Zebra nyererei

Care at a glance

Overview

This is the blue-grey Lake Victoria cichlid often sold as zebra nyererei, and it is territorial enough to keep as a single male, either alone among other robust cichlids or with a few of its own females; it does not school, and two males will not share a tank. It swims mostly in the middle water around rock. Males are very aggressive, so keep tankmates with care: other sturdy Victorian or Malawi-type cichlids, plenty of rock, and never a second Pundamilia species, which it readily crossbreeds with. Feed a varied diet of quality pellets, spirulina, and frozen foods, and go easy on protein. A rocky tank of around 200 liters or more gives it room to hold a territory.

In the wild

This fish lives around the rocky shores of islands in southern Lake Victoria, in warm, slightly alkaline water. Give it a tank built up with rock into caves and territories over sand, with open midwater to swim. Keep it warm at about 23 to 27 C with a pH of roughly 7.0 to 8.5 and moderate hardness. Good water clarity matters for more than looks here, since these fish rely on seeing colour to behave and breed normally.

Good to know

Pundamilia pundamilia is a Lake Victoria cichlid reaching about 15 centimeters; its name comes from the Kiswahili word for zebra. It is a maternal mouthbrooder, the female carrying eggs and fry in her mouth. It is best known to science as one half of a closely studied species pair with the red P. nyererei, used to understand how new species form. Breeding is of moderate difficulty given a settled male and enough females.

Did you know

The blue Pundamilia pundamilia and the red P. nyererei stay separate species mainly because females choose mates by colour. Where pollution clouds the water and hides those colours, the two interbreed and blur back toward a single form.

Common questions

Related species

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• 

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