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Lethrinops lethrinus "Lake Malombe"


Lethrinops lethrinus is living in sandy environments with some spread boulders or vegetation and in reasonable shallow water. They can be found in entire Lake Malawi and also in Lake Malombe which is directly connected with Lake Malawi through the Shire River. The examples shown here are from Lake Malombe. 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.


In the lake the males of these species can grow to 12 cm, in the aquarium however they can grow taller because of a good feeding. The males can then grow to about 16 cm, females grow to about 11 cm.


You can best keep this species with multiple females in a large tank with a lot of swimming space. It`s a quiet, peaceful cichlid which can be hold best with other quiet species, mbuna are generally too aggresive.


In the lake they are seeking the sand for food, take a big bite of sand and jig this in search of small insects. 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.