Geert's utaka

Care at a glance

Overview

This is an open water plankton feeder from Lake Malawi, calm by cichlid standards and best kept as a group, ideally with one male to several females so his display is shared across the group rather than fixed on a single fish. It cruises the middle and upper water rather than the bottom, so leave open swimming room above the rockwork. It mixes well with other peaceful Malawi haps and peacocks of similar size and can share a general rift lake community, with males claiming a small patch of sand only when spawning. Feed small foods that suit a plankton eater: quality flake and pellet, plus frozen daphnia, cyclops, and brine shrimp. A group needs a tank of around 300 liters or more.

In the wild

Geert's utaka lives along Lake Malawi's rocky coasts, cruising in loose schools through open water off steep shores and feeding on drifting plankton. It needs the lake's hard, alkaline water, warm at 24–27 C and held around pH 7.5–8.5, with stacked rock along the back and sides and a broad area of clear water to swim in. A sandy floor and a few flat topped boulders where a male can display complete the picture.

Good to know

Copadichromis geertsi belongs to the family Cichlidae and reaches about 16 centimeters. It is one of the utaka, the group of plankton feeding Malawi cichlids, and was described by Ad Konings in 1999, its name honoring the cichlid writer Martin Geerts. Like other utaka it is a maternal mouthbrooder: the female carries the fertilized eggs and fry in her mouth for around four to five weeks, and breeding is of moderate difficulty.

Did you know

The word utaka is not scientific but a local name from Lake Malawi for these open water plankton feeders, which are prized food fish; decades of heavy netting have thinned their once vast schools.

Tank mates

Geert's utaka is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• Günther's peacock

  Aulonocara guentheri

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)74 gal (280 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Livingston's cichlid

  Nimbochromis livingstonii

  Freshwater

  9.8 in (25 cm)74 gal (280 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Malawi eyebiter

  Dimidiochromis compressiceps

  Freshwater

  9.8 in (25 cm)66 gal (250 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Altus lethrinops

  Lethrinops altus

  Freshwater

  6.3 in (16 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• White lethrinops

  Lethrinops albus

  Freshwater

  6.3 in (16 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Electric Blue Hap

  Sciaenochromis fryeri

  Freshwater

  7.1 in (18 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Chrysonotus utaka

  Copadichromis chrysonotus

  Freshwater

  6.3 in (16 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Azureus

  Copadichromis azureus

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)79 gal (300 L)77–82°F (25–28°C)
• Atripinnis hap

  Copadichromis atripinnis

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)70 gal (265 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Jackson's utaka

  Copadichromis jacksoni

  Freshwater

  7.1 in (18 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• Likoma utaka

  Copadichromis likomae

  Freshwater

  5.5 in (14 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Blue utaka

  Copadichromis cyaneus

  Freshwater

  7.5 in (19 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)