Paralabidochromis sp. "red fin piebald"
Paralabidochromis sp. "red fin piebald" is naturally found in Lake Victoria, located in East Africa, across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Paralabidochromis sp. "red fin piebald" has a spotted body. During the spawning period, the males' dorsal and anal plumage turns red, which is how the fish got its name. The belly is also reddish in colour. In contrast to the males, the females are golden in colour and slightly smaller. Throughout their body there are dark-colored transverse stripes. The maximum size of fish in nature reaches 12.8 cm, while in aquariums, their size does not exceed 11 cm.
The males are very aggressive towards each other. Females are not as aggressive, but a kind of hierarchy is established among them, in which there will be one dominant female and all others will obey her. The males occupy a large area in the aquarium and begin to protect it, scaring off other fish with their widely open mouth. The males become particularly aggressive during the spawning season. At this time, they prepare a nest for spawning females, which can be a large rock or part of the rock, and will fearlessly repel any fish that dare to swim into its territory.
They require an aquarium with a capacity of at least 300 litre. This aquarium can hold 1 male and 3-4 females. Once the fish are placed in the aquarium, you need to observe their behavior, and if the bottom or a few fish show excessive aggression, they should immediately be removed, otherwise it will be trouble.
Water parameters: temperature 24-28° C, hardness dH 8-20°, pH 7,2-8,6. Requires filtration, aeration and a weekly replacement of 1/3 of the aquarium water with fresh.
The fish are omnivores. They are fed live and frozen, cyclops, daphnia, artemia nauplii, chaff, shrimp. They also receive plant food: chopped spinach and salad leaves, dry flakes and pelleted food containing spirulina. Feed the fish once or twice a day.
Reproduction
Paralabidochromis sp. "red fin piebald" reaches sexual maturity at the age of 8-10 months.
After the female lays eggs on the surface of a rock or other object, the male immediately fertilizes the clutch. The female then collects all the eggs in her mouth and hides in the shelter. The eggs incubate in the female's mouth for 10-15 days. Once the fry leave the female's mouth, they are under the relentless control of their mother. The female takes care of the fry for 7-10 days.
The fry grow quite slowly. After a month, they are about 1 cm long and by the age of six months they are about 5-6 cm.
The life expectancy of the Paralabidochromis sp. "red fin piebald" under aquarium conditions is about 8-10 years.
