Profiles Tropical Lake Malawi Cichlids

Tropical Fish Profiles of cichlids from Lake Malawi in Africa. With a claim to fame as the ninth largest lake in the world, Lake Malawi is also the third largest and second deepest lake in South Africa, situated at far south of the East African Rift system. It is home to more than 1000 species of cichlids so we will cover as many as possible and those most commonly known in the trade of ornamental fish keeping.

The majority of cichlids from Lake Malawi can be broken down in to three different types, the Aulonocara (Peacocks), Haplochromis (Haps) and Mbuna. It is quite common to keep the Aulonocara cichlid together with Haps as these both have the same diet and tend to swim more in open water although rock work is still essential in the aquarium. Mbuna are primarily a vegetarian so they get their nutrition from grazing on rocks, as such feeding them some of the essentials that the Peacock’s and Haplochromis require can lead to problems.

Malawi Fish Tanks are often thought of as the closest thing to Marine fish keeping due to the rock work required and the stunning vibrant colours that these fish can bring to the home aquarium.