Protomelas sp."steveni taiwan" is a beautiful "non-mbuna". The
young ones and the females have a black stripe on a dark
silvergrey underground. The male in my aquarium is about 15 cm, the
females 12-13 cm. In Lake Malawi they live together with mbuna in rocky environments. In the aquarium it's nearly the same and they are showing almost no interest in other inhabitants. However, this changes when the time has come for mating. The male defended a large rock in my aquarium during the entire year. When mating-season was over he didn't defend it furiously and he permitted other fish to come closer. But during mating-season he changed into a busy fish and he was able to strike at any fish coming too close. He didn't hurt them though, he only chased them away. This was a beautiful experience to see. This is a species you can best keep in a large tank with multiple hideouts for other inhabitants and females. Make sure there is enough space to swim, though. In my aquarium they eated everything I offered. |