Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Nigeria Red", male
Photo © Sean Evans
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| Common name: | Striped Kribensis |
| Scientific name: | Pelvicachromis taeniatus |
| Synonyms: | (none) |
| Size: | Up to 3" (7.5cm), female smaller. |
| Origin: | West Africa: Nigeria-Niger river system. |
| Tank setup: | A lightly planted tank, with rock or bogwood caves. Bright lighting is unnecessary, so plants that do well in lower light levels are ideal,
such as Anubias, Cryptocoryne and Java Fern. Small branched pieces of wood and twigs can be used to make the environment more natural and visually complex.
A substrate of fine aquarium sand is ideal. |
| Compatibility: | More peaceful than larger cichlids, but they will become territorial when spawning. They can usually be safely included in
medium-large community tank without problems as long as they have room for territories. |
| Temperature: | 24-28oC (75-82oF) |
| Water chemistry: | Soft water with a pH of 7.0 or below is ideal, but captive bred fish are usually more tolerant of harder, more alkaline water. |
| Feeding: | Omnivorous: feed a variety of dry foods, including some veggie based foods, as these cichlids feed on detritus and algae in the wild as well as
small insect larvae. Frozen foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp, mysis and mosquito larvae can be used to supplement the dry foods. |
| Sexing: | Males are larger with more elongated dorsal and anal fins. The smaller female has a deep purple belly region. |
| Breeding: | Cave spawner, provide caves with a very small entrance. Caves made from resin or broken plant pots work well, but caves formed by bogwood
will also be used. The female usually guards the eggs and larval stage, while the male defends the territory. Fry are normally free-swimming in about 8-10 days. At this time, both parents normally tend the fry.
This broodcare may last several weeks. |
| Comments: |
The most popular morph of this species available in the hobby is the "Nigeria Red" morph. Other morphs that used to be known under this species name were re-assigned to the resurrected Pelvicachromis kribensis
species name in 2014.
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