Yellow chindongo

Care at a glance

Overview

The yellow chindongo is a rock-dwelling mbuna that lives low in the tank, grazing surfaces and holding a territory. It is a step up from the easiest fish.

Caring for the yellow chindongo

A harem of yellow chindongos needs a rocky tank of at least 42 gal (160 L), with territories and hiding places. Stack stone into caves and passages over a sand base, with open water above for the male to patrol. Plenty of rock lets females shelter and shifts the balance away from constant aggression.

Keep the water alkaline with good mineral hardness, at 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C) and a pH of 7.5 to 8.5. Feed a mainly vegetable diet such as spirulina flakes, with occasional frozen brine shrimp or mysis.

Keep one male with three or four females, because males are fiercely aggressive toward each other and females do not shoal together. The yellow chindongo is aggressive, so choose tank mates with care, such as other mbuna of similar size and temperament. A crowded, rock-filled tank spreads out the fighting.

It is a maternal mouthbrooder, and the female incubates the eggs and fry in her mouth. Breeding is of moderate difficulty when a dominant male holds a territory in a harem.

Good to know

Chindongo flavus is a mbuna cichlid in the family Cichlidae, gold with dark vertical bars. It was long known as Pseudotropheus flavus.

In the wild

The yellow chindongo comes from Dinghani Reef in Lake Malawi, a rocky reef where it grazes among boulders. The lake's water is hard and alkaline.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Dwarf mbuna

  Chindongo demasoni

  3.5 in (9 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  3.5 in (9 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Elongate mbuna

  Chindongo elongatus

  5.1 in (13 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  5.1 in (13 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Saulosi mbuna

  Chindongo saulosi

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 42 gal (160 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)42 gal (160 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Powder blue cichlid

  Chindongo socolofi

  4.7 in (12 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  4.7 in (12 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Barlow's mbuna

  Maylandia barlowi

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

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

• 

  Black-belly lamprologus

  Neolamprologus nigriventris

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 42 gal (160 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)42 gal (160 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)