Red Empress Cichlid
Red Empress Cichlid
Currently unavailable
We do not take backorders on live fish, invertebrates or plants. Livestock arrives on the shipping schedule our suppliers and the weather allow, so we will not promise a date we cannot keep.
What is in the tanks changes from week to week. Ask us and we will tell you what is in and what is coming, or check back shortly. Visit us or get in touch.
Free local pickup at our Lethbridge store. Livestock guarantee
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The red empress (Protomelas taeniolatus) is a Lake Malawi haplochromine in which mature males develop a blaze of red, orange and blue along the body while females stay a plain silver-brown. It is an open-swimming fish that grazes algae and picks invertebrates from rock surfaces, and it is one of the more even-tempered larger haps, which is part of why it turns up so often in mixed Malawi tanks.
Aquarium care
- Adults reach around 15 cm.
- Needs a large aquarium with open swimming room as well as rockwork.
- Requires hard, alkaline water and strong filtration.
- Keep one male with several females; two males in a small tank will not work.
- Omnivorous, with a genuine plant component to the diet.
- Males colour up as they mature, so young fish look plain for a while.
Suited to a Malawi community with other haps and peacocks of similar size. Avoid mixing them with aggressive mbuna, and do not house them with small community fish. Speak to our staff about stocking ratios if you are building a mixed Malawi tank.
Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is available for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See the haplochromis collection.
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