Golden mbuna

Melanochromis auratus, the golden mbuna, is a rock-dwelling cichlid in the family Cichlidae, endemic to Lake Malawi in East Africa. Females and juveniles are bright yellow with black-and-white horizontal stripes, while dominant males invert to a dark brown-black body with pale blue-gold stripes. It is a notably aggressive and territorial mbuna, with males relentlessly harassing rivals and even females. It is best kept in a crowded Malawi cichlid setup with hardy mbuna to spread out aggression, and not with peaceful community fish. It requires an aquarium with hard, alkaline water and extensive rockwork providing caves and territorial boundaries. Primarily an aufwuchs grazer, it should be fed a vegetable-based diet such as spirulina and algae foods, as excess protein causes digestive problems. It is a maternal mouthbrooder in which the female incubates eggs and fry in her mouth for several weeks.