Fainzilber's mbuna

Maylandia fainzilberi is a rock-dwelling mbuna endemic to Lake Malawi, where several geographic variants (Cobue, Lundo, Maingano) show blue males with barring and orange-blotch or plain females. It inhabits rocky, algae-covered shallows and grazes the aufwuchs biofilm covering the stones. Keep it in a spacious, hard-scaped aquarium of at least 300 liters with abundant rockwork forming caves and clear territories. Males are highly territorial and aggressive, so maintain one male with a harem of three to five females and avoid congeners with similar coloration to limit hybridization and fighting. Water should be hard and alkaline (pH 7.7-8.6, high KH and GH) and kept warm around 24-27C. Feed a vegetable-based diet, spirulina flake or pellet, since animal protein causes bloat. A mouthbrooding maternal species.