots. To contain fish need an aquarium of 150 liters.
Water parameters: temperature 23-28° C, hardness dH 4-20°, pH 7,0-8,5. Do not allow the water to heat more than 31 ° C, as it is destructive to fish. Requires filtration, aeration and a weekly change of 1/5 of the aquarium water with fresh.
Their natural diet consists of small crustaceans and insect larvae that they find in the ground. In an aquarium, these fish are fed live or frozen food such as Artemia nauplii, Coretrium, chironomid moths. Do not refuse to and dry flake and granular food, which before feeding should be soaked, as fish do not take the food from the surface of water. Feed small portions 2 times a day, avoiding overfeeding.
Reproduction
The Aulonokara lwanda reaches sexual maturity at about 1.5-2 years of age.
The male builds a nest in the sand, which is about 3 cm deep and up to 20 cm in diameter. When he finishes building the nest, he attracts one of the females ready to spawn to the nest. The female hatches up to 100 eggs into the nest, which, after being fertilized by the male, she immediately collects them all into her mouth. The eggs incubate in the female's mouth for 3-4 weeks. The female's mouth leaves the fully formed fry, which are fed with nauplii of artemia from the first days of life.
Aulonocara lwanda has a life span of about 10 years in an aquarium.
