Petrotilapia

Care at a glance

Overview

Petrotilapia are active, aggressive mbuna for a big tank built from rock. They are a step up from the easiest fish.

Caring for the Petrotilapia

Give Petrotilapia a tank of at least 119 gal (450 L), built with lots of rock. Keep the water hard and alkaline, at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) and a pH of 7.6 to 8.6.

Feed a vegetable-heavy diet of spirulina and algae foods. A protein-rich diet causes digestive trouble in dedicated grazers like these.

Keep them in a group to spread out their aggression, with only one male per tank. Mix them only with other robust Malawi cichlids. They are maternal mouthbrooders, and breeding them is easy.

Good to know

Petrotilapia are cichlids of the family Cichlidae. The genus holds many similar-looking species and site forms, so aquarium fish are often traded simply as Petrotilapia with a collecting location.

In the wild

Petrotilapia are medium to large mbuna that graze thick algae from rocks in the wave zone of Lake Malawi. They cover the rocky habitat in loose feeding groups.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Dwarf petrotilapia

  Petrotilapia microgalana

  5.5 in (14 cm) · 79 gal (300 L)

  5.5 in (14 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Fuelleborn's cichlid

  Labeotropheus fuelleborni

  7.1 in (18 cm) · 46 gal (175 L)

  7.1 in (18 cm)46 gal (175 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Threadfin cichlid

  Petrochromis trewavasae

  7.1 in (18 cm) · 159 gal (600 L)

  7.1 in (18 cm)159 gal (600 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Ornate hap

  Protomelas ornatus

  7.2 in (18.2 cm) · 106 gal (400 L)

  7.2 in (18.2 cm)106 gal (400 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Diagramma cichlid

  Simochromis diagramma

  7.7 in (19.5 cm) · 79 gal (300 L)

  7.7 in (19.5 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Beak peacock

  Aulonocara rostratum

  7.9 in (20 cm) · 70 gal (265 L)

  7.9 in (20 cm)70 gal (265 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)