Her
there is pictures of our
Metriaclima estherae.
|
Metriaclima estherae “Red Zebra” Metriaclima estherae is a Malawi mbuna cichlid from Lake Malawi, East Africa. The males are normally Blue, but also MC (Marmalade Cat) and Red/Oranges males exist in the wild. The females come in two colours: Orange, which can be bright orange to a less intense yellow-orange colour and OB (orange blotch), which are more rear. The females from around Minos Reef have the more intense colour. We have all colours except the Red/Orange males. The size of Metriaclima estherae is 10-12.5 cm (4-5,5 in.), but they are sexually mature at 7.5 cm (3.0 in). |
|||||
 |
The Metriaclima estherae is a mildly aggressive mbuna. The dominant male will in most cases be a very good "King of the tank". He will brake up “fights” among the other fish in the tank just by his appearance on the scene. We have two dominant males in the tank: A Blue male, that until recently was the only “Boss” in the tank. He had established a territory at the right side of the tank. But our MC male has just established a territory at the left side of the tank, and it is so funny to watch these two males. You can nearly draw a line right through the middle of the tank, and you nearly never see them cross that line. Only at feeding time they seem to forget this invisible line. They never fight just showing off towards each other, and that looks very funny too. | |||||
| They need a large tank with many rock caves. They use the caves as a
hiding place, especially at night where they sleep in the cave, but they
also uses the caves as a way to get away from anybody that might chase
them. The dominant males will chose a cave as a part of there territory.
They will remove a lot of the sand/gravel in the cave. This is a way to
make it an attractive spawning place, and they will try to persuade the
females to come close to the cave.
The Metriaclima estherae are algae eaters in the wild, so it will be a good idea to try to get a good growth of algae on the rock, and you will see them graze on the algae’s during the day. I also feel that this is a very good way to reduce stress, since it is something that is very naturally for them to do. They should be feed vegetable-based foods like Spirulina flakes or other suitable flakes. It is also a good idea to feed them vegetables like lettuce, peas or cucumber. |
 |
|||||
|
The water temperature should be 23-27 oC (73-82oF). The water pH should be between pH 7.6-8.6. Distribution area in Lake Malawi is Metangula, Chilucha Reef, Meluluca, & Minos Reef. The parents to our fish are from Minos Reef.
|
||||||
