Red empress cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

Mostly peaceful for a Malawi cichlid but it gets pushy when breeding, so give it room. It uses the mid water and needs a large tank, at least 200 liters and more for a group. Keep it in the mid to high 20s C with a pH of 7.5 to 8.5. It is an omnivore, so feed a mix of quality cichlid pellets, vegetable matter, and the occasional frozen food. Keep one male with several females and house it with other sturdy, similarly sized Malawi species.

In the wild

The red empress comes from Lake Malawi, living over the intermediate zone where rock gives way to open sand. It feeds in the shallows down to around 20 meters. Build the tank around that, with rock work for cover next to open sand and swimming space, and hard, alkaline water to match the lake.

Good to know

A member of the Cichlidae from the haplochromine group, this species reaches about 20 cm. It is a maternal mouthbrooder, and a dominant male holds a territory and spawns with multiple females, which then incubate the eggs and fry. Males turn red and blue while females stay a plain brownish grey. It is not considered at risk.

Did you know

Young red empress males look just like females, plain and grey, and some use that to their advantage. They slip into a dominant male's territory during spawning and fertilize eggs before being chased off, sneaking in genes without holding a territory of their own.

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