Her
there is pictures of our
Metriaclima estherae.
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Pseudotropeus saulosi Pseudotropeus saulosi is one of the smaller Mbuna species, from Lake Malawi, East Africa. The males are blue with broad black bars and black markings in the blue dorsal fin, and the females have a strong yellow colour. But all juveniles are yellow. When they are about 4 cm (1,57 in) the males will start to change colour. This is a slow process that can take more than a month, it depends on how many males you have together. |
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The size of Pseudotropeus saulosi is 7-9 cm (2,7-3,5 in), but they are sexually mature at 5 cm (2 in). Despite Pseudotropeus saulosi’s small size, they still can be aggressive, but it usually does not lead to killing. Our dominant male will to a certain degree to chase the other males, but most of the time it is only if he see them trying to court one of “his” females, and if they submit to him, he will leave it with that. From what I have observed, submitting means lowering their fins and sometimes also losing some of their colour. They can actually shift colour very quickly. But if they show off towards him, he will stay close to them dancing around them. So far it has not lead to any aggression or “fights”. |
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We call our dominant male “the busy bee”. When he was younger, he was yellow with black bars, but the name is also suitable for him because he has always something going on. If he doesn’t court one of “his” females (which he actually is very good at. So far we have had 4 holding females), he is chasing the other males, digging in his cave or eating. Basically he is always busy. There is nothing shy about Pseudotropeus saulosi. They are incredible curious, and not afraid at all. The tank size depends on have many males and females you keep together. If you only have one male with a group of females, you can keep them in a smaller tank, but if you have more males with a group of females, you should keep them in a bigger tank. If you decide that you would like to try to have a group with more males, you should have at least three males, never only two, because the dominant male will then concentrate his aggression on only one male and that will be very stress full for the subdominant male. With more males together, the aggression will be divided between them. |
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It is important that there
are many rock caves in the tank. They use the caves as a hiding place,
especially at night were 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 their territory.
The Pseudotropeus saulosi 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 then 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 fed 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. |
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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 Taiwan Reef. The parents to our fish are wild caught from Taiwan Reef.
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