There, the couple will engage in a rendezvous and swim close to one another in a circling fashion.Īfter that, the female will lay eggs on a flat surface and immediately scoop them inside her mouth. If the female is spawning, she will eventually consent and travel together to the nesting spot. Therefore, if you want to breed mbunas, it’s vital to create several rocky hideouts in the tank. Given their affinity for rocks, it’s no surprise that mbunas spawn among rocks, crevices, and caves. In fact, the dominant male of the territory will have the richest colors. The males are bigger and more intensely colored than their female counterparts. Mbunas reach sexual maturity when they’re about 3 inches long – they usually reach this milestone on their first birthday. If you’re serious about raising the fry, it’s best to raise them in a separate tank. Mbunas breed quite quickly in captivity too. They’re polygamous fish, in which the male will mate with several females during one breeding season. How To Breed Mbunas?Īll mbuna species are mouthbrooders like other haplochromine species of Lake Malawi. The latter, at best, would replicate a small and shallow stream, which is a far cry from what mbunas are used to. For instance, a 120 x 60 x 60cm/48 x 24 x 24 tank would be a lot better at echoing the lake-like feel than a 120 x 30 x 30 cm/48 x 12 x 12 in tank. When selecting a tank for mbunas, always take inspiration from their natural habitat. But if possible, get a taller and broader tank with volumes greater than 40 gallons. Raising them in a smaller setup requires a lot of expertise, and it’s actually fundamentally wrong.ĭwarf cichlids like mbambas and afras can even thrive in 90-100cm/36-40in tanks. See Also Ucrania en la pobreza y con su economía a punto de explotar mientras Occidente ofrece armas y guerra - Indymedia Argentina Centro de Medios Independientes (( i )) Soñar con pobreza: ¿QUÉ SIGNIFICA? □ Soñar.com 100+ frases sobre la pobreza, humildad y desigualdadĭon’t get swayed to raise them in a small tank because you saw a breeder or a shop do that. Mbuna cichlids are natives of the beautiful Lake Malawi in Africa’s Great Rift Valley. To give the best life possible within the 4 walls of the tank, it’s essential to understand how mbunas live in their natural state. But with Mbunas, both males and females display dazzling colors. In most species, males sport vibrant colors, and females are drab. There’s one more area where these fish hit the jackpot. To paint you a picture, there are around 100 species of Mbunas in different shades of blue. Of course, the most frequent shades are orange and yellow – but they come in every color you can imagine. And mbunas graduate with flying colors – no pun intended.īlue, green, red, yellow, stripes, spots – you name it, and there’s an exact Mbuna that exists. One qualification a fish needs to qualify to be an aquarium staple is color. Mbunas come in such vibrant and eccentric colors that they’re often mistaken for marine fish. They are:Īnd what’s interesting about Mbunas cichlids is there’s no other family of aquarium fish than them that can be kept together in a single tank. And among them, 13 generas are classified as Mbunas. Broadly, the name Mbuna refers to any of the rock-dwelling cichlid species of Lake Malawi.Īltogether, Lake Malawi is home to over a thousand species of cichlids. There are over 100 species of these beautiful fishes – all hailing from the ninth biggest lake on the planet – Lake Malawi. They’re hardy, versatile – and together, an explosion of colors. But mbunas are so much more than little angry fishes. Yes, they’re territorial, and feuds often end with a couple of fallen soldiers. Image credits: Calwhiz on Flickr under Creative Commons license
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