| Scientific Name | Cyrtocara M |
| Common Name(s) | Blue |
| Geographical Origin | All around Lake Malawi. Usually seen in shallow waters |
| Habitat | Wherever sandy areas are present |
| Diet | Carnivore | Invertebrates that hide in the sand and have been stirred up by the Taeniolethrinops genus. |
| Aquarium Temperament | Peaceful can be kept with other Haplochromis or even Mbunas |
| Gender Differences | Monomorphic | Males and Females will have the same blue coloring Males can be distinguished from females by the larger “hump” on the forehead. |
| Breeding | Maternal Mouthbrooder |
| Maximum Size | ~ 8 inches | 20 cm |
| pH | 7.8 – 8.6 |
| Water Hardness | Hard |
| Temperature | 78 – 82°F | 25 – 27°C |
| Recommended Aquarium | ~ 75 Gallons | 300 Liters |
| Aquarium Notes | These are non-territorial fish, meaning you can keep them with a lot of other fish species including Mbunas. The females can be kept in the aquarium after the pair spawns. Peacefull species that thrive in larger groups; I would recommend 7-10 individuals in a 100+ Gallons aquarium. |
- Cyrtocara Moorii is one of my favorite species due to its gentle nature and extraordinary attitude when in a group family.
- They will often swim by their peers as a whole group.
- Male dominance is asserted quite fast, I have never seen fights longer than 1 day after the fights are over tranquility will settle in the aquarium and dominance will not go challenged.
- In the wild, they are attracted to stirred-up material and usually follow a large sand-sifting species like Taeniolethrinops
preaorbitalis , eating all the food (invertebrates) that gets revealed. - I had the pleasure of keeping them with Fossochromis Rostratus species and it was a pleasure to watch them “discover food”.
- I would usually get frozen food and plant it in the gravel; this way the fish had to “hunt/scavage” for their meal. It was wonderful when they uncovered the food and started to get all round up about it.
- The best kind of aquarium watching is the one that is the closest to natural behavior.
- I warmly recommend this species to any Malawi enthusiast as a easy fish to grow and breed.
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