Yellow-tail acei
Pseudotropheus acei
FreshwaterFish
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–82°F
- 24–28°C
- pH
- 7.5–8.5
- Adult size
- 4.7 in
- 12 cm
- Minimum tank
- 42 gal
- 160 L
- Temperament
- Mostly peaceful
- Social behavior
- Social
- Swim level
- Middle
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Breeding
- Mouthbrooder · Hard
- Rarity
- Rare
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Origin
- Lake Malawi
Overview
The yellow-tail acei is an active mbuna that cruises around the middle of the tank. It is a step up from the easiest fish.
Did you know
The most common form of the yellow-tail acei has a blue-purple body and a bright yellow tail. White-tail and yellow-tail variants are also traded under the same name, depending on the collection point along the lake.
Caring for the yellow-tail acei
Give yellow-tail acei a tank of at least 42 gal (160 L), with rock piles and open swimming space. Keep the water hard and alkaline, at 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C) and a pH of 7.5 to 8.5.
Feed a mostly vegetable diet of spirulina, algae-based pellets and greens. Too much protein causes digestive trouble.
Keep acei in a group rather than alone. They are mostly peaceful for an mbuna, but they can still get territorial. House them with other even-tempered Malawi cichlids, and keep numbers up to spread aggression.
It is a mouthbrooder, with the female holding the eggs and fry in her mouth. Captive breeding is tricky.
Good to know
The yellow-tail acei belongs to the cichlid family, Cichlidae. Unusually for an mbuna, it grazes biofilm and algae off wood as well as rock. It is not considered threatened in the wild.
In the wild
The yellow-tail acei lives along the shallow rocky shoreline of Lake Malawi. It often hangs around sunken logs and branches over a sand and rock bottom.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
The yellow-tail acei is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
Common questions
What size tank does a yellow-tail acei need?
A yellow-tail acei needs at least 42 gal (160 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
What temperature and pH does a yellow-tail acei need?
A yellow-tail acei is comfortable at 75–82°F (24–28°C) with a pH of 7.5–8.5.
What does a yellow-tail acei eat?
A yellow-tail acei eats a mostly vegetable diet of spirulina, algae-based pellets and greens. Too much protein causes digestive trouble.
How big does a yellow-tail acei get?
An adult yellow-tail acei reaches about 4.7 in (12 cm).
How does a yellow-tail acei breed?
A yellow-tail acei is a mouthbrooder, and the female holds the eggs and fry in her mouth. Captive breeding is tricky.
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