Origin West Africa
Maximum Size: 10cm / 4 inches
Care: PH 6.5-7.5, soft and slightly acidic. Water quality should be very good. Be sure to keep Nitrates and Ammonia levels low.
Aquarium layout & size African Butterfly Fish will reach 10cm/4inches. They only need a small tank of 10-15 gallons, make sure the tank has a good amount of surface area, so longer tanks are better. The tank should have some taller plants or floating plants to provide the fish with cover making it feel more secure.
Compatability: The butterfly fish can live as a single specimen or in a big enough tank as a group. They should not be kept with fin nippers as they have long finnage. Smaller fish under 2inches are also out of the question as they may end as a snack for the butterfly fish. Bottom dwellers and mid water fish of a good size and temprement are fine.
Feeding: They can be difficult or easy to feed, some fish will refuse all but live foods but most will eat flakes, frozen and freeze dried foods, maggots and various insects like flys as they would do in the wild.
Breeding: There has been some success breeding these cichlids. Male butterfly fish have a convex anal fin with the central rays forming a tube, while that of the females is straight. Correct feeding is crucial to bring them into spawning condition: they need a varied diet including plenty of live food. The fish spawn over a long period each day, and the eggs, which are lighter than water, float to the surface. They can be easily scooped out to be hatched in another tank using water from the parents aquarium. The eggs are transparent at first but over the next nine hours or so turn dark brown, almost black; they hatch in about 36 hours. Raising fry is exceedingly difficult. Try Artemia nauplii as a first food and make regular, small, partail water changes, and you may have some success.
Sexing: Males are generally larger with a larger nuchal hump on their head. Also might have longer fins than the female. Sometimes the female will grow a nuchal hump but it's not as large.
