2 x steel blue Johanni Maingano Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (johannii Maingano ) - pair

Among the representatives of the perches the up to 10 cm long growing Steel Blue Maingano, formerly known as Melanochromis sp. maingano, today as Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos, is probably one of the most beautiful fish, which has quickly swum into the hearts of aquarists not only because of its brilliant color, but also because of its breeding behavior. This perch, which belongs to the Pseudotropheus, is also called Blue John and is endemic to the African Lake Malawi, where it seeks out and colonizes rocks near the shore and sandy bottoms up to water depths of 6 meters.

The Steel Blue Maingano has a typically elongated and laterally flattened perch body. In base color it is mostly steel blue (hence its name), but also black, and has two broad turquoise longitudinal bands that begin behind the eyes and sometimes extend over the caudal fin. Occasionally there are one or two more bands on the head. The long dorsal fin extends over the entire body and may be light blue at its base and margin. The first fin rays of the ventral fin as well as the anal fin fringe are also light blue to turquoise. Due to its sometimes quite aggressive social behavior it is suitable for advanced fishers and should be kept in a harem in larger aquariums, as well as socialized only with other mbuna . Our Steel Blue Mainganos are shipped as pairs.

The males can be distinguished from the females externally only with difficulty, actually only by the genital papilla and by 1 or more yellow egg spots on the anal fin of the male. Steel blue mainganos are mouth brooders, where the female takes the up to 30 eggs into her mouth after spawning. As soon as the male presents his egg spot to her, she automatically snaps at it, whereupon he releases sperm. The eggs fertilized in this way develop within 21 days, from which about 1 cm large young hatch, which are cared for by the female for about another week.

These cichlids should be kept in aquariums of 250 liters or more. As substrate a fine light sand is suitable, as well as stone structures , which serve as territory marking, visual protection and Caves serve.  Due to their impetuous nature, hard-leaved plants such as Anubia and Bucephalandra are more suitable, because finer plants, especially with less well-developed root system are dug out by them and partly also eaten. The water values are a GH of 3-15° dGH, a pH of 7.5-8.5 and a temperature between 22 and 27° C.

Invertebrates are on its menu.

The perch are usually well accustomed to granules, flake and dry food. Live and frozen foods are also readily accepted by them. Steel blue mainganos should not be fed red mosquito larvae as they can cause digestive problems.

Our food recommendation: The NatureHolic Cichfeed has a grain size of 1.5 mm and is therefore suitable for larger fish. The NH Cichfeed is a soft granulate for mainly carnivorous fish. It has the same consistency as small crustaceans and insect larvae that fish naturally eat, and the soft granules protect the fish's mouth from micro-injuries that can result from hard feed granules.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.