As the Fish of the Month for October, there will a bag of 5 x Metriaclima sp. "msobo" around 4-5cm available at the PCS Meeting for auction. These are special lots to raise money for Stuart Grant Fund for Cichlid Preservation and have kindly been donated by one of our PCS Members - Poncho (Brett).
Metriaclima sp. "msobo"
This species is from Africa: Lake Malawi. Particularly noted from Magunga, Lundu, Ndumbi, Pombo Rocks, Tanzania..
Size
Maximum length is around 5.5″ (14cm).
Classification
Order: Perciformes Family: Cichlidae
Distribution
Metriaclima sp. "msobo' is a Mbuna from Lake Malawi. It is a rock dweller. It can be found in rocky habitats across the lake and on lake reefs.
Diet
Omnivore, takes both pellets and flakes and occasionally frozen foods. Feed mostly vegetable matter to avoid bloat. It feeds on algae and plankton in the wild. When hungry it will also eat the plants in your tank.
Maintenance
Active rock-dwelling Cichlid, provide plenty of hiding places. Lots of filtration would be best to keep the water clean. Tank should be setup with lots of rocks so the males can have territories to avoid too much aggression.
Water Changes: Weekly - Water changes of 30% weekly are recommended.
Temperature: 78-82°F (25-27°C) pH: 7.8 - 8.6 Hardness: 8-25°H
Character
Spawning
Notes
This is a very beautiful species of Mbuna. The Metriaclima sp. "msobo" Magunga is a colorful African cichlid that comes from Lake Malawi. They need to be kept with other aggressive Mbuna types. When mature, the males are bright blue and females are more of an orange color as seen in the photo. At a young age, they are all orange.
Magunga Deep variant -