Hara cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep one male with several females in a rocky tank of at least 200 liters with hard alkaline water at 24 to 28 C, pH 7.6 to 8.6. It is an active, nippy mbuna, so provide caves and mix it with other assertive rock dwellers. Feed a balanced diet with spirulina plus some frozen plankton foods like cyclops. Different site forms should be kept apart to avoid crossbreeding.

In the wild

The hara is a small rock dwelling mbuna from Lake Malawi, closely tied to the afra cichlid it is often sold alongside. It stays near rocky outcrops and feeds partly on plankton picked from the water just off the rocks. Males are bright blue with dark bars while females are plainer.

Good to know

Cynotilapia zebroides was once placed in the genus Microchromis and is separated from the true afra cichlid on small differences in form and teeth. Many fish sold as afra in the hobby are actually this species or its color forms, tagged by collecting site such as Cobue and Jalo Reef. It has sharp single pointed teeth, unusual among the algae grazing mbuna.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Afra cichlid

  Cynotilapia afra

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)29 gal (110 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Blue johanni cichlid

  Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 45 gal (170 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)45 gal (170 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Dwarf mbuna

  Chindongo demasoni

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Lyretail cichlid

  Neolamprologus brichardi

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)29 gal (110 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Red zebra cichlid

  Maylandia estherae

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 45 gal (170 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)45 gal (170 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Auratus cichlid

  Melanochromis auratus

  4.3 in (11 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  4.3 in (11 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)