Mylochromis sphaerodon "Lake Malombe"
Mylochromis sphaerodon is living in reasonable shallow waters, in sandy environments. You can only find this species in the southern part of Lake Malawi and sometimes also in Lake Malombe which is directly connected with Lake Malawi through the Shire River. The male shown here is from Lake Malombe. Picture 2 and 4 show him mid-2019, on picture 1 and 3 you can see him as he looks today, mid-2021.
In Lake Malawi the males of this species can grow to 18 cm, in the aquarium however they can grow a little taller because of a good feeding. The males can then grow to about 20 cm, females grow to about 16 cm. The cichlid species which are found in Lake Malombe seems to stay smaller then in Lake Malawi and they seem to become sexually active earlier, probably this is because they live under pressure due to the overfishing in that lake.
Mylochromis sphaerodon is mainly living on snails, which are living in the sand. In the aquarium they are comfortable with any food. They take everything they get offered, like spirulina pellets, mysis, artemia, cyclops and shrimp-peas mix.
You can best keep this species with multiple females and other big species in a large tank with a lot of swimming space.
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