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A
beautiful hap from Lake Malawi. First described by Regan in 1922, it
is now a quite regular inhabitant of Malawi Haps tanks. Will grow to
about 20 cm (the male) while the female will stay a bit smaller. In
its natural habitat the fish belongs to the "blue" sand
dwellers (like Cyrtocara moorii). They will follow big haps that dig
in the sand and eat anything that is excavated by them. Relatively
peaceful for an African of that size it should be kept with other
Malawi Haps (not mbuna) of similar size and attitude. Water
chemistry should meet the requirements for fishes from Lake Malawi (alkaline, moderate
hardness). The fish shares all the common things
that characterize the Malawi Haps group; a female mouthbrooder with
a clear sexual dichromatism (the blue color is for the male only),
territorial when spawning. Keeping more than one males in the same
tank is not recommended unless a very big tank is used (more than
750 liter / 2.5 meters long). Should be fed with sinking food - the
fish is quite shy and may not come to the surface to eat floating
pellets. Grows slowly (as with all haps) - if kept in a raising tank
of its own, regular water changes (50% weekly) and heavy feeding
(4-5 times daily / small quantities) will increase the growth rate
significantly.
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